Two weeks. It’s amazing what can be accomplished in two weeks. Fourteen days ago, I could barely walk to the end of the block and back. Yesterday, I walked for 20 minutes at the dog park with The Jooje – after riding my bike for 15 minutes earlier in the day. Needless to say, my ass hurts; but that’s besides the point. The point is, I’m moving. Newton’s first law of motion states (and I paraphrase):

 A fat girl* at rest stays at rest and a fat girl in motion stays in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.

I was a fat girl at rest. Getting off the couch presented an insurmountable task. Walking was only to get from A to B and only when absolutely necessary: to get to the washroom, the car, the fridge. It took an unbalanced force to conquer inertia, publish the first blog post and change my life. What was that force? It was a combination of things including: taking the Landmark Forum, reading the work of Brene Brown, going off an anti-depressant** I’ve been on for more than 15 years and the advent of Spring – when the world comes back to life. And then there’s been you, my community. Your support and encouragement are allowing me to build momentum in my new direction – and I’m pretty sure Newton has a law about that too.

So here’s what’s different a mere 14 days after deciding to change my life:

• I cook healthy meals for myself 2-3 times every day
• I walk, a little bit more, every day
• I am doing deep water cardio 2-3 times a week
• I am happy, energetic and optimistic about my future
• I have hope

And for those of you interested in stats and metrics:

Weight: 319 lbs (down 11)
Total weight loss: 11 lbs
Bust: 56″ (no change)
Waist: 52″ (down 1″)
Hips: 60″ (no change)
Total inches lost: 1

Pictures

(I promise to look in the mirror before we take them next time )

*I used the term “fat girl” not as a way to put myself down, but to describe myself accurately. For me, fat is only an insult when used with malice. Otherwise, it’s a perfectly good descriptor.

**I have a feeling a lawyer would tell me to say: any changes to medication should be overseen by your physician. So, that.