Making big changes realistic
Thursday, April 09, 2009
image by geishaboy500
Nearly two years ago now, I accomplished one of the biggest feats in my adult life. I successfully lost 100 lbs. And here’s the kicker, the part that makes me sound like some infomercial quack selling snake oil supplements—I did it without significant pain and suffering.
Lately, at 7 months pregnant, I have been feeling frustrated by my limitations while at the same time driven by those lovely nesting hormones to make a better world and a better life for the babe I am about to bring into the world and his charming older sisters.
All I can see lately are the things I am not doing well. I look at my lovely vintage bike, my anniversary present from my darling husband, and despair that things I could easily do last summer, like riding my bike or walking instead of driving, now range from difficult to an exercise in insanity. I end up driving everywhere. I peruse aisles of the garden center and reflect with sadness that this year’s garden will have to be a scaled back, simpler version of last year’s. My quest to eat a more local and sustainable diet, difficult anyway at this time of year when last years preserved bounty is running low and nothing new is growing yet, seems half-hearted in comparison to other times.
As I lay awake at 3:00AM this morning battling heartburn and fondly recalling the days I didn’t feel quite so much like a beached whale, I thought about my weight loss journey and how it the lessons I learned from that experience correlate to the other big changes I want to make in my life.
