Strong is the new Skinny!

I love that saying!!  it is so true....I never knew how strong I could be....once I got tired of the way I looked and felt and decided to finally make the change to be stronger and healthier...the skinny came with it...an added benefit...

I no longer wanted to be defined as the mom who had two kids and one who looked like it....I did not want to wear double digit pants...a size 14 (yes I am willing to share that) or feel completely uncomfortable in my own skin....I was hiding underneath it....the real person I was was not shining through...I was weak both inside and out....and I was not happy....I was not happy with who I was....who I became....I no longer the person I was in my early 20's...the person who decided on a cold night in September of 1999 that I was willing to give up the comforts of living at home with no real responsibilities except my car payment and cell phone bill to move to a new state of Virginia in December of 1999 and live an adult life....to have real bills...rent, utilities, groceries.....yes that adult life was a complete shock to me in those first few months living in Virginia Beach....but it was a choice I made...and even during the real hard times I stuck with it....its one of the best decisions I ever made and will never regret...it was that person that I was missing....the person who knew she was strong enough to just pack up and leave everything and start a new life

yes as I have gotten older my responsibilities have increased 10 fold...I no longer have just me....I have my family, my two kids who depend on me....but they should not define me....and that is where I had lost myself....in the shuffle of life...and finally I got tired of it...I wanted to be me...and I wanted to shed the "fat suit" I had been carrying around since the birth of my daughter....once I accepted that truth and started out on my path of losing weight and getting healthy...I have found myself...I found my inner strength that I had been missing for so long....I no longer worried if everyone liked me...I didn't need or want a large group of "friends" to fill that void that was in me...I realized I'd rather have a small handful of true friends, friends I know who will drop everything and come over to help you when you need it...and I would do the same if they called.....I rather have people in my life who actually want to be there....then ones who just show up to an event because they think its required of them....

Finally I have accomplished what I have set out to do...my goal originally was to lose weight...to get rid of the shell I was hiding behind...to feel better and be healthier...I never realized it would lead me back to me....it has made me stronger physically and emotionally!   

Here is to beginning strong...definitely the new and better skinny!

Elisa