Revelations

When I leave work I have to walk up this mini-hill (mini in Vancouver, the most massive hill ever in southwestern Ontario). The hill used to be a bit of a problem, but lately I've forgotten about it and I don't even break pace when I'm walking up it. But today, I broke a sweat. I huffed and puffed. I felt awful. I was carrying some stuff home that I don't usually carry. As I was having such a hard time, I started wondering..."hmm...I wonder how much all of this stuff weighs? I wonder if I'm close to my former weight right now". So I came home and weighed myself. And I was. I was 210 pounds with the stuff in my hands. This means that me + all the stuff was a measly 4 pounds heavier than my heaviest weight. At the rate I was going I could have easily gained that in a month if I hadn't turned things around. And then I started imagining what it would have been like to have carried the almost 20 pounds of stuff at 206 pounds when I was super unhealthy and my cardiovascular system was shot. Probably wouldn't have been anywhere near the walk in the park it was today.

It's things like these - 5 minutes of my day - that make me see the changes. They open my eyes to the countless benefits that being a healthy weight can offer. Carrying that stuff was brutal today, but it was so much easier than it would have been 2 months ago. This isn't about lifting weights or pushing myself to run a little farther, it's about being able to live a normal life without having to worry about whether or not my body can handle it.

The experience today really made me see how far I've come. But knowing that one day carrying 20 pounds up a mini-hill will be easy? That makes me realize how far I still have to go.