If you’ve ever battled with weight or have just noticed that things get crankier these days, you likely have said something like “I have to start (dieting, exercising). Soon.” If you’re anything like me, that can involve some procrastination. But ultimately if we want results, we have to do the work.
Boy can I relate. In my late twenties, I became obese. I happily piled on pounds during my travels in New Zealand and Australia in the early eighties. I got sidelined by cream in my tea. Delicious real chocolate cookies. Unbelievably rich ice cream with thick ribbons of dense chocolate running through its creamy texture. Cheeses made in heaven.
When I was hitching through New Zealand, the places I stayed didn’t have full length mirrors. Americans have a lot of them. If your body is expanding fast, there’s plenty of evidence that gets your attention. Not in Kiwi land. People ate six times a day and I exploded like a French souffle.
By the time I made it to Australia and had settled in Melbourne to become a speaker, my hips were 54" around. I was a big girl.
Still ran up and down the neighborhood streets. I’m the one who put the cracks in the sidewalk. But I ran.
Women over Thirty Just Get Fat
One epic morning I said to myself in the mirror, “Women over thirty just get fat.” The second I heard that I heard my head explode.
After years of yo-yo dieting, and finally ballooning to 205 lbs, I was done. Just done.
I enlisted a friendly Aussie down the street, a triathlete who always invited me to run. I asked him to push me. He did. He taught me how to ride a 12-speed bike and that was all she wrote. Totally hooked. Transformed my eating habits. A year later 90 pounds were gone. Forever. I had done the work. Haven’t looked back since.
Last night I was talking to a woman in her sixties who is receiving certification training in wellness. A counselor, she pointed out quite rightly that many people who are in failing health, on toxic medications, and who are eating badly just don’t care.
“I have to walk away from those people as clients,” she explained. “They’ve already decided and nothing is going to change them. No amount of proof that…