The stubbornness of a 98-year-old

My name is Colleen and I am 25 years old. I’ve been on a weight loss journey that turned into something much bigger without me even realizing it. In October 2011, I had my first Ah-Ha moment, but now looking back it wasn’t the BIG Ah-ha. This was more like when you think you want one thing for dessert but then once you’re done you want something much more delicious.

One day in early October I was standing in the shower- crying. I’m not afraid to admit that because let’s face the facts, I cry a lot. I have faucets for eyeballs. I was crying because I was tired of being me (that’s really insane isn’t it, being tired of being who you are). I then had an amazing thought cross my mind- I would run the Buffalo Turkey Trot- a lot of my family runs it, so why not me? I jumped out of the shower and immediately called my dad. I started proposing my idea to him to run the 5k and he stopped me laughing and said “not 5k, 5 miles,” and then he proceeded to tell me there was no way I could do it.

In all reality, if he had been laughing at someone who didn’t have the rebellious mentality of a 15 year old and the stubbornness of a 98 year old, I would have said okay and changed my goal. Instead I hung up the phone and went on a walk, a very long, hot, sweaty walk. I came home looking like a lobster and even more determined to do this race. I spoke to my dad again and he agreed to help me train to walk/run it. But I knew that I would not be walking at all. I had 6 weeks to train and my mileage started climbing every week.

My real Ah-ha moment happened on 10/29/2011. My sister got married and had me in a beautiful dress- a beautiful dress that was a size 16 and too tight. As soon as I saw a picture of myself I knew it was time to change. I already had the running down, but I had to step up my game. I couldn’t eat a gallon of ice cream a night. I couldn’t run three miles and then eat like I ran 12. The pictures from this wedding really affected me. I sobbed when I saw them for the first time (See; there’s those waterfall eyes again).

Since then I have lost 52lbs and only have 15lbs left to go. I’ve embraced a healthy living lifestyle and have learned that vegetables are not actually bad for you. More importantly than losing weight though, I have started figuring out who I am, I’m taking chances and am turning into the person I have always craved to be. I am the blogger at TheChocolateMile.com and have met countless friends who embrace the same values as I do.  I am sure that life cannot get any better than it is right now.

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Tags: aha moment, fitness aha, healthy living, motivation, running, weight loss, Why we run