We are not all created equal!

As I am training for my first 10k I have learned a lot more than just to run. The biggest thing I have learned is that we are not all created equal.  Let me give you a little history, I am the 4th sister of 5 with a brother thrown there in the middle. All of my family is pretty athletic and myself included so I thought I was in ok condition but I have, in the last few years, started to struggle with my weight. So I decided (after many failed attempts at dieting) to finally do it right. I was going to cut my calories and start really working out. I was so excited, I downloaded the my fitness pal app on my phone and started running each morning and, guess what, the first week I GAINED 4 pounds! I was livid, so I cut my calories more and started running more  thinking that’s what I needed and the next week I lost 1.5 of those pounds I had gained which was a start but still was not what I thought I would see. This pattern continued for the next 3 weeks. Then I found a friend who was willing to run with me and diet so I had a partner I could stick to this new lifestyle with and have someone to answer to and that helped a lot because it became more fun. but the weight issue still was a big problem. For the next several weeks I rode the same roller coaster every day I would lose a little and gain it back and then lose a little more then gain it all back. By the end of 13 weeks I had lost a total of 5 pounds and the worst part was my friend I was running with had lost 8 and she had only been running with me for less than 1/2 that time!

So frustrated and pissed off I called my sister in law who has done weight watchers for many years and is also a runner and just let her have all my frustrations out on a platter. Being the great sister in law she is she just listened as I complained and whined about how hard I had been training and dieting and not seeing any progress. when I was finished she told me the biggest problem I had was my self image, not the scale. she told me that I had to stop beating myself up and look at what I was doing and how far I had come athletically and the biggest advice she had was I needed to start measuring my body and not only the scale. I luckily had measured at the beginning  of my journey so I took a tape and went right in to measure my self and I had lost a total of 8.5 inches! That was huge! So if you are on a journey like my own and find yourself struggling with the scale or your progress being slow, stop and tell yourself its ok. We are all built different and you will never be someone else's size because your body is different and that’s ok.