life jacket
There's nothing like a tangible experience to make knowledge hit home. I had such an experience today, and am (literally) sobered by the results.
Jed and I were meeting Bob at the Chena River after work today. There's a great little float where we can put in at one end of town and take out at Alaskaland, and easy hour later. The weather was beautiful and warm after a week of rain and the evening was perfect for getting out on the water.
When I first met Bob, we did a lot of paddling. He's an amazing solo canoe-er and has paddled serious white water by himself, including the Nenana here in Alaska. He was patient with me as I learned to be a bit more serious about canoeing, being raised as I was by easy paddles on lakes and the Swanson, which is typically slow and easy. Our first paddle together is a story worthy of it's own blog.... so we'll just end by saying that before Jed, I spent as much time on the water as I could.
Since Jed, things have changed somewhat. We canoed with him when he was little, a few times a summer, but life was more hectic. Bob got a 12 month job, girls got older with more to do, trips with kids outside - all these meant less time on the water, although I think we exchanged our fun paddling for other family adventures, and that's okay.
But I digress.... the point is, going paddling today wasn't about the paddling. Going paddling today was about the fact that when I went to put on my life jacket, the cute blue one that Bob bought me when we were dating, there was about 7 inches between one side zipper and the next. 7 inches. Bob saw the look on my face and said, " I wondered about that. I brought a bigger life jacket." Ouch. And ouch.
So after years of saying I need to lose weight, trying diets (both sensible and fad), looking at my BMI and reading about the health concerns of fat women, after time spent longingly looking at clothes and catalogs, avoiding pictures with me in them, and plain old denial, the proof is in the life jacket. I have gained a significant amount of weight, I'm fat, and I used to be healthier, more active, and happier with myself.
So I've put the life jacket on a hook in the garage, right next to the weights and treadmill. It's funny because I started a new "plan" (Mel's euphemism for diet) just this weekend. Now I've got what I need to stick to it hopefully. And is it sobering?? Damn straight it is. Although the trauma of the life jacket makes me want to drown my sorrows, I just looked up how many calories are in a glass of wine. Ummmm, water here I come. And make it a double.
Jed and I were meeting Bob at the Chena River after work today. There's a great little float where we can put in at one end of town and take out at Alaskaland, and easy hour later. The weather was beautiful and warm after a week of rain and the evening was perfect for getting out on the water.
When I first met Bob, we did a lot of paddling. He's an amazing solo canoe-er and has paddled serious white water by himself, including the Nenana here in Alaska. He was patient with me as I learned to be a bit more serious about canoeing, being raised as I was by easy paddles on lakes and the Swanson, which is typically slow and easy. Our first paddle together is a story worthy of it's own blog.... so we'll just end by saying that before Jed, I spent as much time on the water as I could.
Since Jed, things have changed somewhat. We canoed with him when he was little, a few times a summer, but life was more hectic. Bob got a 12 month job, girls got older with more to do, trips with kids outside - all these meant less time on the water, although I think we exchanged our fun paddling for other family adventures, and that's okay.
But I digress.... the point is, going paddling today wasn't about the paddling. Going paddling today was about the fact that when I went to put on my life jacket, the cute blue one that Bob bought me when we were dating, there was about 7 inches between one side zipper and the next. 7 inches. Bob saw the look on my face and said, " I wondered about that. I brought a bigger life jacket." Ouch. And ouch.
So after years of saying I need to lose weight, trying diets (both sensible and fad), looking at my BMI and reading about the health concerns of fat women, after time spent longingly looking at clothes and catalogs, avoiding pictures with me in them, and plain old denial, the proof is in the life jacket. I have gained a significant amount of weight, I'm fat, and I used to be healthier, more active, and happier with myself.
So I've put the life jacket on a hook in the garage, right next to the weights and treadmill. It's funny because I started a new "plan" (Mel's euphemism for diet) just this weekend. Now I've got what I need to stick to it hopefully. And is it sobering?? Damn straight it is. Although the trauma of the life jacket makes me want to drown my sorrows, I just looked up how many calories are in a glass of wine. Ummmm, water here I come. And make it a double.
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Good vibes coming your way for improving your health.