Support

One thing I know for sure is that losing weight and staying healthy for good is not something I can do alone. I might have all the self-motivation in the world, but it still wouldn't work. Eventually I would feel like it just wasn't worth it. I know because I have been there before.

Luckily, the more I think about it the more I see that there are people supporting me at every turn. First, of course there is my husband. I often wish that his support were more active than verbal, because I want him to feel the benefits of healthy living too. But he is a great emotional support. He tells me every day how beautiful I am, and I believe him. Also, he gives me the time I need every morning to work out and take a shower so that I can feel like a normal person before I spend all day with my girls. It's early time, because he has to leave by 8:30 every morning, but it means the world to me. If I didn't know my girls were taken care of while I was gone, I would never leave.

Another source of obvious support is from the coaches at Curves, and the other ladies who work out there. Most of the ladies I see every single morning are somewhere between my mother's age and my grandmother's age. I am so inspired by their consistency. 7 o'clock every single day I see the same group. They know my name and they are happy to see me there. They would notice if I missed a day, which is great motivation to not ever miss a day. We cheer each other on, and I really need that. It's important to my progress that someone is noticing a difference.

I feel support from my friends on Facebook when I post a status about my health journey, and they cheer me on. It's kind of scary for me to put myself out there like that for all to see that I know I need to lose weight. It's kind of embarrassing, and it's sometimes hard to convince myself that it's ok this personal thing is going to show up in 400-500 people's newsfeeds. But I feel so much better when I know I'm accountable to my friends. I don't have very many random "friends" on facebook. It's mostly my family and other people I have really cared about over the years. It seems silly to say that I feel supported when people like my status, but I do.

I am supported by friends at church, many of whom are moms themselves and have been through so much more than I have at this point. They don't look down on me because I haven't had as much life experience as they have. They inspire me and they let me know when I've inspired them too.

Now as I start this 8 week challenge, I already feel more support. I feel support from my health coach, who is someone I knew from a travel study program I did 8 years ago. I feel support from the ladies in team "Mission Slim-possible" even though I've never met them. I was content to do my best alone in this challenge, but being on a team makes it so much better. That extra support is going to push me to do so much better.

All this support makes me wonder who would count me as part of their support. I hope there are many who would. I hope that I lift the people around me. When I think about it, so much of the reason I want to be stronger is so that others can lean on me as I have needed to lean on them.