I don’t quite remember if my Pops ever actually said these words to me, but he must have said something or did something that has left a permanent imprint on my life.
“You can do anything, you can be anyone, there is nothing out of reach for you. Work hard and you will get there!”
Again, I have no actual memory of this life lesson, but I have always felt it was something my dad taught me or at least wanted to teach me.
These past couple of weeks has been pretty emotional for me. I started thinking of this blog as I was visiting my father at Riverside Memorial Cemetery on Memorial day where my Pops has been residing for the past 12 years. His 69th birthday had just passed. I rediscovered that time hasn’t healed me, but what I have gone through during that time has made me stronger. The drive up was a nice time to reflect on what had happened this last year, how much I have accomplished during my Journey to Fitness. It made me smile as I realized how proud my father would be of me.
So what have I accomplished? I have officially reached my 50lbs lost mark! I distinctly remember writing down my goals when I started my journey (this was before I thought of it as a journey). I wrote down that I would like to lose 50lbs. Then I laughed inside and thought- yeah right! I’d have to lose a couple of limbs for that. Well, here I am, all limbs still intact and I am in fact 50lbs lighter. I started at 201lbs…. that’s 25% of my weight, gone! and gone forever. I have also been able to shed 12.5″ from around my waist alone, I have yet to see how many from the various places I measured at originally (I now wish I measured every inch of me, including fingers and toes!). I have also dropped from 37.5% body fat to 29%.
Now what? Stop? keep going? shed another 50lbs? go back to my old ways? Well, if I went back to my old ways after all that I learned I hope you’d smack me when you saw me! As I have mentioned before this is a journey, about 20lbs ago I realized that this journey is not about a particular number on the scale- even though that can be one way to measure it, it is not even about losing inches it’s about taking care of the body God has blessed us with. The fat loss is just a natural side effect of clean eating and appropriate exercise.
I’m not done, I will continue on this journey for the rest of my life. I do have goals for the near future. I would like to be down to 25% body fat by September when I hope and pray I will be able to get my personal training certification. When I get there I will reflect and revise my goals, that’s how I roll.
If you would have told the old fat Rossy that, I would have laughed at you, but something my heavenly father has taught me is that “With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible.” Mark 10:27.
Before: After:
say goodbye to the old Rossy
- Say Hello to the new Rossy!