73 Days | It's Sunday...Be Encouraged!

I'm sharing something I wrote on my personal blog on January 13th last year.  I hope you find it powerful and encouraging.  Motivation to keep going!

Maybe today is the day you'll have a conversation with yourself...

Conversations with Myself

January 13, 2013

I'm discouraged today.  So, today is good time to go back and remind myself of how far I've come.  Recently, these commercials were released by Medifast meal replacements entitled "Conversations with Yourself."  

So, today I had a conversation with THIS girl--the girl on the beach in 2009.  This was not my heaviest weight.  I would gain about another 30+ pounds before I called my health coach and started my journey toward optimal health.  Here's what I would say to her, if I could go back and talk to her now.

"Your smile is beautiful, Julie, but I know how sad you really are. I know how painful this beach trip was for you, both physically and emotionally. I know how badly you wanted to play with your kids and run in the sand, but how hard it was for you to even walk to the place where you could sit. You're scared to try one more thing and fail--I get it. We've tried so many times to be free from the burden of obesity. But, you CAN do this! There IS hope. You WILL find it through friends who will tell you about their health coach and a program called Take Shape for Life. It will be the easiest plan you've ever done. You will LOVE it. And what you will really love? That it will work. And you'll finally experience the freedom you've wanted. You WILL run on this beach. Crazy, huh? But true. Don't ever give up. Give yourself this one more chance."

I DID run on that beach this summer.  Our daughter got lost in the mobs of people and was missing for about 5 minutes.  When I was told she was found at the next life guard station I RAN to her.  Down the coastline.  Through the difficult shifting sand.  And I didn't collapse or feel fatigued.  I felt like a healthy person, running on the beach.  There is ALWAYS hope.  But...even I need to be reminded of that some days! 

We have 73 more days together...please, don't give up!