Bringing Fitness into Perspective
Air under my feet. Levitating. Higher. Higher still. Faster. Sweat pouring. The sound of my own raspy breath filling my ears. Heart pounding, thighs screaming. Tears. Welling up in my eyes, easily mistaken for sweat. Not tears of pain. 
Or agony. Or defeat. But joy. Joy tinged with sadness. At my a-ha moment. The very moment I realized who I had become who I had changed myself into how hard I had worked – and what I had lost in the process. I was someone strong capable and very fit. Mentally balanced. I was there, in the moment, with 200 other people, sweating, breathing and moving. I had fought for this. Oh, I had fought for this. Hard. Gained a lot and lost even more. But I had survived. I was there and I was doing it. All my hard work and all that I lost, wrapped up into the one moment. I sweated. And then I cried.
We all have an "a-ha moment." Mine was at the 2007 IDEA fitness convention at an athletic skills and drills workshop. Not much of a place for a revelation. There were no lights from heavens above, no angels singing. Just a single blue, half-dome BOSU, propulsion….and me.
In August of 2003 I weighed 198 pounds. I wore a size 20. I could not walk very far. I could not climb stairs. My feet hurt all the time. I had spent years staring into the bottoms of empty ice cream containers, spoon in hand, wondering what had happened to me and my life. Where did I go? Who was this unhappy creature, eating away her days, just passing time, waiting until she died? I had no answers. The young, fit, happy, passionate, hopeful 20-year-old I once knew was gone. She had been replaced by an older, unfit, unhappy, passionless, hopeless 37-year-old one who could not even reach her feet to tie her shoelaces.
When I subconsciously made my decision to give myself one last chance, to make one final effort after thousands of failures, it was the beginning of a new life, but also the end of an old. My resolution to better my health, reduce my cholesterol, strengthen my bad valve-plagued heart, and reduce the excess weight that caused me so much physical pain ended up costing me my marriage, my family and much of my life.
Losing weight for me was never about looking better or being attractive to the opposite sex. I couldn’t, and still can’t, care less. I wanted to feel my body move again. Wanted to feel alive again. Wanted to have less pain. Wanted not to have people look at me in pity. Poor fat girl. No self-control. I used to be strong. I used to be healthy. I wanted to feel that again. I wanted to show my children that exercise is good. That our bodies are meant to move. How great it feels to work and stretch your muscles. And how it builds you from the inside, providing mental strength and fortitude, purpose and passion.
I fought hard. I would get up early before my kids rose and strength train. I would walk them to school. I tried to squeeze exercise in without compromising too much time with my family. I gave up television completely and sacrificed any other recreational activities so I could spin. But fighting hard for my health became the problem, because I had started fighting for something. Myself. Finally standing up for me. Becoming who I used to be. And standing up for me meant developing a backbone, which was the beginning of the end.
By "finding myself" I lost the life I was used to. But I also gained purpose and meaning: helping others. Helping them get healthier and stronger. Lowering their cholesterol. Strengthening their hearts. Making them laugh and looking forward to working out. Freeing their minds. And hopefully gaining longer and better lives. I could finally contribute something to the world. Give some positive energy back instead of draining it, as I had before. Teach my children happiness and pride of accomplishment.
My "a-ha moment" was bittersweet. I had made huge physical and mental gains. I was healthy again. I could keep up with a room full of fitness professionals, feeling my body working and moving, joints smooth and bones strong. I could sense all that I had sacrificed to get there, and all that I had lost.
But for one moment, that magical moment, I was the "old" me. I was in a convention hall – yes – but soaring, body and soul. Free to be me. To feel my body move. Just for minute, be that 20-year-old again. And flying.
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