195.2; The YMCA

About a month ago I walked into the Y at 5am and was greeted by someone other than the usual front desk associate.  Her name was Kristie and she smiled at me.  Then she asked if there was sometime we could get together in the following week.  I asked why and she told me that Pete had nominated me to be the member of the month. 

I cried.  At 5am, with no make up and my hair pulled into sloppy ponytail, swinging my green water bottle and juggling my keys and ID card.  I cried.  At the front desk.  We made arrangements to talk later in the week and I went upstairs to work out.  Before I started on cardio I texted Pete that he made me cry and told him I loved him.

October Elk River YMCA Member of the Month!

Kristi and I talked for about 30 minutes.  See that photo in the upper left hand corner?  When she got to that she asked who those people are.  I was speechless and then answered that it was Pete and I before we started losing weight.  It was her turn to be speechless.  To think that she didn't recognize me when I was sitting right in front of her.  That's mind blowing.  And today I was in a different building for work and I had 2 people who I used to work with daily tell me that they didn't recognize me.  I can't imagine it and I can't see it in myself.

While Kristi and I talked I gave much credit to Pete for so many reasons.  What I'm recognizing now is that while our journeys are different, our paths are close enough that we understand each other.  We know when to support and when to kick the other's ass.  We know when to back off and just let it be and when to stick our nose in.  We know when to encourage and how to encourage.  Having this person not only be my weight loss/work out buddy, but my best friend and my husband too?  It's priceless.  I can't imagine doing it without him.

I also gave credit to the internet blogs and sites that I've come across along the way.  I know that I've talked about them before and there are lots of various ones that I've visited.  The ones that I visit most often are:

Prior Fat Girl she is the one that started it for me.  Seeing and hearing that she did it made me wonder if I could do it also.

Twelve In Twelve hearing her talk about running 12 races in 12 months made me think I could do that also!

Mama Laughlin she says it like it is and doesn't mince words.  Her journey is vastly different than mine, but I appreciate the differentness of it and learned to embrace the things that could work for me.

Dessert For Two Ok, OK!  I know this isn't a weight loss blogger.  But when I love to bake and crave something sweet, I'd much rather make it for 2 than for 20.  I'm not tempted by the other 18 servings.

Fat Little Legs I met this nice woman at a blogger event and was so thankful I did.  Reading her struggles and seeing how far she had come, made me realize that I needed to just go with my journey.  I needed to work my own plan to get my results.

Grace 2882 Again, way different journey.  She is diabetic and controls it through food.  I don't necessarily want to cut all my carbs so her recipes are great ideas for me to start with and add to. 

Kris Gets Healthy  this woman is a fighter.  She is going to battle that weight and give it heck every waking moment.  Her honesty strikes a cord in me. 

Coffee With Sabrina  She and I mirror each other often.  (makes me sound like a weird stalker, but I'm not)  The issues that she has and writes about will sometimes be the same things that I'm feeling and going through.  She just ran her first big race and I can't wait to find a race to sign up for.

There are more.  Some that I read that are no longer online and writing.  Some that have moved their blogs or made them private.  While Pete and I go through this together, he's not a girl.  And sometimes I just needed to read another girl's experiences and be supported by a female. 

All this to say, that I would never ever have accomplished 90+ pounds of weight loss without support in one way or another.  I think one reason that people (me included) failed at losing weight previously is that we did not have the right support system.  The YMCA?  it's part of my support system and I can't imagine doing this without that place and those people.