It's Not Just About The Jeans

Seriously, it's not a fluke. I put on my sweat pants today and I could have sworn they were baggier than normal. I'm thinking it's probably my imagination. They're sweat pants. They're supposed to be baggy. But even my sweater was drooping off my shoulder a little. That's odd. Whatever. So my clothes are a little baggy. So later on this evening, I wondered "what if... what if I'm releasing more weight... getting a little smaller in size... let's put this to the test." I walked into my closet and moved to the left of the rack, where my smaller sizes are kept. That's what I do. I keep the smaller sizes on the left and the larger sizes on the right. And the jeans are also categorized by color, as are my t-shirts. Call me crazy, or obsessed, if you want. I call that organized. I never have to wonder where a particular item of clothing is! But if truth be known, you should see my sock drawer. Not so tidy!

So anyway, I quickly found my size eight jeans that have been patiently awaiting my attention for, oh, months and months! You see, a couple years ago I carefully folded and tucked those jeans away in a box - not to be discarded or forgotten, but rather contained and preserved, like a mistress in waiting, dutifully biding her time until her suitor returned for her once again. But when I had finally reached my goal of size 12, for continued inspiration, I took out my size ten jeans and hung them up - by style and color. Left to right. And for giggles and grins, I released my size eights from the confines of seclusion in their turret. After all, that's where mistresses and ladies in waiting... wait. Or in the case of my jeans, in a box. But now they are on the rack in my closet, free!

With just a speck of ambivalence, I slipped on the size eights. Yes. I slipped them on. And zipped them. And buttoned them. And I examined myself in the mirror and thought "WOW!" And I did a little dance and sang a little song, and was just a little bit thrilled. But that's just one pair of jeans. What about the other two pairs. Let's just cut to the chase and let me tell you, they all fit beautifully! It's not a fluke!

You must understand something. In my 30’s and 40’s, my health took a nose dive, and my waistline expanded because of this. And then I became more and more unhealthy, and bigger, and more exhausted… until I reached a point of realization. I might very well die young if I don’t take control of my health now. So having been in deep depression for much of my adult life, feeling sick all the time, experiencing headaches nearly on a daily basis, and unable to sleep for more than 15 minutes at a time every night, and then not being able to fall back to sleep, among many other things… you can see now why I’m so overjoyed to be sharing this little victory with you. Maybe you can see now that I’m not just on a diet, and I’m not just losing weight. I’ve made a choice about how I feed my body. I am realizing my goals that I used to be too afraid to set for myself. I am living my dreams of having a healthy body that moves smoothly and glides through life with ease. It’s not just about the jeans. Every day I get to look at myself in the mirror and say “There you are! Where have you been for the last twenty years? I’ve missed you!”