Hey, I can bend over!

“Hey I can bend over!”  Now that statement might not mean that much to you but it sure meant something to me today!  Let me tell you what I’m talking about.

Bending over, whether I was tying my shoes, picking up firewood, or a dozen other tasks was not as easy as it should be due to my excess weight.  I have been on my latest weight loss journey for about 6 weeks but today I did something which helped me realize what a difference losing just a few pounds can make.  My son recently dropped off some firewood at our home and I went out this afternoon to stack it on my wood pile.  Now you need to know that is an activity which involves lots and lots of bending, reaching, carrying and lifting.  I have done it for years but it has become much more difficult as the extra pounds kept building up on my body.  Today, I went outside, moved the tarp which covered the wood and bent down to get my first armful.  This is no lie, I said right out loud to one but myself, “Hey, I can bend over!”  Unless you’ve been there I’m not sure you can really grasp how good that felt.  There was no sense of strain, no squeezing sensation in my gut (yup, it’s a real word) and no shortness of breath.  There was just a complete sense of freedom of movement that I hadn’t felt in quite a while.  And it felt good!

This is a small victory, to be sure, but I think that these moments are important to recognize as well as share when you’re on a weight loss journey.  Because these things are all demonstrating to you that “It’s working!”  With only the loss of a few pounds you can already see changes in your body shape and condition that makes moving around and doing common and familiar tasks so much easier.  It not only helps you see what has already changed, it sparks your imagination as to what other benefits await you around that next weight loss corner.  Will I be able to run again?  Will it be easier to do other tasks that have become a problem?  When will my next weight loss “ah ha” moment happen and how?  These are things that help you look forward to that next little victory, that next step (sometimes a literal one) on this road to better health.

I encourage you to keep your eyes open for those little moments that indicate that you are changing, getting better, getting stronger and more healthy.  It helps you stay motivated to “stick to the plan”, knowing that other, exciting and encouraging results lie ahead.  Don’t always look for the big, impressive changes but watch for those little blessings, those little steps that build on one another, moving you along toward your own goals.  I saw a poster that said it better than I can.  I'll include it below.  It reads, ‘Don’t forget to enjoy the little things in life for one day you will look back and realize that they were the big things.’  Here’s hoping that you will spot some of those “little things” even yet today.  They are there, you just have to look for them.  God bless.