By His Grace I Can.

BMI. Are these 3 letters a bit triggering for anyone else? Yes, the BMI (Body Mass Index) is admittedly not as widely referenced or used these days, but let's be honest, our society is still fixated on "beauty standards" which is most often linked to weight and clothes size. I'd say that at this point at my life I'm generally happy and excited to be alive.  I'm happy with who I see in the mirror.  But then I see a picture that someone took of me and SCREECH! It's like I mentally put the brakes on. Is that me?? Do I really look like that? And then occasionally I self-sabotage myself by googling my current BMI.    According to this chart I am EXTREMELY OBESE. Does anyone really want these words to flash up on a screen when describing your body? NO.  Heck no. And REALLY, does the diagram need to make me out to be an oompa loompa? Now, let's take a walk down memory lane.  10 years ago, after having my second baby, I got my butt in gear and lost 65 pounds....

I have to be in the right mental space to make exercise a priority.  There are so many other things I'd rather do with my time.  Unlike in high school, at 38, I don't mind my curves, but "the pooch" gets in the way.  Maybe it should be called a pouch.  It looks like I'm saving space for my baby kangaroo to come back. After a LONG time of not exercising, last Fall, my cute 7 year old asked if we could go jogging before school.  Jogging? This body hasn't done more than a hustled supermarket sweep before school pick up.  But we went and we punctuated our walk with 10 second bursts of labored "jogging". Afterwards I was doing some "sit ups" ( Malorie's doing the modified ) because I'm sick of this pooch getting in the way.   It gets in the way of wearing my favorite pants and skirts.  It makes bending down difficult.  I don't mind the reminder that my body carried and birthed 6 beautiful human beings.  I just don't want to wear ...