I tried walking outside, walking inside, workout apps, and diet apps. I tried diet pills, every diet plan you have ever heard of (and plenty more that you haven’t heard of). I counted carbs, counted calories, joined in person groups, and Facebook groups.
Anything and everything that promised weight loss, I was all in.
I was searching desperately for something I could use to be healthier and still be able to enjoy life. But I didn't want to starve myself or run myself ragged.
I love my special times like my weekly dinner date with my husband. Like sampling the special birthday meals that I have always made for our family and friends. Those are among the things that bring me the greatest joys and I didn't want to give them up.
Still, I kept trying every slimming strategy I could find looking for one that actually worked for me!
After all of my discipline and hard work, I had lost a grand total of...19 lbs.
I was getting discouraged, almost to the point of giving up entirely. But, my determination to succeed for those who loved me wouldn’t let me quit.
There was a voice inside me that kept saying that the solution was out there, I just need a little more time to find it. And what I did find makes me so glad that I didn't give up!
Little could I have known while waiting at our favorite restaurant for my husband to arrive for our weekly dinner date that my life was about to change, forever. I was about to discover the answer to all of my searching.
I noticed that our young waiter was giving a little more attention to the lady a few tables over from me than he was to his other customers.
I could hear them laughing and flirting each time he went back to check on her.
When she got up to leave, I took a long look. She looked familiar, but… it couldn’t be! Then she saw me and came toward my table and called me by name, It was her!—Joanne, a friend of mine from school that I hadn’t seen in years.
I got up and gave her a big hug and it hit me HARD. Here we had graduated from high school together but someone who didn’t know us would have thought she was at least 20 years younger than me.
She was so trim and toned! It had been several years since I had seen her, but she hardly resembled the way I remembered her.
As we tallked, she told me about what she had going on, how she was still working full time, had several hobbies, and was spending as much time with her grandkids as she could get.
It seemed she had that vitality and stamina that I had lost years ago as my weight continued to balloon. And her inner glow was so obvious!
