Perspective

It's no surprise that I've had a couple of difficult weeks with my weight loss.  I had two weeks of gains, followed by a huge loss on Friday.  A loss that I was very thankful for.  Something else happened on Friday.  I gained a little bit of perspective of what I've done in the past six and a half months.

When I first started working in Vancouver,  I secretly dreaded taking the train.  It wasn't because it was a long ride (70 minutes) or that the hours were long (leave the house at 610am get home at 630pm), it was the stairs that I had to do when I got to the train station.  The parking lot is on one side of the train tracks, the platform on the other.  You have to go up a series of steps (86 on one side, 82 on the other) and along a walk way to get from point A to point B.

I had a hard time with the stairs.  I would huff and puff my way up.  Walk slowly to catch my breath along the walk way, walk down the other side and think whew!  I made it!  I would then go to my pod and sit there still huffing and puffing for a few minutes.  It was a challenge to get my 300+pounds up and down those stairs.

I've been noticing that the stairs are much easier, I wouldn't say I breeze up them, but I don't have to stop and I'm no longer huffing and puffing my way up and down them.  There's no need to catch my breath or to sit huffing and puffing all the while hoping that no one is noticing how heavy I'm breathing.

At least until Friday.  When I came home from work on Friday I had a SWAG kit for one of the Dragon Boat Teams that we sponsor.  The kit weights roughly 30 - 35 pounds and shipping for the kit is about 50.00.  Since I live where the kit was going to I volunteered to take it home and drop it off at the Dragon Team Captains house.   As I was going up and over the stairs carrying the kit,  I got to the top and thought to myself Hey, I'm a little winded, I haven't had this feeling in a long time.  And that's when it dawned it on.  I have lost the equivalent of two of these kits.  Looking at this package I was carrying it dawned on me just how far I've come.

Yes I was hard on myself last week when I gained.  Yes, I was frustrated and disappointed with the turn of events.  But coming home from work on Friday with that kit, gave me the perspective I needed.  I've done well, and I'll continue to do well as long as I stay focused and don't give up.  It's kind of nice to know that a SWAG kit gave me the perspective that I truly needed.