This is Gonna' Hurt

This past weekend, my 7 year old daughter went with her grandmother, my mother, to Oklahoma to work at a charity race. On a whim, Princess decided that she wanted to run in the one mile fun run. She ran a 6 minute mile, and my cousin who ran with her said she could have run it faster if Princess hadn't had to wait on her.

This past Little League season, Princess played baseball for the first time. She played in coach pitch, she was the only girl on her team, she had the coaches wrapped around her little finger, she could outrun the boys on her team around the bases by a full second, and there were at least two times that I saw her beat the ball to first base.

My friends, my daughter is showing natural athletic ability. MY daughter! I have no athletic ability. I will trip over an air current. I am 35 years old, and I have never made contact between a ball and a bat. The only think I have ever managed to do with a vollyball is get my nose broken. But, my daughter is athletic...and that means that I'm gonna have to suck it up, and encourage that in her by at least being an example of someone who tries. This, my daughter, is my impetus to getting off my tuckus and doing something about all that baby fat.

The last time I was at a healthy weight for me was in November 2001, when I found out I was pregnant with Princess. Since then, I have fluctuated somewhere between 40-50 lbs overweight. Or, to put it painfully, I have fluctuated somewhere between obese and obese +10 lbs. This hasn't really bothered me, because also since November 2001, I have given birth to three children, and Rock loves me more than he did when we got married. So, I am fat and happy.

I am still happy, but I cannot remain fat. Not only do I need to encourage my daughter, but I also need to take care of myself. This last year, my father was diagnosed with prostate cancer, he is doing fine now, but during the course of his treatment I found out a lot of family health history that I did not know. For instance; my maternal grandmother died from congestive heart failure, and so did her mother, and so did her grandmother. Also: Every generation on my mother's side has had insulin dependent Type 2 diabetes. You know this information can really make you think..."Hey! Maybe I should shed a few lbs."

Yesterday, I finally came about and realized that I have to do something...and I have to do something now, today, right this very instant. And I did. Stick with me because, folks...This is gonna' hurt.