When ENOUGH is ENOUGH!

We have all heard the saying "Enough is Enough".   Whether you were aggravating your parents and they were ready to lose it, or your own children were aggravating you, each of us at some time or another has reached our point of no return and said ENOUGH!!

This is how I recently felt about my weight. Until my mid 30’s I was a highly active mother of two.  I played competitive softball, and volleyball and spent plenty of time chasing my children. When I moved south to live in a warmer climate little did I know how hard it would be to play some of the sports I loved because it was just too hot and chasing my children now only meant driving them from activity to activity. The weight gain began slowly, 5lbs then 10. Losing it would be a struggle I had not experienced before. It used to be I could just change my diet a little, eat a little less and the pounds would fall off but not anymore. 

When I reached my 40’s I had settled into my new weight thinking to myself, "Okay so your 15-20 lbs heavier you still look okay, let's not dwell and move on".  But with every 10 years, it seemed like my weight slowly crept up another 10+ lbs.  I checked with friends and it seemed like everyone was struggling with the same thing and everyone was trying something different to lose weight.   Some tried Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, Nutrisystem, and Atkins, better known today as Keto.  There were all kinds of fad diets like the Susan Powder eat potatoes diet or the carnivore diet of just eating meat.   All of these have some level of success but none of them are sustainable.  I too jumped on the bandwagon and tried Weight Watchers.  I did learn a lot from the program about portion control, paying attention to what you eat, and not denying yourself, but it took me 2 years to lose 20 lbs and there was so much tracking of points it wore me out.  Slowly the weight came back and eventually, I surpassed where I had started  I tried Jenny Craig, no thinking involved, just eat their meals, breakfast, lunch dinner, and snacks. I lost 25 pounds in a year and again the minute I stopped eating their food, even just trying to switch out one meal like breakfast, the weight returned and then some.  This past January I signed up for Nutrisystems.  In all honesty, it was the worst of them all.  The food was genuinely awful! High carb, full of sugar, I'm not even sure how people lose weight except the portions are small. 

My 40+ year career in IT put me in a sedentary job, sitting behind a computer every day with little or no exercise. I worked from home for more than 20 years, which gave me easy access to the kitchen, not only when I was hungry but when I was bored. My nearly 30 years of being single made me an emotional eater.  On average a single person will spend 67% of their time alone compared to 37% if they are in a relationship or married. My younger self ate food for fuel, and my older self was eating for pleasure and comfort.  Two very different mindsets.  I could eat ice cream every night and not gain weight, but I was already nearly 200 lbs. I would look in the mirror and kid myself that I looked okay, and then I would see a video of myself on the worship stage at church or in photos with friends and realize this was out of control.  I felt defeated and was officially declared obese.  Even my primary care physician gave me no hope or encouragement.  

In April of 2021, I was ready to do something different and try to exercise more, and then on a simple walk around the block, I broke my ankle in three places. I acquired two plates, eleven screws, and three months of being non-weight-bearing, which meant I was doing not much more than sitting all day and night. All the sitting aggravated a herniated disk that two different doctors said I would need surgery to repair. I had a knee scooter which gave me some mobility and a loving neighbor who let me borrow an electric wheelchair so I could walk the dog, but my life in an instant came to a screeching halt.  Being overweight was just one part of my struggle now. I learned a lot about what it meant to be disabled and wondered if this was how it was going to be for me going forward.  I did see some true goodness and kindness in people who wanted to help, and I had a loving church family who walked the journey with me and for that, I am forever grateful.  My faith in this season is what sustained me. 

Once I could get back on my feet, I declared ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.