My Fat Belly And Me...Hope For The Future

You are such and inspiration , I enjoyed reading your post , I too have a hard time with my belly , Ive had 2 C-Sections and a Hysterectomy so I dont have alot of stomach muscle but thank goodness I got the bikini cut and not up and down cut.. But I can also tell that my belly is getting smaller also , but I was also wondering if it will tighten back up and not hang , so reading your post has gave me hope , Thank you ..Keep up the good work

There are so many of us older ladies (and yes...even old men) who are trying to lose weight in bodies that have been really beat up over time. Looking in the mirror and seeing how much we must overcome can be discouraging.

There has got to be a point in time, when we accept that some things cannot be changed. You can't undo most of the scars and a lifetime of stretch marks and wear on our flesh; but we can IMPROVE what we have...even after 68 years. I am proof of that. Our bodies can get thinner, if we are willing to MAKE A COMMITMENT to a healthy food plan. Our bodies can look better even with the scars, wrinkles and stretch marks, if we are willing to MAKE A COMMITMENT to some form of exercise.

I said SOME FORM OF EXERCISE. I did not say...going to the gym, running for miles or doing a 10K. Some of us do have physical limitations and life limitations; but no one has to sit around all day long, watching TV, playing on the computer and eating mindlessly...like a fat frog, catching flies on a lily pad.

At some point, each of us said, "ENOUGH!!! I don't want to be like this anymore."

That is when we started our journey to get BETTER, but 'better' has to be defined. If your 'better' is just to lose 10 or 20 pounds, it will be just a food issue. If your 'better' is to get healthier and stronger, then it will also be an exercise issue. If you want to turn around a lifetime of abusing your body, then you must do it all...eat better and exercise. That's the category that I fall into...the old worn out body group.

I had to redefine who I was and who I wanted to be. I could stay the 'sweet grannie in her wheelchair', letting everyone feel sorry for me and wait on me, like a cripple. I could slowly but surely keep adding pounds and keep moving closer to diabetes, heart problems and the grave...BUT...I don't feel like living that way any longer. I want my life back...the life I threw away, when I let the pounds destroy my knees.

I woke up this morning, thinking..."I don't feel old. Yes, I am 68 years old; but I don't feel any older than I did, when I was 38. So, I am NOT OLD. I still have plenty of years to live."

Some of the youngsters on MFP believe that they have a lifetime ahead them, while I am only a few years away from the grave. One young MFP member went so far as to tell me that very rude fact in a post. No one knows, when they will die. My kid sister was murdered at 26; my Mom died of cancer at 66; my Dad died in the Northridge quake at 72 with my stepmom who was only 42. They didn't know that they were going to die at that age. Neither the 26 year old or the 72 year old could know that their time on earth had come to an end.

On the other hand, my maternal grandma lived to 95 and had 2 aunts that lived into the hundreds. What if I am meant to live 'til I am 102 or 103? Do I want to spend the next 30 or more years as a fat, old woman in a wheelchair? NO!!!

I want to be that sharp, little grannie who is buzzing around on her grannie bike and still flirting with her old man. I want to keep my body and my mind active and engaged in life...not sitting around waiting for God to take me home. In the meantime, I still have a lot to do; and I don't want to do it from a wheelchair.

So, I had to make a REAL COMMITMENT to eating better and exercises in any way that I could, whether it is swimming laps or doing Sit And Fit exercises and using my grannie hand weights. I also had to involve others in my plan. I had to be accountable to someone, when I might be tempted or discouraged. That's where MFP came in. I am still making a daily COMMITMENT to my food plan and my MFP friends. That's how it works for me.

Oh, my goodness! This sounds like another post...or blog.