Comfortable in my own skin...

I debated even posting this, but what the heck, only live once. A little background. I'm 42 years old and I have 5 children, 4 of them in 4 years and 3 months, plenty of women have done this. No big deal, but we all know the wear and tear that can happen to a woman's body. I let myself go and was being super Mom, doing everything for everybody. I got fat. I did that, not the kids, not my lifestyle, just me. I disliked myself, I was uncomfortable because of my size, nothing fit, I couldn't keep up with my kids, I didn't want my husband to see me naked, the list goes on. Life was passing me by and it had more to do with how I felt than anything else. I woke up, I worked my *kitten* off, everyday. I never gave up. I learned how to run and I love lifting heavy. But the absolute best thing about all of this is I have learned to love myself. I will never see the dream body I thought I was working toward but I see something better. I see a woman with self worth. I have stretch marks, and a small pooch and scars, but I feel like I look fantastic. Oh, I still have those days where I wish I could call a pajama day and not leave the house, I wouldn't be human if I didn't have those. I guess what I am trying to say is love yourself, I was scared as heck to post that pic as my profile pic, but I did it. There is hope for every single one of you. You just have to want it bad enough. So here I am, in my undies, hoping beyond hope that I can inspire one person to keep going, don't settle, keep pushing yourself. Age, life, how many kids, whatever your cross is, none of that can keep you from living the life you so richly deserve.

Laurie

PS I did all this eating like a champ. 1700-2500 a day.