Listen Me,

You saw the pics from your dance class on Sunday. You saw your friends who somehow, remarkably, manage to never put on any weight and remain in phenomenal shape that you have let yourself get away from. You know…. you have some challenges that other people don’t. You can’t be so hard on yourself because you can’t do everything everyone else can do. What you CAN do, you need to do.

You used to be strong and athletic and active. Life got in the way. You had fun getting to where you are today and now you’re paying for it and YOU HAVE TO BE EASY ON YOURSELF. Your hands hurt, like, all of the time. You will likely only ever be able to lift a certain amount of weight because after a while and so many surgeries on one hand and putting so much pressure on the other, you’ve created irreparable damage. It’s ok though. Think about all of the fun you had getting there.

Comparing yourself to others is going to get you nowhere except down in the dumps. You’re doing so well! Think of where you were in 2016. You got on track with a trainer, started eating better, working out – you started TRYING. That’s step one I believe. Sure 2020 was a challenge. Finally progress was being had just to have it rudely ripped away from you via the ‘Rona – that bitch. 2021 came around though and as soon as you could you hopped back on that lifting wagon. Your eating isn’t on point, but it’s SO MUCH BETTER. That’s something to be proud of.

Don’t think negative. You would never do that to someone else so why would you do that to yourself? Allow yourself to fail, pick yourself up, try again and again until you find what works for you. Life is hard. Eating right is hard. Finding a good workout schedule is hard. Staying positive about yourself and your body image may be the most difficult. Just keep on TRYING. It’s all you can do. You have to do it. As soon as you let yourself fall back into that hole of depression you will also fall off of all of these healthy wagons you’ve gotten back on! You need to get healthy so keep it up. You’re allowed to make mistakes, just keep on jumping back up and trying again!

You’re strong. You’re willing. You can do it! <3

Me