benefit

Today I proved that I am making smart choices about my health. I hiked to places I have never been- never would have gone before because going down the steep hill means I have to come back up. But today, we went down, up, down, up again, wash, rinse, repeat. I didn’t say no, not once. Not once did I complain, I wasn’t bored, tired or any of those things that I usually am when I look at a trail. I usually get scared of what if’s … Instead, I had the best time ever. Today, I was a mountain goat, herding my little ones over the hill, down the valley, across the crevasse, through the meadow, under the branches and out into the most beautiful vista ever.

It felt magnificent to actually be that person I want to be. The one who can trust her knees and balance, who can trust that she won’t burst a lung on the way up the hill. Who says yes to a hike. The one who won’t embarrass herself by being out of shape and hurting herself by doing so ething stupid- so worried that she would say no and hold her family back- miss the view and the magic. It is wonderful to have broken free of that fear.

On the way home we let the kids pick a place to eat at. We haven’t gone out to eat for months and Jude actually hugged the door of Red Robin on the way in. Bradley and I split a burger and some fries, I ate a salad and after all of our hiking about I was able to stay within the calorie range. It felt really good

I learned a lot today. First, I learned that my activity level greatly improves my family’s quality of life. They go where I go, and where I don’t They don’t go either. it’s not fair to limit them like that. I won’t limit them anymore. I also learned that I can still go out to eat sometimes. I just need to be reasonable.
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I like that last picture because I never in a million jillion years would have leaned on Bradley that way in the past. I would have hated for him to have to support my weight. It was nice to lean on him like that.