My pic-South Beach Miami. I love this place.
I was a bridesmaid in May. It may be the only time I receive this honor and it was AMAZING. The only teeny, tiny fly in the ointment was the fact that I was the FAT BRIDESMAID! There were four of us and to be honest one of the girls was ridiculously skinny as she lives in Vietnam and I’m convinced it’s too hot to eat even though the food is great. My friend’s dad didn’t recognize me…Last year I visited family and my uncle walked past me then returned and said “I didn’t recognize you. You seem bigger.” Gotta love family
I was the FAT AMERICAN. Really. I was the only American guest and I had the distinct honor of being the fat bridesmaid. I’m being honest. Now, for those of you who have met me you’re probably thinking Michelle calm down you’re just fine. And my dear friends in the blogging world are so supportive and kind but honestly I’ve gained almost 30 pounds in the last 7 years. It doesn’t surprise me that the weight gain matches the depressed years, the broke years, the I’m feeling sorry for myself years, and the I’ve worked the same job forever years. I can feel the difference in my energy, attitude, self-esteem, and my thighs keep rubbing holes in my pants. I’m not making this up!
I’m emerging from the dark years and I’m sick of all of the excuses that I’ve used to keep from living my life the way I should be-with energy, hope, and happiness. As a an American and as a woman of color I am becoming more and more concerned with how people aren’t dealing with their health and well-being. You can see it everywhere. People aren’t well. Don’t pretend you haven’t noticed. This is not an issue of aesthetics, it’s an issue of health, family vitality, national security (not making this one up!) and self-esteem.
According to a 2012 report from the Center for Disease Control more than 35% of Americans are considered obese. Almost 50% of Black Americans are considered obese. I checked my BMI (Body Mass Index) and discovered that it’s at 25.7 which is considered obese. By the way anything over 24.9 is considered obese-I’m almost at 26. I am very lucky that the weight settled evenly-I just look a little bloated all over like I mentioned in a previous post.
As I deal with my finances and write posts I realize that money for me is totally cerebral. It’s all in my head. I find that I’m spending a lot of time thinking about how I think about how I think about my relationship with money and how my self-esteem is affected by how I feel about my personal situation.
There is no wealth without health.
What is the point to getting my money together without taking care of myself? I believe that I owe it to myself, my family, and country-yes, country to take care of my health and well-being. I don’t want to be another statistic.
I have begun training for a 1/2 marathon. It’s the ING Miami Half Marathon being held on February 2, 2014. I am frightened about this challenge because I’ve never done something like this before. It’s a good thing its 8 months away-I don’t run!!! I have to get in the habit of training and running. I read an amazing post about a week ago written by a blogger whose name I missed! She wrote about why she runs and what it does for her. It was a very powerful post and anyone who knows the name of that post could you let me know?? Shannyn from FrugalBeautiful also wrote a great post about running as well. I am using that post as inspiration as well.
As you pay off your debt make sure that the number one thing that you take time to invest in is YOU! A physically healthy you becomes a mentally healthy you who is able to deal with the sh$t that you’re dealing with.
For me, money is a all in my head. Sadly, it will take time to deal with all of the crap that is in my head.
If you are dealing with debt repayment and weight gain, what are you doing to take care of yourself first?
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Bravo Michelle! I think you’re right in that it is serious epidemic in this country. Look, you are a smokin’ hot beautiful girl, but if you aren’t feeling your best and want to get healthy, I applaud you. Congrats on making the decision to run a 1/2 marathon. I’m on the fence about doing one, mainly because I know I have to leave the sand to do it, and I’m not sure I want to do that. But other than that I’d LOVE to do one! BTW I just went to the Toledo Zoo today. To see SO many people riding around in wheelchairs and Rascals (who didn’t look old enough to need one) seriously depressed me. I’m so fearful of being “that person.” And healthy doesn’t always mean weight…my mom was tiny and she is very unhealthy. You can save and save and have millions of dollars, but without good health it’s nothing.
Tonya, you and all of my fabulous blogger friends are so good for my ego! Living in places like Colorado and California can create a bit of stress when it comes to pressure to be fit, etc. I also have relatives in the Mid-West and every time I travel outside of Colorado people freak me out! People are not well. Also, I see that black americans are not taking care of their health and I really don’t want to be a statistic.I want to lead by example. I have relatives who are prematurely aging because of their health problem and are too young to have some of the health problems that they have. You are invited to Miami for the 1/2 marathon btw. I should write a post about that and see who would be interested in running it. It’s on February 2, 2014. Plenty of time to train.
I can so relate to this post! I was drowning in debt a few years ago and I finally woke up and started doing something about it. I worked night and day (almost literally) and managed to pay it off, but had such bad eating habits throughout that time, that I was just unhealthy. I spent so much time thinking about my debt and almost no time thinking about my own health, which I believe, is shortsighted.
Good for you for taking care of yourself and all the best with the marathon!
I am really trying to keep things balanced and am trying to approach the debt repayment in a way where I don’t stress myself out and lose sight of taking care of my health and well-being. I spent a lot of time being stressed out and it really didn’t get me anywhere. Now, my head is finally in the right place/mental space and I want to really focus on my health. I want to make some big changes in my life and the first change is my attitude about how I feel about myself. It’s really a challenging, exciting, and frightening time for me because I also have to examine why I do what I do…both the positive and the negative things. Self-reflection is so uncomfortable!
Hey Michelle
I tried to leave a comment before but I’m not sure if it went through – you might get two from me. I just wanted to say that you lookin’ pretty foxy in your picture but improving your health is always a good thing. 🙂
I am overweight myself and I know I want to tackle this issue in a more active way very soon. I really admire your courage to take on a half marathon and I think you’ll do great. 🙂 I’m looking forward to hearing about any updates you want to share with us – you’re honesty is completely inspiring. Thanks for sharing, sweetie.
Thanks for the kind words Lindsey! Every once in awhile my site acts up. It is apparently temperamental! The 1/2 marathon is intimidating to me, but I think that I’m capable of doing it. Happily, I have a ton of time to pull myself together and get this done! Let me know if you would like to join me. I also mentioned this to Tonya at Budget and the Beach. The more the merrier.
I love this post! I think the other post you were referring to was Anna from Are Ya Gonna Eat That? She is great! I am so inspired by your comprehensive, holistic approach to health. As soon as my health insurance kicks in in September, I either want to train for a 1/2 marathon or a century bike ride. Probably the bike ride, since I equate running with feeling like I am dying, lol. Luckily, I don’t have such a problem with physical health, but my issue is staying mentally balanced. When you think about it, it’s stressful to manage your physical, mental, emotional and financial well-being! Congrats on taking the first step and making it public 🙂
Thank you so much for helping me find that post!!! I loved it and couldn’t figure it out. The longer I’ve worked on the blog the more I realized that I have to take a mind/body approach. It’s very hippy trippy but I think working on things in my head will help me work on my body. I have FINALLY begun to sloooowly lose some weight. I did add some extra exercise and I don’t think I would be experiencing any measure of success with my weight if I haven’t been working on the stuff in my head. I really appreciate your encouragement and kind words! If you want to do the 1/2 marathon let me know-the more the merrier. And typically I wouldn’t run unless I was being chased, so this is a huge deal for me to attempt to do this.