On one hand, regrets... on the other hand, no regrets

When I stand naked in front of my full-length mirror, I am filled with regrets. Despite the fact that I now weigh roughly what I weighed my freshman year of high school, my body does NOT look like it did back then. To start with, there's the flab on the back of my arms. What a friend refers to as "bingo arms". If I could cut it off, and just leave the muscle, I would be happy. Then there's a little flab on the inside of my thighs. It's not as bad as the bingo arms, but it's still there. Next is the fact that my boobs are not where they were in high school. Gravity has taken over, and it's kind of scary. Then there's the stomach. I actually mentioned my stomach the other day to some coworkers, and one said "Where do you hide it?" I said "Under my clothes." I'm sure that most people don't realize how much of a stomach I really have. Due to a combination of being very overweight for a very long time, having one pregnancy, and having a c-section, I have a flabby stomach. It's like a half-deflated balloon. Finally, there's the stretch marks. Lots and lots of stretch marks that I don't think will ever go away. I regret the fact that I didn't realize back in high school that my weight was healthy. I regret that I gained more than 130 pounds. I regret that I didn't learn healthy eating and exercise habits when I was young. I regret that I waited so long before joining WW. I regret that I allowed myself to develop hypertension & type 2 diabetes.

On the other hand, I have no regrets. My body may be far from perfect, but the experiences of being overweight and successfully losing all of that weight have made me the person that I am today. Not only have I learned a lot about nutrition and exercise over the past 2 years, I have also learned a lot about who I am as a person. If I had managed to maintain my weight in high school, I would not be the same person that I am today. I think the experiences have made me stronger. They have taught me things that my previous methods of starvation & extreme exercise to lose weight would not have taught me. They have given me a sense of accomplishment & pride. So while I'm not happy that I endangered my health, I have no regrets.

30 day challenge day 20

This is for my WW friends, since I can't ever post pictures on that sight. This is me, my hubby, and my daughter. It was taken last Thanksgiving.