In November 2016, I was riding high on a wave of wellness. I had lost 20 lbs at that point, was working out hard 3 days a week, walking every single day and training for a 5K 3x a week. I was looking great after having felt frumpy and overweight for so long. I was feeling great after feeling tired and exhausted for so long. I had some serious momentum going and it felt AMAZING.
On Saturday, November 26, we picked up our brand new, fully loaded Toyota Highlander. We were super excited because we'd already owned one before and were trading it in for a newer model with more features (and we love the car in case anyone is looking for a new car). On Monday, November 28th, I picked my son up from school at 4 and he asked if we could eat out that day. We were headed to his favourite restaurant, when while stopped at a red light, we were rammed from behind by a car that failed to stop. IT WAS HORRIFYING.
My first thought, after I made sure the kids were ok was, OMG, what does this mean for my exercise! My second thought was, OMG MY NEW CAR! Our car had extensive damage and the entire rear of the car, including the trunk door, side panels, back bumper had to be replaced. We're still dealing with the aftermath of the accident, with appointments for the kids and myself to deal with the after-effects of the accident.
I spent the next weeks on pain meds, and absolutely shattered emotionally. It was so very demoralizing for me to have come that far and to be suddenly stopped like that. I completely fell off the wagon. I started eating junk, grabbing that drive thru coke from McDonalds because I was feeling so low and sad, and just being a total bum. After all, I thought, what's the point? The universe hates me.
When I woke up a week later having gained 2.5 lbs, it was a wake up call. I realized that in my self-pity and misery, I had forgotten everything I had researched about weight loss. Yes, I couldn't work out and be active BUT there was literally nothing stopping me from making smart food choices and being healthy. Weight loss is 80%- and I was only missing 20% of the equation and wasting 80% of the potential. I started focusing on my diet, counting calories and limiting my carb intake while bumping up my protein, vegetable and good fats intake.
I signed up for PT and they showed me strengthening exercises and stretches that not only helped me get rid of some of the pain, they also help lengthen and strengthen my previously weak muscles. I started using the elliptical as a low impact cardio option to keep myself moving without pain. Once I got back into it, the weight started to go down again. Not as quickly as it had in the beginning, but the scale was moving in the right direction.
Since the accident, I've lost another 13 lbs. I'm so close to my 35 lbs goal and so excited to reach it. It's meaningful to me because I've had lots of moments where I've felt like giving up- saying something like, “whatever, I'm happy being overweight.” I've fallen off the wagon and had my share of cokes, or chocolate, or junk but I ALWAYS get back on track. We're human. When faced with adversity, we do tend to rely on external comfort cues. But having been thrown lemons by life, I've learned that sometimes, when life throws you those lemons, you just have to make that lemonade and make sure you don't put any extra sugar in it 🙂
Thank you for visiting my little home on the internet and if you've had a similar experience, where your weight-loss and health goals momentum was broken due to an unforeseen circumstance, I'd love to hear from you in the comments below.
