Though the trees were quiet to her now, she felt a familiar spark as she nestled among the gnarled roots. It was faint, distant, but it called to her.
(I needed some kind of creative hook to writing an introduction, otherwise I wouldn't have known how to start it!) And so here we meet our unlikely hero-in-waiting.
I'm in my early 30s, and have spent the better part of ten years off-and-on-and-off-again trying to lose weight. My reasons in the past were all about how I looked (much self consciousness involved), never how I felt or my health. Nowadays, my quest goals have shifted to new horizons and I find myself wanting to rekindle with nature. I practically grew up in the woods camping as a kid, but it became less and less as I got older, and eventually stopped.
I recently was convinced to try kayaking (<3), a short hike that winded me, and ended that with a one night camping trip. I forgot to bring any kind of padding, and so only had the tent floor between me and the very hard ground.... plus it was awfully hot.... and yet, for as miserable of a sleep as that was, and as sore as I was physically the next morning, I found that I was more relaxed and rested than I have felt in a very long time. That trip woke something up in me, and made me realize just how much I truly love it and miss it.
The spark is back, glowing hot, and I want it to catch fire.
That spark is my motivation and goal: To reconnect with my old love of nature and be able to hike trails without getting winded. To be able to go out there in a tent and enjoy the forest the way I did as a kid. To be able to adventure on to new horizons without worrying about whether I can physically handle the trip (10 mile river run, I'm looking at you).
To do that, I need to get fit and I need to lose weight.
I know the challenges that I face in reaching this goal... accountability and overcoming "1 bad day" guilt (usually leads into 2 and 3 and suddenly I gave up completely) as the big ones. I have a bad habit of doing great for a few weeks, and then maybe skipping a day of walking because I'm too tired or bingeing on junk food because I had a stressful day... and usually that one little slip up is enough to push me back in to old bad habits. So here I am. I don't know exactly where I go from here to work towards those goals, but every journey begins with a single step.
