I don’t know where to even begin. Wow. This is not an easy thing to do, put yourself out there for everyone to read. So let’s start here. I’m a mom, wife, friend, daughter. I am a stay at home mom or homemaker as some like to call us. I know that right now I don’t work out of the house but staying home and taking care of your family and a house is a lot of work. Especially for someone with MS. Yes, I have MS. There I said it. It gets easier each time but still hurts just saying it. I was diagnosed back in 1995 and even though I have had my ups and downs (quite a few downs) I struggle to live with it everyday. For instance, just vacuuming the house or cleaning the bathrooms wipes me out. I know that sounds crazy but it does. I hear my husband or my friends say they understand but until you live it you don’t. I don’t mean that in a mean way but it’s true. I have watched my Mother-In-Law battle breast cancer too many times and as I would say to her that I can relate, I really can’t. I don’t know what it’s like to have breast cancer and frankly, I don’t want to find out. It’s like MS, I don’t want anyone that I love or know to find out what this is like. I used to say that “I’m lucky I don’t have cancer I just have MS” until one day a few years back my neurologist looked at me and said stop minimizing what you have. You have a debilitating disease, you have MS and it’s OK to say you have it but it’s not OK for you to try to minimize what you have. The best way I can describe it to you is when you go to the beach and you walk in the heavy sand and stumble around, well that’s my life every day. My legs feel like I am walking in heavy wet sand everyday.
On top of the MS I was very overweight. I say I WAS because over the past few years, I have undergone a transformation of sorts. Back in 2010, my husband was laid off from his job and he, as well, was very overweight. We started going out to lunch everyday and just enjoying the quiet while the kids were in school. Trying to get our relationship back, you know the one before the kids, the errands, the responsibilities. Then one day one of our friends invited us to the Y with them. We went with some trepidation, a little nervous about being in a gym environment when we were both so heavy, not to mention getting in a bathing suit and go swimming or relaxing in the hot tub. But there is something about this Y here in Ellington. The only way I can describe it is it’s very welcoming. As we looked around, we saw average people. People like us not the typical muscle types that hang out at gyms but our neighbors, friends or just people we saw around town. So we joined in February and it became like the “Biggest Looser” because we would go every day for about 3 hrs a day. Now, at the beginning we had that time but as you know, as life moves along, we didn’t have that much time. So it became an adjustment, I had to find time during the day for ME. It sounds easier than it is. Finding time to be selfish is one of the hardest things to do as a mom. I felt guilty leaving my family to go workout for me but I found out that being selfish can be rewarding! It changed my life and along with the working out, my family changed our way of eating, into a much healthier lifestyle. Now I am down 85+ lbs and my husband is down over 140 lbs! If we, as average people, can change our lives then I firmly believe anyone can! Best advice I can give now is take it one day at a time and if you mess up, there is always tomorrow to pick yourself back up!
