Letting the Cat Out of the Bag
by Team Athleta • Sep 30th, 2008 • Category: Share Your Chiby Donna DeGroat
There are a few small boxes in my house that are filled with swimming ribbons and triathlon medals. A couple of times a year I will stumble upon them and recall the days when I was fit enough to engage in those activities. Today, I find myself slowly recovering from a herniated disk and confronting the reality of being a fifty-two-year old woman who is sixty-five pounds overweight. Recently, I signed up for a medically supervised weight loss program through my gym. My new friends include a doctor, a wellness coach, a fitness trainer, and a registered dietitian.
Confronting my weight gain has been very painful. Perhaps falsely, I always assumed everyone saw me as an athlete. However, my chiropractor, upon hearing that I had participated in triathlons at one time, shrieked, “You are kidding me.” In my head, I figure that her subtext went something like this: “How could that fat woman possibly have done triathlons?”
There appears to be some magical serendipity in my stumbling upon this weight loss program. My back was not improving with chiropractic treatment. I noticed a poster on the wall at the gym advertising the physician services with an emphasis on sports injuries. An appointment followed with the charming, handsome doctor from South Africa.
The doctor promptly wrote a prescription for physical therapy treatment and then broached a topic I didn’t want to discuss with anyone — my weight. For some reason, I agreed to give their new program a try. All the way home in the car, I cried. It felt as if other people had long been aware that the cat was out of the bag (that I was an overweight woman). That day I saw the cat! I had to own, for the first time in many years, that I was a fifty+ woman with a rather significant weight problem.
In my first coaching session, I was asked to articulate my goals. I said, “You know those women in the Athleta catalog? Well, imagine them in their fifties. That’s what I want to look like when I have reached my goal weight.” Not only do I want to look like that but I want to play in the same manner that I suspect that those women will play.
You know, in the interim, I may look into those small boxes with my old ribbons and medals and re-live those early days of competition. However, I think I’ll need some brand-new boxes for competitive swag. Athleta, thank you for being such a key part of my motivation and inspiration.
Donna, congratulations for joining the ranks of the physically fit! I joined this club last December. Lost 50 lbs. Did my first triathlon in August and my second last weekend. There is NO better feeling than getting your body back. You are going to love yourself!!
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Donna, you are a great inspiration! I’ve been down on myself lately for gaining 20 lbs over the last 6 months from quitting smoking, which is something I needed to do, but I felt like my body punished me for it! I know how depressing it can be for an active woman to be going through loss of strength and weight gain. We’ll both be getting our bodies back!
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Michelle and Kathleen,
Thanks for the kind words. I attended our first official class last night (for the weight loss program) and I am thoroughly impressed. The part that I struggle with is that it just seems like such a long road. However, I understand that quick fixes don’t work–and this is a complete lifestyle change. It will be important for me (all of us) to celebrate the small victories.
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Donna,
I read your post last night, but was busy being ‘mom’ and just found a minute to respond this afternoon.I say this because sometimes, we women are so focused on others, that we lose ourselves. Now is your time. Time to focus on yourself, love yourself, and pamper yourself.
Your story is similar to mine. I had a separated shoulder that really threw me off track, and now I’m 30 pounds over weight.
Visualization of goals is one way for me to see myself in the future and push harder, so I cut out some of the pages of the Athleta catalog, especially the cool yoga poses, and taped them on a bulletin board above my computer. Treating myself to Athleta clothing is one way I pamper myself. Last week I had a yoga party and introduced my friends to yoga pants. It took me a long time to find them, but now I practically live in them.
Good luck, Donna!
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I had often thought of cutting up a catalog and pasting pictures around to keep me inspired. Now I’ll do just that. Athleta, I think I need some new catalogs–one to cut up and one to order from! Marie, best of luck to you and thanks for the comment.
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I was a tri-athlete, skier, mtn bike racer, dancer, and in my head still consider myself an athlete…but I too have dealt with two hip replacements, a knee reconstruction and way too much down time that has also led to a 25 pound weight gain that makes me crazy. I talk about this to other people and get that look, like, yeah right. I want to carry a photo of myself then just to prove it! It happens to the best of us and weight gain, especially for someone in their 50′s (menopause anyone??), former athletes, it’s really hard to not keep that image in your own head. Part of this is acceptance, part of it motivation to get back to athletic weight, part of it is aging. Congrats for the determination and motivation to do something about it! I hope it rubs off on me!
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sue, you have a great perspective, as does Donna — it’s about staying connected to our inner athlete, but accepting (and loving!) the difference between the [insert your peak athletic age here] version of that self vs. the [insert your current age here] version. I may never be a competitive gymnast again, but I sure have fun re-learning how to do a back bend and handstand in my yoga practice.
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