My Story, Part Forty One

I’m on vacation this week. Some of these posts may be a bit short, but they were written to give you something to read while I’m traveling as well as to continue on our ongoing themes:

I’m learning. In particular I’m learning more about my body and my newest activity, swimming, but I’m also learning more about cycling and running as I go along.

When we’re young, the thought of our bodies failing us is probably far from the center of our consciousness, but when it does start failing (sometimes when we reach middle age) it’s front and center.

I never thought about the possibility of my body failing me until I was diagnosed.

Sure, I had issues. I was definitely overweight–well, obese, really. I had a few broken bones, including my collarbone from falling off my bike. But nothing else except for a few creaks.

Once I discovered I had diabetes, lots changed. I started to take a serious look at my health and the health of others. I learned to listen to my own breathing as well as to that of others, and I found that folks who were heavy breathed heavy, even at rest. They had more difficulty getting into and out of chairs or cars–and airline seats, which I referred to as being built for size four and smaller women.

Once I got my diabetes under control and lost some weight–or maybe the other way around–I found out how much nicer it was to live. I discovered it was a test of fitness to see if you can stand from a seated position only using your legs–and I could do it. No more was I stuffed into an airline seat meant for someone half my size–instead, I was half my size and I fit comfortably (well, as comfortably as possible). And I learned I could ride longer, run longer, and maybe someday, swim longer.

So far, I mostly like what I’m learning.
I hope as you take your turn going down this road toward fitness you like what you learn too.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 24th, 2009 at 10:19 am and is filed under Exercise, Social aspects, Weight loss. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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