30 Sep 2024 Embracing the turtle

Posted at 8:16 PMh in Health & Beauty by

By Laurie Green

As someone who has struggled the majority of my life with my weight, I felt a bit conflicted on writing in the “Health and Wellness” issue. However, I’m a firm believer that when people are honest, authentic and transparent with their struggles, it often reaches just the exact audience it was intended for. 

It was about this time three years ago that I stood on what felt like the mountaintop of success (as far as weight loss goes), and I proudly proclaimed that I was never going back to the weight I had previously been. This statement would be true in the sense that I didn’t go back to my previous weight, I went above and beyond it–all within the following year and a half. I honestly can’t explain the thick atmosphere of depression that I found myself living in. As the rest of the world was slowly coming back out from the isolation of COVID-19, I was becoming more and more of a recluse. I didn’t want to take any possible chance of running into someone at the local Walmart who would smile at me and then walk away whispering about how much weight I’d gained. If you’ve been there, or you’re there right now, then you know exactly what I’m talking about. 

It seemed like the more I tried to hide and ignore the unpleasant position I’d found myself in, the more Facebook would pop up all those lovely “before and after” photos that I had so proudly posted. It took me a solid two years to start addressing my health and my weight. I clearly remember finally breaking down and going back to a doctor’s appointment for a checkup after two years and stepping on that scale…311 pounds! How was this even possible? I knew it was time to get serious.

The problem was that all the things I knew about losing weight were excessive, expensive and restrictive. Then my daughter Brittainy started sharing TikToks with me from this guy named Chris Terrell. The thing that resonated with me the most was him saying how if you couldn’t sustain what you were doing for the next 10 years, chances are you’re going to gain your weight back. I was also intrigued that this guy was from Arkansas and had lost and kept off more than 100 pounds for the last three years. The more I dived into the details of “Chris Terrell Coaching,” the more I started learning about myself.

The whole concept of losing weight slowly (embracing the turtle) as we like to call it and being happy with yourself right now, regardless of your size, seemed ridiculous. Yet, here I am almost a year into this lifestyle and community, and I’m blessed to say I’m a completely different person. I found this amazing community of women my age from all over the country who are all either in the beginning, middle, or maintenance stages of their weight-loss journeys. I’ve been able to load up bags and bags of mental trash and emotional untruths that I hid by drowning my feelings in food. I have learned what it means to “show up for myself daily” and do something each day that pushes me to be better than “the me” of yesterday. I have strengthened my faith, my happiness, and my body, but more importantly, I have learned to love myself and end all the negative, critical thoughts that a lot of us dish out to ourselves. 

Since January, at the time of writing this I am on the verge of losing almost 40 pounds. While it has been slow and steady, I appreciate the fact that I’ve done so with no pills, no shots, no prepackaged meals, and I’ve not restricted myself. I’ve found ways to add movement into my daily life and learned how to “feel my feelings” without stuffing them down with food. Another fun fact is by the time this article hits the stands, I will be planning and preparing to attend my first ever Tough Mudder with a bunch of other members of this community I’ve joined. Am I scared? Absolutely. In fact, I’m terrified, but I rest in the faith that I won’t be alone on the journey. 

Y’all, life is way too wonderful and special to waste it away waiting to be happy when this or that happens. You get to wake up, get out and be happy now! Stop cropping yourself out of photos, stop avoiding those get-togethers, and start embracing the here and now. I promise you won’t regret it.

Laurie Green
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