a bit of perspective...

I have been inspired. I read a blog, a friend of a friend's blog. It's about weight loss. And I am in no way trying to mimic her blog, but I do want to share my own thoughts on the topic. I have before, remember the "elephant in the room?" Which of course is my weight. Well first of all, it just is not in my genes to be naturally thin. So we'll get that out of the way to begin with. So It's been 6 years since my gastric bypass surgery. Do I regret it? NO!! It gave me a whole new lease on life, it got me to a point where I was healthy and could envision myself in a state other than fat. So now that I have gained some weight, b/c of my surgery I know it's possible. I KNOW I can lose weight. HOWEVER.....I don't want to lose weight in vain. Of course what woman, especially one that has given birth to 4 kids, doesn't want to look great? That's all well and good. But my parents are both severe diabetics. I don't want to go down that road. I want my children to see me healthy. I want to go for walks and bike rides and all that stuff. I know I have it in me to be a working out machine, but I don't want to do it all just to be skinny. Skinny doesn't make you happy. It doesn't give you happiness. I mean really, I've never been skinny and yet I have the most amazing and HOT husband ever, I have beautiful wonderful children, I have amazing friends and a fabulous family. I don't have all that because of what I weigh. I have that because I am BLESSED!!! God blessed me. When I am old and gray I don't think or at least I hope my kids don't remeber me as the mom who was heavy, I want them to remember the mom who loved them. I carried them close to my heart for 9 months, and held them when they were/ are sick. We've danced and played and cuddled. My bat wing arms are NOT what I will be thinking of. It's all the other stuff. The good stuff. I will spend the rest of my years loving my family. The number on the scale is just that. A number. So...I am thankful I came across that blog. It put things in perspective. I also want to add, if my children learn ANYTHING from me, I want them to see people for who they are, not what's on the outside. I want to see them how God sees them. we all were created in his image.