What do you want to "REPRESENT"

Hi Spark Friends!

Well, my weigh in shows maybe a half pound loss but I have decided not to move the ticker to reflect that because I want to make it a pound before I do that. Not that this half pound is not significant because it is very much so. But, I want to move the ticker hopefully a bit more next week all at once.

SO, I had an exciting day yesterday. I was a guest in the audience of the Oprah show. It was a show about Comedians. The guests were Monique, George Lopez and Dane Cook. They were all terrific. I found Monique to be especially personable, approachable and so very down to earth. She actually gave me a big hug. It was so sincere and warm. I am a tad bit disillusioned about my perception of Oprah. I have always thought her to be a warm, fun, caring and very approachable person. I so respect all the good she does for others. However, I believe she was having an off day possibly. She looked GREAT! I am sure it gets pretty mundane and rigorous to do the show two times a day 5 days a week. So, I will leave it there.

Anyway, what I wanted to discuss was something that I heard that I thought might be of interest to my spark friends. I was sitting in front of a woman( a very overweight lady) who made a comment after Monique said something and it bothered me for many reasons. Here is the scenario.

Monique talked (off air to the audience) about her recent weight loss. She told us a story about how she convinced herself she looked "hot" at 272 pounds. I don't remember the exact words she used but what she said was that she was in the bathroom after a shower and was nude in a mirror thinking she was looking all that! Her husband came in and said something to the effect of baby, you know I love you right? She said yes I do. He asked how much she weighed. She said she proudly answered baby all this woman is 272 pounds and felt comfortable in her overweight body. He then said to her that he loved her very much and because he loves her so much he wanted to have her around forever! She said it hit her then that she had been living in denial and was living with a situation that could endanger her life and take her away from her kids and husband way to early. She has an older child and smaller twins.

She said she decided to do something about her weight at that moment and began to live a healthier lifestyle. She wanted to become healthy for herself and her family. She is very proudly down to 212 pounds now and continues to make progress. She looks AMAZING and realizes how being healthy is so important.

So back to the very overweight lady that sat behind me. After Monique shared that story with us. The lady behind me yells "hey Monique you still gotta represent us big woman". "Hey Monique don't desert us, you gotta represent" I was dumb founded with her words. I turned and looked at her and I said maybe we should all represent her new lifestyle for her. She just looked at me like I had two heads or something. SO I am thinking to myself, okay Miss Overweight and in clear denial who clearly does not want to change her lifestyle. Lets see what list of things an unhealthy overweight Celebrity actually represents. So here are my thoughts......


An Unhealthy Lifestyle
Poor eating habits
Poor health
Lack of energy
Lack of motivation
Lack of exercise
Endangered health

I am sure there are so many other negative things that are represented but you get where I am going with the list. So this woman behind me clearly feels justified in living her unhealthy lifestyle by seeing other overweight people and especially a celebrity being unhealthy and overweight. She must feel like she is in a mix of some of the greats! I wish I could have talked to this lady and reached her. But, in a studio audience was definitely not the place or time. But, I will say, Monique "gets it" she seemed determined and committed to getting healthy. She was so proud of her progress and I told her when she hugged me that I was so proud of her progress as well and that she was doing a fantastic job. She is an AWESOME lady!

That lady behind me reminded me of the ways I used to justify my being overweight too. We have all done that somewhere along the way. Before we "got it". It may have not been in the same way but it was doing the same thing she did. We all lived in denial like she is doing and making ourselves believe we were okay being overweight and unhealthy. When deep inside we were not okay with it. That lady is no more okay with herself being overweight and unhealthy then any of us were. It is my hope that she will think about the story Monique told (being such a fan of hers) and make some changes for herself. I'd like to think she will decide to become a healthy more fit person too. So she can enjoy her loved ones for many years to come.

So, the message here for me and that I wanted to pass along is lets not be okay or settle for being overweight and unhealthy. We don't want to "represent poor health" Lets do what Monique has done and make some positive changes in our lives and do something about being unhealthy. Don't wait or put off for tomorrow what we can do today! Lets be good to ourselves and treat our bodies well. Lets "represent" a healthy lifestyle together!!

Together we WILL succeed!

Happy Mothers Day to all the Spark moms and have a wonderful weekend everyone!