Outsider Looking In!

Went to a high school football game on Friday. Except for my friend and her husband, I did not know anybody on the team, on the band, on the cheerleaders squad or on the bleachers. So I was the outsider, looking in, and this is what I saw and experienced.


It was such a surreal night. It was like everything around me was foggy. Well it was really foggy weather wise, so this could be part of it. But what I mean is, the regular, every day things I saw looked hazy, foggy and just out of my normal sight. But the things of an obese nature were life sized and up front. Bigger than life!


Here's what I mean....


First thing I noticed were the cheerleaders. They were your typical teen aged all American girls. All thin and of normal size except one. This one girl was quite large, fat really!! Poor thing, here she was in her cheerleader outfit, stuffed like a sausage. Every time she did a move or a cheer, she had to pull her shirt down, adjust her skirt, and pull fabric from her rolls. She looked awkward and uncomfortable. I felt so bad for her.


Wait a minute....stop the presses. I was that girl!!

I was always the fat one in the group. Still am the fat one. Unfortunately there are a lot more of us now. But when I was a kid, there was only one other fat girl in my class. It was awful!!! I remember thinking how great it would be if there were more fat people and less skinny people. Well we're living that right now folks! Sorry I don't think it's better. I hate being just like so many people I see, I don't want any of us to fat and unhealthy!! I want us all to get fit!!!


I would say that 80% of the people on the bleachers all around me were over weight or obese, including my chubby self ~ no judgement here!!! In my foggy state, all I can see is chubby hand and faces and food being shoveled into gaping mouths. It was like, when you go to the movies and everybody is trying to cram in all their food before the movie begins. They were shoveling it in ~ FAST!!! I prayed several times that the team would not score another touch down or make a good play, because every time they did, everyone would stand up and cheer. Each time they did this, I felt the flooring of the aluminum bleacher buckle and sway. I was truly afraid it would collapse under the weight!!! (I'm usually not a fraidy cat, but this was frightening!!!)


One lady I was mesmerized by. She was a non stop...popcorn eating machine. Then it was potato chips and then some other things I could not see. It was almost like she could not stop herself.


Wait wait....reality check....I was that woman!!!


There have been a zillion times I was just like her. Could not get food into my mouth quick enough! Never satisfied, always wanting more!!! Insatiable hunger, a bottomless pit! That was me!!


Then something happened on the field that warranted the coaches to run out to talk to the players. One of the coaches was soooo fat, he could barely walk. I was wondering to myself, how effective is he with his team, when he talks about the nutrition needed to do what they do? Or how can he encourage his team to be diligent about the running and weight lifting needed to do the job? Or how can he explain passion and the importants of all of the components of this game, when he has personally lost his passion for doing the important things in his life?


How credible is he? Can he really make a difference in these young men's lives when he obviously does not take care of himself?


Pardon me......Ahem.....I am that man!!!


Where do I get off, telling anybody, anything about being fit and healthy? What do people think of me when they see me waddling down the street? What about at a restaurant ~ is what I order and eat being scrutinized and judged? What about the young people at work, the ones I lead....how credible am I? Can I really make a difference in their lives?


I am just like every fat person out there. No way I can hide what I've done to myself. I am judged, left out, made fun of, thought less of, taken advantage of.....yet I still do what I do.



I am that cheerleader, that woman and that coach!!!



It's a new day my friends. A hard one for many!! I know, I know....it's a day of celebration. But before you stick you hand in that candy jar or pick up that cookie....Remember we were people obsessed with food and junk.



BUT NOT ANY MORE!!!



We are not the same people we were last year. We aren't the same!!! We are on a new journey of health and fitness. And one day at a time ~ we are going to get to the goal!! We are going to be the people that God created us to be. We are no longer outsiders looking into to things. We are making things happen and making a difference in this world. We are changing our family tree. We are breaking the chains of obesity ~ One day at a time!!

Keep focused my friends ~ WE are making it happen!!