Then vs. Now.

Last week, I was teaching a 4th grade music class. It was a group of really fun kids, and I was teaching them a dance to the song Footloose. They will be performing the song at an event in November and the students were so excited to be learning the dance.

At the end of the song, we punch our fists into the air and freeze. The song ended and the room was silent. All 25 of us were standing still with our fists up in the air.

"Wow Mrs. Cooney, you have muscles!" one of the girls exclaimed.

I am not going to lie, I was TICKLED PINK when she said that. And it got me thinking... several years ago, I would have been so excited if someone had said to me, "Wow, you look so skinny!" All I wanted was to be skinny. No, I wanted to be too skinny. 

Now, it's a different story. Someone telling me I look strong is what makes me feel good about myself. (Among other things, of course, but I would be lying if I said I didn't want my body to look a certain way.) I no longer want to look skinny. I want to have muscles and I want to be STRONG!

Which got me thinking... quite a lot has changed since I decided to make a commitment to my health and sanity. Here is a little chart that shows how far I have come in the past couple years...

THEN	NOW
Do 2 hours of cardio a day. Every day.	40-50 minutes of cardio 4-5 days a week.
Eat 1,200 calories a day. (ish)	Eat 2,200+ calories a day.
Zero strength training.	2-3 strength training session per week.
Obsessing over how many calories are in a particular food.	Recognizing food as fuel. Calories are energy that I need.
Running 50-65 miles per week.	Running 20-35 miles per week.
Zero rest days. Freaking out that I will get “fat” if I rest.	2 lower body rest days every 9 days. Embracing rest days and realizing they make me faster and stronger.
Thinking about food all day long and worrying about what I'm going to eat.	Enjoying food and looking at hunger as an opportunity to make a food choice that will help me reach my goals.

The results? I feel free. I can’t believe the downward spiral I was in. I am so happy I changed my lifestyle for the better! I’m not sharing this with you to insinuate you need to eat/workout the way that I do. It’s simply what works for me and keeps me happy, injury free, and healthy. (No, I'm not perfect. I have my moments, hours, & days where I get back into my old thinking. But I eventually get myself out of it. I'm not immune to setbacks.)

What I do hope is that this post inspires you... If something is NOT working for you, take a CHANCE! Step out of your comfort zone! If you’re not happy, try something different. What’s the worst that could happen?

No one has called me "skinny" in a LONG time. It makes sense. There are so many fitness goals I have met now that I never, ever, ever would have been able to meet had I kept trying to appear "skinny".

When was the last time you took a chance? Something was not working for you and you did something different...