I’m a little late posting this (darn strep throat!). I was contacted by the American Recall Center and asked to write about my health hero — that person in my life that inspires me to lose weight. That was a little tough for me, as I have lots of support from friends and family.

Two Top Contenders
At first, the honor went to my good friend Elizabeth, my biggest cheerleader for the last 2 years. She’s always let me bend her ear about major food failures and workout successes. Also, she’s undergoing her own fitness and health journey, so it was easy to share my goals and concerns with her. She’s also working overtime to get me to do a Disney half marathon with her (need to get that 5K under my belt first). And though she lives on the opposite coast, she’s always ready with much-needed sage advice via a constant stream of motivational texting.

Of course, my husband comes to mind, too. When I’d hit my really low point two years ago this month (March 23rd, to be exact), he gave me the strength to do what needed to be done – walk away from a nice salary and focus on my health and happiness. He loves the blog and serves as editor and technical fickser (heh). There are times he knows what I’m thinking before I voice it, like when he suggested I work with a trainer and take up body-building. Like Elizabeth, he offers sage advice and bucks me up when I hit those inevitable low points in my journey.

But My Biggest Health Hero Is…
I think the real hero in my weight loss tale is…me.

All the support I get from family and friends is great, but at the end of the day I’m the one who has to make smart, healthy choices. No one can do that for me, and sometimes it seems like the whole world is conspiring to derail my progress. Bad food is cheap. Fast food is fast and cheap, and sometimes a girl wants milk and cookies and scary movies. By taking control and putting my health first, I’ve decided to be the low-carb hero of an inspiring documentary called “Dot to Trot”. No more sitting on the sidelines. My blog’s tagline says it all: The world is expanding as my butt is shrinking!

I’ve dieted, on and off, for 25 years without success. Talk about horror stories! Two years ago I had a physical so awful it shook me to my core. There, in that little doctor’s room, sitting on a paper blanket thing a mere two years from diabetes and eventually heart disease, a fire was lit under my butt (and it hasn’t gone out). I didn’t realize it then, but I’d decided to rewrite my story: remastered with hilarious bloopers, years of extra footage, director commentary (the blog), and soon to be re-released in stunning 3D.

I took control and made my health and happiness my top priority. I made a lot of changes – some small (going to bed on time, starting a blog), some outright drastic (quitting my job, going low carb). I changed my life for me this time: for my health first and appearance second, but I’m loving how I look!

My biggest change: realizing a healthy lifestyle stops being a dream if I actually live healthily. Funny how that goes, huh?

By taking control, my goals are no longer something I hope to reach one day. They’re actually within my grasp.

What are my goals? Gosh, so much…and none of them come in a greasy bag with a side of fries.