When I started trying to get healthier, I thought the goal was to lose weight.
And yes, I’ve lost weight.
I’ve walked hundreds of miles.
My resting heart rate is lower.
I wear smaller clothes.
Those things are all nice.
But they’re not the biggest change.
The biggest change is that I trust my body again.
That probably sounds strange, but if you’ve spent years dealing with pain, dizziness, injuries, plantar fasciitis, joint problems, head rushes, and all the other little things that can make movement feel risky, you know exactly what I mean.
There was a time when squatting down wasn’t simple.
I worked with children. Getting down to a child’s eye level was part of the job.
But every time I squatted down, I knew I had to stand back up.
And standing back up often meant dizziness, a head rush, and hoping my body would cooperate.
I learned to think about movement before I made it.
I learned to be careful.
I learned to negotiate with my body.
For years, every movement came with a calculation.
If I squat down, will I be able to get back up?
If I stand up too quickly, will the room spin?
If I spend all day on my feet, what will tomorrow feel like?
I got used to planning around what my body might not let me do.
Today, I squat down to pet my cat Gabby and stand right back up.
I do it over and over again without thinking about it.
I touch my toes in the shower just because I can.
I climb stairs without getting winded.
I can sit up in bed without rolling onto my side first.
I can stand on one foot and shave my legs without worrying about losing my balance.
None of those things would impress a fitness influencer.
Every one of them impresses me.
Because they represent freedom.
The freedom to move without fear.
The freedom to trust that my body will do what I ask it to do.
The freedom to stop worrying about what might happen if I bend down, stand up, climb the stairs, or spend a day on my feet.
That’s why I’m doing this.
Not because I want a perfect body.
Not because I want to be twenty years old again.
I’m doing it because I have a granddaughter who likes to splash in water, knock down towers, and eat chocolate pudding off her toes.
I want to be the grandma who gets down on the floor.
I want to be the grandma who gets back up.
I want to be the grandma who can keep up.
And if sharing this helps even one person who feels trapped in a body they don’t trust anymore, then every step was worth it.
Because sometimes getting healthier isn’t about becoming someone new.
Sometimes it’s about getting yourself back.
That, to me, is what counts the most.
Because movement in real life still counts:
Starbucks Carrot Method – North Phoenix Walking Series