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178 Pounds and 5'6"

By on November 13, 2016
perfect

By Crystal Andrus Morissette

Aren’t you tired of feeling like you can’t be fully happy unless you lose weight?

Sick of the lies that skinny is the only kind of sexy? Well, I was too. I was 135 pounds and obsessed with my waistline that has never been small enough for me to be happy. I was certain if I could just have an hourglass waistline, I would be happier. Sexier. Better.

I was born with what my mother called a “thick waist” and long legs. It seemed that no matter how lean I got (yes, I ran my body down to 121 pounds at one point when I was in my late 20s), my waist still looked to ‘thick’ for the width of my hips and long legs. I would wonder what I would look like if I had ribs removed. Yes, my mother told me that is what Cher did to make her waist smaller. I would never have done it but I wondered. And yes, I also learned that Scarlet O’Hara had an 18″ waist so when mine could never ever get smaller than 27″, I felt embarrassed. My mothers’ was 24 inches and she would tell me it often. I didn’t realize how much she competed with me back then. I was just a teenager.

Beauty and skinny were treasured qualities in my family. We were taught it from the time we were little. Grandpa would say a woman’s hair was her crowning glory, to never cut it, never get fat, and always stay beautiful.

I worked hard at perfecting these qualities my whole life only to never feel thin or beautiful enough. At around age 40, I felt frustrated and fed up that I was gaining weight even though I was still eating well and exercising. So I did something radical.

I threw out my scale, stopped talking about my body in a negative way, and decided to say ‘f*ck it’ to having to be beautiful…the most beautiful… the fittest… and just embrace myself exactly as I was. I put on 40 pounds and loved every minute of it. I really did. I didn’t want my teenage girls seeing me weighing myself, dieting, hating my image. No way! If I couldn’t get ‘emotionally and mentally’ healthy for me, I had to do it for them!

I would marvel at my curves. I would eat and drink and be merry. I laughed and danced and sang karaoke at home, a lot, while my husband played his drums. We had tons of family dinners with candles lit, wine, and decadent meals.

I learned how to love and accept myself as I am. I decided I would not change my lifestyle to a more ‘careful and diligent’ one until I was completely happy right where I was. Self-love became my #1 mandate.

I can say I love myself today. At 45 years old, 178 pounds, and 5’6″. In fact, my husband snapped a few cute pictures of me in my bikini a few days ago, and I posted them for all my fellow Simply…Woman sojourners to see that you can be 178 pounds at 5’6″ tall and still walk it, talk it, and feel like you are a Goddess!

That’s the secret to losing weight. Feeling good NOW!

But . . . My lower back hurts. My right knee hurts. I’m getting heartburn at night. I don’t feel physically healthy anymore. Not like I used to. I feel emotionally and mentally healthy, though, and that is what I needed most.

So now that I’m emotionally and mentally healthy, I figure it is time to be my very healthiest, happiest, feeling-good Self and that means getting physically healthier too.

So starting tomorrow, I am officially kicking off Week One of my 12-Week Simply…Woman BODY-MIND-SOUL Journey and I would love you to join me. There is no charge. You can download my book, Simply Woman, for free and then walk, literally, the journey with me and nearly 2,000 other women!

Click here to join: https://www.facebook.com/groups/simplywoman/

Join me in becoming your healthiest, happiest, feel-good Self too! Click here to join our Simply Woman; Love Your Body FB group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/simplywoman/ Week One starts tomorrow–Monday, November 14th!

Love,
XOX

crystalhot

Crystal Andrus Morissette, Author and Founder of www.simplywoman.com, The S.W.A.T. Institute, and Crystal Andrus Productions.

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