let me get on my soap box for a moment...

Disclaimer--I'm about to rant for a few. Put your big girl panties on and buckle up. Pleaseandthankyou. 


I've really been rubbed the wrong way about a certain issue a few times in the past week or so. I don't usually rant on my blog because I'm usually not a ranting kind of girl. Sure, I complain with the best of them, but there are a select few that hear my negativity--it's just not necessary for the whole world to be subjected to that.

But today is going to be a different story because this topic is near and dear to my heart. 

Weight loss. 

My biggest, longest running, most challenging struggle. 

The other night at work, one of my coworkers noticed I had lost a little weight, complimented me on it, and then, in the same breath, made the comment that "it must be really easy for me to lose weight since I'm not married and don't have any kids." I just stared at her blankly for a few seconds, trying to figure out if I heard her correctly and if so, what exactly she meant by that. 


She followed up with, "I mean, you just don't have all of these obligations and other people needing your attention constantly. You just have to worry about work, right?"


Talk about pissing me off! It took all that I had to just smile and walk away, holding my tongue all the while. If only she knew the struggle that I've gone through my whole life with my weight. She didn't know me when I was 242 lbs. She hasn't a clue that I've lost 70+ lbs in the past 2 years...the Rachel she knows now isn't the Rachel I've always been. 


It made me realize how people really can't see my story from the outside.

I wish I could've spilled my heart to her right now. No, it's NOT easy for me to lose weight. It's not easy in the least bit. I have to bust my ass in the gym on a daily basis to lose a pound...I have to count every calorie that goes into my mouth to get to the size I want. I have to push myself for another minute on the treadmill every.single.workout. I'm not, by any means, one of those girls who was blessed with a ballin' metabolism. I don't get to eat whatever I want at every meal, and I definitely don't appreciate when people assume that. I'm still quite a ways away from my goal weight, so it's not as if I'm a size 4 or anything. Yeah, maybe I didn't help my case throughout college by not caring about my weight or health (too much fried food and not enough working out), but I'm not that girl anymore--I'm being proactive in my weight loss and I'm working on it every minute of every day. It's a constant struggle that people don't see. Unless you're one of my best friends, my boyfriend, or my family, you don't have a clue of my journey (or unless you read my blog :)). 

And I get it. Yeah, people ARE busy with kids, jobs, husbands, chores. And no, I don't have kids and schedules and such. I haven't lived in their shoes, so I DON'T know how busy they are, but on the same hand, they haven't lived in mine. I DO know that if losing weight is important to you, you'll make it a priority. I DO have a full time job that takes a lot out of me. I DO work nights and have a completely jacked up sleeping schedule--try losing weight when you only get 4 or so hours of sleep at a time. And I DO have lots of other obligations, chores, and schedules to keep up with. That's why I go to the gym at super random times to fit it in the day. That's why I work 12 hours on my feet and then go straight to the gym before heading home...that's why I watch what I eat and TRY to make healthy choices daily. Because it's one of my biggest priorities at the moment. I can only imagine the new level of stress that adding a kid and a husband will create, but I vow now that I won't use that as a crutch to explain my weight problems. It really bothered me that she assumed it was a walk in the park to lose weight since I'm single and "carefree," as she called it. 

Mamas, wives, etc. who read my blog and are in the midst of a weight loss journey, kudos to you. I applaud you and can't imagine the give and take that you go through every day. And I hope I haven't offended you by saying any of this, but beyond having a kid or not having a kid--being married or not being married, I know (and hope) you'll agree with me that we're all in the same boat. No, not every story is the same, and no, not every person's journey takes the same turns. But at the heart of it all, we all deal with the same issue every day. We all have to work our tails off to get to where we want to be. We all understand the struggle of counting calories, pushing it another mile on a run, lifting a few more reps of the weight. When it comes down to it, we are all just women fighting a tough battle that is important to us. When we're on that treadmill running or pounding the pavement around the neighborhood, we're not "Mama," "Wife," "Girlfriend," or any other title you may have...we're just women giving it our all to get to the goal we've set before us.


Bottom line...how about we encourage each other? Let's lift each other up, regardless of our different journeys and agree to understand that we're all on the same page. There's no way for us to stay motivated when people like my coworker can cut us down so quickly and easily. She could've left it at "Congrats on your weight loss, you are doing great!" It's as simple as that. As for me, I promise to remove those negative thoughts from my head. I promise to encourage you through every step of your process, because that's what friends are for. I promise to give you a pat on the back for every workout completed, every pound lost, and every drive-through you forgo. Without my encouragers, friends, uplifters, and family, I couldn't do this. Without my blog friends and Twitter motivators, I'd probably skip the gym quite a bit.


Okay, now that my blood pressure is coming down a little bit, I hope some (if any) of you are still reading. I've come to realize (after writing this long, run-on sentence of a rant) that some people probably won't agree with what I say, and that's okay. People have different opinions, and this is mine. 


Whether it be weight loss, family struggles, job issues, relationship woes, etc...each person we come in contact with is fighting a silent battle that we don't see on the outside. This reminded me to constantly lift people up, encourage the ones around me, and be positive, because I can't see their struggles sometimes. I don't have a clue of what's going on on the inside. Whether how important or unimportant I may think it is, it's important to that person, and that's all that matters in the end. 

                                                                                      Source: jennywheelerblog.com via Rachel on Pinterest