My Driving Force

My driving force for beginning Medifast was and continues to be my daughter. At the time I began Medifast I was separated from my husband, a single mother of a then nearly 12yo girl. I remember going to bed every night praying that I would wake up the next more for my daughter's sake. As you know my mother passed away at the age of 42 in her sleep from a heart attack due to obesity. I was 12yo at the time. My daughter and I are the same age and the fear was with me 24/7 that I would die in the same way and leave my daughter without a mother. The thought of her waking up and finding me dead forced me to do something about it. At that time I was merely existing and doing only what needed to be done in order to take care of my daughter and this included working, driving her to and from school, preparing meals, etc. I was struggling financially so one payday I just used my pay to order a month's supply of Medifast. I didn't care about what bills needed to be paid, my life was more important and I know once I began this program I would be saving all the money I spend on fast food, take out, ordering, junk food, etc.

That was best thing I have ever done for myself. In reality I very rarely if at all did anything just for me. I was always taking care of everyone else and in the process I lost myself and nearly killed myself. I know all this sounds morbid and drastic, although this was my reality, this was my life.

Shortly after starting Medifast, I immediately began to feel better in many ways, mostly I began to feel better about myself realizing that I had self worth. I was a worthy person, worthy enough to do things just for me. Starting Medifast and continuing with the Medifast/Take Shape for Life Program was and still is the best thing I have ever done for myself. I am getting healthier and healthier every day. I love my new healthier lifestyle and although I still have that fear of leaving my daughter without a mother at a young age, I know the risk of that happening decreases with every day that I stay on plan and live a healthier lifestyle. I constantly work on taking care of me, changing my thinking, so that I can continue to change my behaviors and my life forever.

My daughter will always be my driving force for me taking care of me and saving my life. I am a much stronger person with everything I have been through and I will continue to take care of me from the inside out.

I am also happy to report that my husband and I have gotten back together and is very loving and supportive in all that I have done and continue to do.

What is your driving force? I urge everyone to really think about this and to start putting yourself first. As your take care of yourself you can better take care of your loved ones. I always had that backwards and felt I had to take care of everyone else force and myself last and then there was no time or energy to take care of me. Do do what I did or if you are, stop now and put yourself first, so that you can lose weight and get healthy. This is one of the best things you can do for yourself and your loved ones.

Thank you for letting me get this out. I'm sure you can tell this is something that will always be with me, although it gets better each day that I am on plan and each day that I take care of me.