Losing Pounds and Finding Myself Again( part 1)

Today I am celebrating a major weight loss accomplishment of losing 60lbs since I have given birth to Faith 6 months ago. Granted 10-15lbs of that I gained with this pregnancy and lost after giving birth, but I am still very happy with myself. Those who have known me the majority of my life know that before I got married and had kids weight was never an issue with me. I was by no means extremely skinny, but I would have considered myself thin who might have carried an extra 5-10lbs that were not really a huge concern of mine. I always ate what I wanted when I wanted. I was never afraid to have the burger and order dessert. I was also pretty active which most likely allowed for me to eat more without the major weight gain. Over the last 9 years of marriage I had managed to pack on the pounds. Add on top of that having 4 children in 7 years I really started to gain weight. Food had become my comfort, my friend, my reward, my relaxation and stress reliever. Food was literally the only thing I did for myself. I was constantly pouring myself into everyone else and never filling myself back up. So I used food to fill myself back up again, but you just have to keep eating more and more to feel that same sense of "fullness". But now as I am looking back I realize that with each pound I gained and every time I used food to cope I lost a little piece of myself. I was hiding who Brandy truly was and who God truly intended me to be underneath all that extra weight. It was another way for me to hide. When I think about this I think about cleaning out my wonderful son's room. Samuel can destroy a room like no one else I know. It literally can get to the point to where you have to wade through a foot of toys and clothes. It's bad! Then I have to go in and clean house and get rid of all the garbage, unwanted toys, and clothes that no longer fit etc... We need to get rid of all the extra weight in there. Just like I needed to lose my extra weight that has been hindering me and holding me back. Because there is so much more tied to those pounds than just extra weight. So little by little I start sorting through his stuff and throwing out all the junk and little by little you start seeing floor space and some resemblance of organization. But you know what is amazing about a freshly cleaned room to a child. It is inevitable they get in there and just start to dance all over the place. They love it and can not resist the urge. I am realizing through this weight loss journey that with each pound I lose I am getting rid of more junk that I did not need that just hid who I truly was. And now that I am beginning to see some clear space on my floor I find myself with this incredible urge to DANCE! The weight was like chains to me holding me back in so many ways and with every pound I lose I feel more chains dropping to the ground and freeing me up to be the woman God created me to be and He loves to see us dance through life!