Just Shut up and do it

This Tuesday was fat Tuesday. For those of you who feel like everyday is Fat day, I feel ya. I was looking back at pictures from about a year ago and realized that I look a lot different these days. Twenty pounds lighter, and I feel so much better. I still have a way to go, but what got me from there to here? I just got out there and did it. I quit making excuses, sucked up my unfamiliarity with the gym and got it done, son!!

Last week was my little Kaley's 5th birthday, and she had some work done. Not in the same way I would like to. She has wanted so badly to get her ears pierced, so after cupcakes with her friends at preschool, we made an afternoon of it. I first took her to a "fancy french restaurant," (La Madeline) for a cookie and a big bowl of strawberries minus the Romanoff. Then, we ventured over to the mall for a new bedazzled outfit, and then to do the deed.

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She was so brave as she got into the chair, not really knowing what was going to transpire (even though I have always warned her that it would hurt). I, just like most moms, did not want to see my little girl in unnecessary pain, so I gave her a chance to back out, by asking, "You sure you still want to?". Her answer, "yep, I'm really sure." So, I explained to her the importance of holding still so that her holes would not be crooked, and she braced herself on the arms of the chair as they put the piercing guns to her ear lobes. As the earrings shot through her ears, she sat very still, but got big-eyed, and screamed in pain. That was the part I was dreading. I let her bury her head in my chest when they finished, and we hugged it out.

Big tears were shed in that piercing chair that afternoon, as she said, "mommy, I did not know it would hurt that bad." But, as soon as I lifted the mirror for her to see her new pink sparkly studs in her ears, she smiled a huge smile, and said, "Wow, I look PRETTY." To her, it had all been worth it. And, that was the end of the tears. I was so incredibly proud of her. She had taken it like a woman. She hadn't backed down. She just got the job done.

So, in honor Fat Tuesday, let's take a lesson from my brave little preschooler. Just shut up, get out there and do it. No excuses, no backing out. Just say no to Fat TODAY. Period. Make the changes you've been wanting to make, start walking or running, or attend a group fitness class like you've said you would. Just shut up, brace yourself for the pain, and know it will be all worth it!