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| Generation UCAN |
At the end of 2006 I found myself living alone for the first time ever. I had just gotten out of a long term relationship and I was on the path to trying to find what out what in this world would truly make me happy.
I was 50 lbs lighter from joining Weight Watchers a few months prior and life opened up so many doors for me and I walked through many of them. Then I found what I was missing...unconditional love. I found someone who made me happy and gave me everything I was looking for. But I also found health problems and with them, a demanding sense of depression that I was all too familiar with...
Growing up I fought off depression. Daily. In fact there were times that people would physically have to pick me up out of bed. I overcame that depression by myself, with the help of a few people along the way. I vowed that I would never let myself fall that deep into a hole again.I was 50 lbs lighter from joining Weight Watchers a few months prior and life opened up so many doors for me and I walked through many of them. Then I found what I was missing...unconditional love. I found someone who made me happy and gave me everything I was looking for. But I also found health problems and with them, a demanding sense of depression that I was all too familiar with...
Then life hit me where it hurts....Here I was, 23 years old, in love, and diagnosed with edometriosis so badly that I was told I had to do 7 month so treatment that would send my body into menopause. I was 23 and in menopause!! It took a HUGE toll on me. Physically AND mentally. I gave up on everything. I didn't care if I got out of bed, or if I even brushed my hair. I got up so I could eat and more importantly, drink. I was a mess. I felt myself inching closer and closer towards that deep, dark hole. I had given up completely.
I was almost 95 pounds heavier. I couldn't look at myself in the mirror anymore and see the person who I knew I was. Life slapped me in the face that day and gave me a much needed wake up call and guess what? I woke up! I decided that it was time to take my life back! I needed to do it for me. I decided that I hadn't come this far for nothing and that it was time to love MYSELF first, above and beyond everyone and everything. I was a strong woman and nothing...no health or life challenges were going to hold me back from becoming the person I *wanted* to become...the person I was destined to be! That was 2008.
Here I am in 2011....I have lost over 100 pounds. 101 to be exact. I have become a runner. And not just any runner, a marathon runner. I am running my first full marathon this fall. I am a beautiful woman who loves what I see in the mirror. I am a role model for those who have fallen in the same shoes I once lived in.
I am now Generation UCAN and my UCAN moment was the moment I decided 'I CAN' change my life. Say hello to the new and improved Suzi Storm. (I was always there, just now, even better) Like their tagline says, 'Today's Nutrition. Tomorrow's champions'. So dead-on. I am a champion!! I fought my fight and WON.
I believe in myself inside and out! I lead a healthy life I love and I now walk out the door with a new bounce in my step and determination like never before. At the end of the day...
if I can, UCAN.
