So...according to the BMI, I'm "obese."

Let's just let that sink in here for a minute.

OBESE.  I...am...o...bese.

Damn, that's an ugly word.

Obese isn't something that happens to a girl who completed two full marathons and has run at least one half a year since 2007.  And yet...it did.

But wait.  It didn't "happen."  It was the direct result of choices that I made.  Choices like letting a stress fracture in my shin be an excuse for not working out for six weeks.  Could I have run?  No.  Not on a treadmill.  A pool maybe. 

I should have "run" in the pool.  That would have been something.  I would have stayed in the habit of going to the gym every day, at least.  And the pressure to get into a bathing suit in front of the cute twenty-something lifeguard who's built like a Marine every day would have reminded me to watch what I ate.

(Seriously, ladies, the guy is worth drowning for.)

But I didn't.  And then after the boot came off, the winter hit.  And it was easy to justify "going back" in the spring.

And then the spring hit.  And carrying all that extra weight that I put on over the winter started wreacking havoc on the other leg.  I was advised to "take it easy" until June.

And then June hit, and work blew up.

It's August.

My 5'4" frame is carrying 188 pounds.

I am obese.

Damn.

But there's a funny thing about choices.  Good ones are also possible, and I can lose weight if I make good choices.  I did it 18 months ago when my sister got married.  We made sure to pick a bridesmaid dress I could wear again. I went vegan for two months and dropped 15 pounds.  On the day of the wedding, it was slightly too big.  I felt fabulous.  I blew it all in less than a year, but I felt fantastic.

I don't know if I'd ever go vegan again as it was way too difficult for me to keep up.  However, I think the key there was watching.  Because I was conscious about the animal products, I was reading the labels more carefully. I was fully aware of what was going into my body, and I was thinking and valuing the time and effort it took to prepare meals that were good for me and right for that diet.

That's what this month is about.  It's not the $25 or the 7 lbs. It's about conducting a concentrated effort to make good choices and be aware of what's going into my mouth. 

And maybe come September, I'll merely be "overweight" again.