A Whole New You

by Heather Long | More from this Blogger

04 May 2006 08:17 AM

I got off to a late start today, so I apologize if I come across as brusque here. Late starts always make me cranky. I'm an early riser by nature and I'm usually up and working by 4 most mornings. Today I didn't even roll over until 6. That's usually a bad omen for me! However, in the course of my morning I got my daughter up and ready for her preschool and then I drove here there. My dog Max went along for the ride.

Max is a 9 year-old English Shepherd and they tend to be more of the longhaired variety. I noticed that she was getting pretty hot in the car, even though it was only about 70 degrees and the windows allowed in a fresh, cool breeze. When we got home - I settled her down in the garage and pulled out the trimmers. Now, this is not the Pet blog and I'm only sharing this story here because it actually related directly to my thoughts about Weight Loss.

So, here I am settling down with Max and using the trimmers to shear away just tons and tons and tons of hair. (Unfortunately, I am not exaggerating.) As I trimmed her, she shifted and basked under the attention. I removed a lot of knots and mattes in her fur around her hindquarters and filled a garbage can with the hair that I trimmed. When we were done, she bounced up from the floor and began to wiggle violently. Her tail wagged, her mouth opened with a toothy grin and she bounced around me in obvious happiness.

As I was watching her, I was struck by how puppy-like she looked. Trimming her hair had not only relieved how hot she was, but it seemed to transform her entire attitude. She was happier, bouncier and she frolicked. I took her to the backdoor and she raced out into the yard and played as hard as she ever has. The younger dogs were a bit stumped by her excitement, but the races were on.

Weight loss for us is a lot like the hair trimming was for my dog. Losing pounds and inches makes us feel lighter - literally. Our bones are under pressure from the weight, we feel it everywhere. When we begin to lose weight, our spines will get a little straighter and our lower backs will feel a lot better and even our legs will feel a bit bouncier.

We feel lighter. We feel younger. Overall, we feel cooler and we feel better. Remember, body fat is an insulator so when we begin to lose excess body fat, we actually cool off from external heat, but our internal metabolism begins to burn hotter and this increases the fat burning along with our energy levels. Weight loss helps us to feel younger, but we also look younger as the weight around our faces diminishes and the skin tightens up.

Although I was already inspired to trim off some excess weight - my dog reminded me of just why I am inspired. I want to feel younger. I want to feel bouncier and I definitely want to feel lighter on my feet.

Learn more about Heather Long

Heather Long is 35 years old and currently lives in Wylie, Texas. She has been a freelance writer for six years. Her husband and she met while working together at America Online over ten years ago.

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