I recently returned from a two-week road trip for work. This trip was similar in nature to the one I took last year where I left my pants in Ottawa. There was no stomping of pants in the trashcan this year but there were a few weight loss milestones that made me giggle and smile.
For my first road trip milestone, I actually found myself surprised after I had done it and that was going to the gym at the hotel. Not only did I want to go, I purposely made room in my schedule for it. I mean, who goes to a resort (not just a hotel but a paradise resort) in Orlando and wakes up at 6am to go to the gym...on purpose? This girl does! I did it while in Canada before I went to Orlando but I worked out in the evening and it was snowing so it really was just another day at the gym. It felt like a bigger deal in Orlando.
Another milestone occurred after my first gym excursion in Edmonton. Despite the fact that the gym itself did not faze me, the part that occurred afterward did. For those readers who are not overweight, you have probably never experienced the dreaded "hotel towel". The one that is just slightly larger than the hand towel. I had grown so accustomed to not being able to wrap the damn thing around me that I stopped trying years ago. Prior to surgery, the only time I have ever had a good experience with hotel towels was on a trip to Hawaii and they were so ginourmous, I stole four of them.
After my first trip to the gym in Canada, I showered and was able to wrap that towel around me AND tuck it in so it stayed all by itself. I was so excited about this I pranced around my room dancing in it and I wore nothing but the towel for at least an hour. After I put my pajamas on and was getting myself ready for bed, I just stared at myself in the mirror, smiled and thought "I have come a long way baby". That moment created a completely new Dawn and I held my head up high for the rest of my trip.
After I returned home, one of my co-workers told me that my confidence and personality far outshined my 148-pound weight loss and that meant the world to me. Who knew that a towel and the gym could do that to a girl...