Physical weight is also an emotional weight, which is hard to carry on one’s back for years or maybe even a lifetime and which sometimes generates major depressions. Under my eyes, for nearly 20 years, my sister had lived feeling inadequate due to the extra pounds. She was a solitary kid, a child being laughed at by many; she was called names – and not pleasant ones! The words and rejections then made her isolate herself for a long time.
Corina weighted 220 pounds and had hundreds of fixations. I don’t remember her ever feeling comfortable in her own skin, on the contrary, the entire childhood, adolescence and the first part of her youth she was depressed and isolated. When I say isolated, it literally means that her whole life gravitated around school and home, and later – home, work and university. That’s it. For years and years.
I often felt guilty. I thought that there were too many positive things that were happening to me and only unfortunate things to her. It hurt to see her fallen.
Momentary ambitions appeared and she used to say she was going on diet and lose weight, but those impulses did not last. However, the day of the great change came. About 4 years ago, when she was 25 years old, one day, she said THAT was the day she was going to start losing weight and her life will change completely. We were not sure whether to believe her, but we encouraged her, we supported her and we did not show any sign of doubt at all towards what she said. Now that I remember, it seems extraordinary to me that one day, a person can show such a huge ambition that can put down the walls built until then.
She subscribed to the fitness centre and started to eat healthy. At first, she went to the gym 3 times a week, then she increased the intensity and frequency of training. There were periods when she went from 5 to 6 times per week. One month had passed, then two months had passed and we could see that she was starting to lose more and more weight and to like sports, which was not only something necessary and useful but unpleasant thing anymore.
She did not went on any diet but, at that time, she began to learn how to combine foods and how to consume healthy fats. She ate mainly vegetables, fruits, nuts and grilled meat. She practically changed her eating habits and her lifestyle. In about half a year she lost almost 66 pounds. It was a visual shock! We looked at her and barely recognised her. She seemed unreal. The good part is that she did not give up sports and continued, although so many years have passed. Sport greatly developed her motivation in everything. She understood that she could obtain anything she wanted by effort. A lot of effort. She did not always worked to lose weight with a smile on her face, there were moments when it was hard for her to move intensely because of her weight. There were tears also but not a moment that she would give up. Each pound lost made her become more confident in what she could do.
We got to the point of wearing the same size of trousers sometimes, depending on the model. That was something I never allowed myself to think of.
She changed, she feels different in her own skin, she dresses differently, she preens, she is another person. A much more confident woman. Before, she was afraid of living and expressing herself in a world that puts much emphasis on physical appearance sometimes, in an unreasonable way.
Another thing I admire about her is that she started running. She’s been running since she started to lose weight. It was not performance run but lately she took it into her head to participate in a 26 miles marathon on Transfăgărășan, which will take place in September. She trains almost daily. Corina tells me that the desire for self-improvement that arises after a great success makes her want to reach objectives harder to achieve. Moreover, she feels grateful to the close people that constantly motivate her. The marathon in autumn is a gift for her birthday from her friends. Roxana – the girlfriend with whom I travelled to India – had a major role in motivating Corina (she is a fitness instructor). She kept her under observation and was the main source of inspiration for my sister.
Corina’s training now reached 12.4 miles per day and her current target is to be able to finish the 26 miles marathon in autumn. Right now, she is one of the most important sources of inspiration in my life.
When I asked her what was her advice to people who want to lose weight or who just want to fulfil a dream, whatever it may be, she answered she believed in 3 words: self-education, motivation and perseverance; the moment these 3 ingredients are skilfully managed, the results will appear and happiness will be directly proportional to the effort made.
