This was week 148 of my Operation Melt journey that started with my goal to escape obesity and lose over 100 pounds in under a year. For more than two years I have been sharing my journey to both keep myself accountable and to help you as you work to crush your own goals.

Make sure to tell me what you think via the Contact Me link. While you are at it, please consider purchasing a copy of my book Operation Melt: How I Used Life-Changing Project Management to Lose Over 100 Pounds In Under a Year.

So Many Feelings

Over the past few months several people have suggested that I watch a movie from last year called Brittany Runs a Marathon. They all told me that the movie reminded them of my journey. So I finally watched it this week.

A quick summary of the movie: Brittany is an overweight girl who parties too much and whose life is in kind of a shambles. She goes to the doctor and learns that she is in very poor health and she decides that she is going to make a change. She starts running, joins a running club and sets a goal to finish the New York Marathon. The movie follows her quest for fitness, for acceptance, for love and the ups and downs (physical and emotional) along the way.

I thought it was a fairly good movie with enough comedy to keep me interested but with a good story and some poignant points. There is are 2-3 scenes in particular that really stuck with me and I have replayed in my head a few times. I found some definite parallels between her journey and mine though some of the big things were very different. I mean more different than I am not a twentysomething female named Brittany and I have never run a full marathon. But you get the point.

What I wasn’t prepared for is the emotional reaction that this movie triggered in me.

I have talked before about the mental part of the weight loss journey. But the mental part of living a post weight loss life is definitely something that requires attention too. There are lots of emotions that still linger from the before time and from the transformation time. You never know when something is going to bring them out and there were a few parts of this movie that certainly brought them out for me.

So what’s my takeaway / ah ha from all of this? When you go through a very visible and impactful transformation be prepared to deal with emotions throughout and after the journey.

My Operation Melt journey has been a big part of who I am and it was my top priority for almost two years. I changed a lot about my life that had been there for over 40 years. That can’t happen without some emotions. My best example was standing in “Celebration Village” after my first Columbus Marathon half and crying in front of thousands of strangers because I had crossed the finish line – in the race and in my transformation.

The only solution to these emotions is to be patient with yourself and give yourself time to work through them. Don’t feel silly when they hit you (like I did), but expect that they will surprise you sometimes.

Pandemic Fitness

Don’t forget that I am also sharing my Pandemic Fitness Tips on social media at @OperationMelt and on the Operation Melt Blog at https://www.operationmelt.com/category/pandemic-fitness-tips/ to help give people insight into the small habits I am embracing to stay healthy.

Every day I am looking for ways that I can keep myself healthy (again, both physically and mentally) and ways to help other people do the same. As I have said before, I am hopeful that this leadership helps others get through this time as happy, healthy and productive as possible.

I hope you go out there this week and live your best life and show this virus that you are the boss of you!