Sustained grieving takes its toll on mind and body

In January of 2015, I had no way of knowing that by the end of the year I would watch my mother, diagnosed with brain cancer that had spread from her lungs, whither and die before the fall. I was unprepared for the depths to which my grief would take me. 

Pre-grief Brian averaged 20 miles of trail time per week. Then, reacting in sadness, I stopped doing every healthy activity I had come to embrace and love since recording a new 200-pound weight loss a half decade before.

In January, I had no idea by August I would plunge into an 8-year grief depression

In those precursive years, I had accomplished so much; I had hiked to mountaintops and experienced the elative accomplishment of seeing breathtaking views of God's creation that very few will ever know. But in less than a year from my mother's passing, as a result of gluttony, my indulgence in grief, I would pack on more than 150 pounds.

Back on the road to recovery since the new year, I've lost 31 pounds so far this month by making major adjustments to my diet. The next step is to increase movement. Then, I'll add resistance training at the gym to reignite dormant muscle. In no time, I'll be back to climbing mountains. 

Join me on my journey by following this blog, and look for my Facebook page of the same name - MyFitLife2Day - for inspiration and motivation taken from my own experience of seeking the same.

"Where I'm From": A poem for my mom on her 65th birthday

Today would be my mom's 77th birthday. She passed away when she was just 69, from lung cancer that spread to her brain. Smoking robbed her from many years, and that has been a lesson to me to take care of myself. Life is precious. With all the temptations to self-comfort, taking care of yourself is sometimes not a priority when the world gets tough. But if I am not willing to do it for myself, I must be willing to do it for the people I love. If I have any impact on others like my mom did on me, people who love me would feel lost without me.

On my mom's 65th birthday, she asked my sister, my brother, and I to each write a poem. We were given only the prompt, "Where I'm from", and of course, we all start from one place, don't we? We are here because our mothers loved us enough to carry us in their womb and give birth to us. That is the start of it all. We are with our mothers, if we are lucky, for most of our lives. Too bad we cannot be with them in the end.

Anyway, I thought I would share this poem with you and perhaps encourage you to write your own poem for your mom inspired by the same prompt. If you do, please share it with me in the comments. I would love to know more about those who take the time to read my blog. You are the reason I keep doing it.

"Where I'm From", a poem written for my mom on her 65th birthday