As most of you know, I have a blended family. I have given birth to 4 children. And I’m about to share with you a story that at first glance might not seem like it has a lot to do with drinking or addiction, but hang with me and I promise I will get there. Over the last 3 years I have done almost everything to get my stomach flat. I have thinner legs and arms but I have been “blessed” to carry ALL of my weight in my belly. It used to be so bad that on a regular basis I would be asked when my baby was due. And because I’m such a codependent (and I know you get it) I would lie and make up a date because I didn’t want the person who was asking to feel bad. I know - ridiculous. So I started working out - something I have avoided my entire youth and adult life. Over the last 3 years I have done almost every exercise known to man. I have also read and tried way too many diets. At first I lost 20 lbs. And then I gained them all back. Then I lost them again and now (for the last year) I’ve been at a plateau. I don’t get asked how far along I am very often anymore, but I still catch people staring at my belly and I can tell they are wondering - “should I ask?” So as a very last resort I went to a surgeon…to inquire about a tummy tuck. I know. Please don’t judge. I left his office with a possible date for surgery and a plan. But here’s the thing…Over the next few weeks leading up to surgery I kept thinking, what if I could just get to place where I was ok with my body? Or, something even more crazy - what if I could even embrace my body, as it is right now? What if I could look at myself in the mirror and thank God for all the hard work my tummy has done in my 39 years of life? My worn out tummy has helped create 4 beautiful human beings who have turned out to be amazing, healthy kids. It has stuck by me as I gained and lost over 200 lbs (including pregnancies). Never giving up. Never shaming me for choosing chocolate. Sure, it may not be what it used to - but it’s served me so well. What if I could get out of the shower and look at my husband in the eye without running for a towel? My breasts are not winning any prizes after nursing 4 kids (and let’s just be honest, they really weren't prize winners before that either). But they are cancer-free, they FED 4 humans and kept them alive! What if the only exercise I committed to doing was the kind I loved? I love to walk, do elliptical (hello, Netflix) and I love yoga. What if that’s all I did for now? No HIT training, cross training, spinning or whatever the trendy fad is that seems to work for everyone else but never for me? What if I just ate with the intention of feeding my body with nourishing, healthy, colorful foods at every meal? What if I took my time learning to cook what my body needs to thrive? Instead of filling it with junk or starving myself for 3 days only to overstuff myself on the 4th? What if I researched what I need to eat to have healthy hair, nails, eyes, pores, muscles, skin and just committed to giving back to my tender body what it has given me. To serve my body out of love with no expectations? What if I threw my scale away and ripped up every diet book? And just moved my body most days and filled my body when I was hungry with things that would make it thrive? And if I wanted a treat - I would eat a damn treat.  No calorie counting, no body shaming, no regrets. Just kindness for myself, self acceptance and giving my body the best chance to grow old gracefully. That would be amazing. I don’t know how I’m going to get to a place of total self acceptance but I know where to start…. I told my sweet and supportive husband that what he was looking at was as good as it gets for now and I canceled my appointment for surgery. If you’re in love with someone who drinks too much or suffers from addiction like I was, we can easily take their disease as personal rejection. But what if we decided that we would not let this disease dictate how we feel about ourselves? We are bett