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Positively Weightless

A healthy life not only means physically healthy, but mentally as well. Healthy eating, healthy exercising habits, and a positive attitude are all important and help maintain balance in life. I decided to combine my love of writing and my positivity to change the world in hopes that any reader can also become positively weightless, and lead them to a healthy life.

I typically do not comment or talk about any kind of pop culture on my page, but with this post I decided to make an exception. One of the newer shows on television, This Is Us has really exploded in popularity and is talked about and watched by so many. To be completely honest here, as soon as I saw Milo Ventimiglia in the preview a few months before the premiere date I was sold, however, once I started watching the show I found myself quickly getting involved with the characters. Laughing with them, crying with them (and let me tell you there is A LOT of crying with them), and just all around feeling a connection with these fictional characters played by lovely actors.
I actually was watching the latest episode while doing my cardio at the gym last night, not something I recommend doing as you are either smiling like an idiot or crying your eyes out… but hey I live life dangerously. The reason I bring this up on my page here is because of one very specific character. I will say this right now, if you have not watched the show and do not want anything ruined, then do not continue to read this entry. SPOILER ALERT! The character I am talking about is Kate Pearson. If you have watched the show I am sure you basically know why I am bringing her up, but there is so much more behind her.
Kate is played by the beautiful Chrissy Metz. Kate is a newly 36 year old woman with a weight issue that affects her physically and very clearly emotionally as well. In one of the first scenes you meet this character you see her completely strip down before stepping on a scale. She puts her toes on it then backs up and removes her earrings. Anyone with any sort of weight issue will know just how relatable this is. This may be too much information here, but I too weight myself with nothing on. I find it is just going to be the most accurate reading that way. I have, however, found myself thinking if I should remove my fitbit, earrings, or if I have my glasses on instead of contacts because they may add just enough weight to show a difference. This is of course really silly, but I am almost certain it is a common occurrence. In the first few minutes of screen time Kate is a highly relatable character for someone going through a similar issue in their life.
Fast forward a little into the same episode and Kate decides she wants to change her eating habits. You see her taking her armful of junk food to her trash can outside and tossing it all in. She looks up to see a neighbor walking her dog. After a short pause she asks the neighbor for the dog’s droppings the neighbor has cleaned up during their walk and put in a bag. Once she has them, she empties the bag of the dog’s waste on top of the food in the garbage. She knows herself well enough to know that she may be tempted even by this food in the garbage can, so she steps in and does something to make this food completely undesirable and not edible. To me, this is the first sign of strength in her. To recognize that and take steps to prevent it from happening.
To continue with that theme, you later see her at a support group meeting for people with the same issue as her. This is where she meets Toby. Toby basically hits on her at the coffee table after the meeting is over. She responds to him by saying “I can’t fall for a fat person right now,” which at first seems a bit harsh. After considering it a bit more it really becomes clear that she knows someone with similar problems and habits as herself may be a strain on her weight-loss journey (haha see what I did there). Sometimes relationships can trigger old habits and losing progress because people get comfortable around each other and Kate clearly is aware of this. Toby, however, responds with “Well I guess I will lose the weight” triggering a grin from Kate (and a big stupid smile from me) as he walks away… and their relationship continues to grow, but I won’t give too much away here. Quite frankly though, Kate and Toby are relationship goals!
A few episodes later and Kate is getting frustrated at her lack of progress (which I really can relate to right now, but I am not letting it get me down). She starts considering gastric bypass surgery as it will be a quick and easy fix (or so she thinks) to her problem. You see here just how strained her relationship is with her mother, as her mother attends her meeting with the doctor as well. Her mother, Rebecca is played by the gorgeous Mandy Moore. Kate had a weight issue even as a child and always felt like she was nothing compared to her mother. You see a little of this when a young Kate is comparing the size of her sweater to her mother’s. You also see bits and pieces or Rebecca trying to help Kate with her weight issue and is really concerned she is going to be made fun of. A very sweet and motherly action that to a kid seems mean and upsetting. Rebecca blames herself in a way and tries to do her best to remedy the situation, but this only causes a huge strain on their relationship… something that Kate is bothered and feels guilty for even as an adult. You see a bit of this in another episode as well.
In the very last episode that has aired (the episode that aired on 1/24/2017) the audience starts to see the start of where Kate’s main emotional issues came up that what I assume was the start of her real downfall. MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD IF YOU ARE NOT CAUGHT UP: You find out that Kate’s father’s death occurred while the kids were in their teenage years. This is only shown in little flash memories of the funeral service, and the three kids (Kate and her two brothers) are by the looks of it only in high school. This is such an emotional memory that Kate actually screams out and is crying when they are flashing in her memory. To me, I read this as what could possibly be the major turning point in Kate’s emotions and quite possible a huge trigger in weight gain as well. An emotional time period that the audience is still quite in the dark about, but I am sure will learn more as the series continues.
So what is my main point to bringing this character randomly up on my blog? To me, the world really needed a Kate Pearson. The world needed to see the different sides to someone struggling with a weight problem other than just assuming they eat horribly and lay around all day. I identified with this character almost immediately but not just because of my weight problem. I see a strength in Kate that I have in myself and for the longest time did not see either. It is actually refreshing to see an overweight character shed in an almost sympathetic and understanding light rather than an almost comical one. The first season hasn’t even ended yet and Kate has already grown so much.
Kate is made out to be a person who puts everyone else ahead of her in the beginning of the series. That slowly changes throughout the season. She stops catering to her brother Kevin’s every little request and need. That was a huge step alone. When Toby later on decides he isn’t dieting anymore and goes on a binge she recognizes this as toxic to herself and steps away from that situation as well. Kate absolutely recognizes what she needs to do and is slowly starting to do it. Kate hasn’t shown a drastic progress in her weight-loss at this point, but she is making progress in so many other great ways. Many ways in which I have myself over the past year or so. I think that is reflected within the entries of this blog.
I so look forward to seeing how this character continues to grow and change as the next few seasons continue. The world really needed this character as I already said, but felt it needed to be said again. A huge round of applause goes to both Chrissy Metz and of course to the producer Dan Fogelman and of course the writers as well. Thank you and I look forward to seeing what else this beautiful show brings.
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A few months back I decided to start up a little series of posts about people that mean a lot to me and people that inspire me. I am finally writing the next post in that series. Today I am going to write about another friend that has been in my life for a long time and really isn’t going anywhere. I do plan on dedicating a post or two to family members as well in the near future, but today I wanted to follow up my last “people that inspire me” post with another friend. This post is all about Stephanie Bickelman.

When I asked her permission to write this entry, of course after expressing gratitude she replied “You’re not going to write anything embarrassing are you?” Oh how I probably totally could (and she could most definitely tell some very embarrassing stories about me) but that is not what I am here today to do.

Let’s start with a little background on our relationship. Steph and I met in religion class in first grade, making us only about 6 years old at the time. Allegedly I brought a doll with me to class and while showing it to the class, the head popped off. I honestly do not remember this at all, but the funny part is that is one way our friendship works. We both have these vivid memories of the past that the other does not remember at all. One thing we both remember is that many hours talking on the phone (and probably just as many hours of me getting frustrated and hanging up), stupid inside jokes (that I was mainly the butt of), and just really always being there for each other. Just about eighteen years later and we are still just as close.

At her brother's wedding June 2016
The reason this girl is so inspiring to me is her complete dedication and motivation in everything she does. When we were in undergrad school she was working two part-time jobs on top of being a full-time student and maintaining a spectacular GPA. During all of this she still managed to go to the gym pretty much daily and (I’m pretty sure) she still slept as well and had way more of a social life than I did. I found it difficult to juggle my part-time job with school and she was doing so much more than that. I have always admired her for that.

Gym buddies!
On top of all of her motivation and drive she is also a great friend. She has always been 100% supportive of me and everything I do. When I first started losing weight and I would share my results with her, her words were always so encouraging and helpful. We were gym buddies for a while as well. That is a big part of staying motivated in my opinion, having someone to do it with, and she was always there for me… even though if I tried to talk to her while we were working out I was literally scolded. She is there for me about anything, anytime of day, no matter what. Not everybody is lucky enough to have a friend like that and I truly appreciate her friendship so much.

Celebrating her 24th birthday, July 2016.
I will sum this up here as I don’t want this post to be the size of a novel (and it easily could be). I truly appreciate and am so thankful to have this girl in my life. She is here for me no matter what with absolutely no judgments and always offers her best advice. She tells me what I need to hear, not what I want to hear, and to me that is a real friend. For so many reasons Steph inspires and motivates me to be a better person.
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About me




29 years old. Graduate from Buffalo State College with my B.A. in English. I am just looking to hopefully change the world through my love of writing and my positive attitude.

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