Body image

So there's the saying that it is what is on the inside and not the outside that counts.... that holds true for a lot of things but I think the honest answer is that the outside is what gets you through the door at times.  I have been on both sides of the coin.  I think at my heaviest I was somewhere over 300 pounds... not something I would have ever imagined back when I was a nice 135... which incidentally at the time I thought was tragic... I wanted to be 110 lol
Personality can get you far but in the end how you feel about how you look will get your further... What I mean by that is self confidence is powerful.... and to be confident you have to really be comfortable with who you are and own it.  Now last year I had actually started to feel that way about myself and if felt so good... I kind of did a huge backslide while working through therapy however and that was not so good. 
A healthy body and self confidence is mental and emotional battle that I am determined to win for myself and for my kids.  Body, confidence, emotions, they are all connected.  Emotions are so powerful, they can make or break you.  Despair can be so deep that you forget to breath and find yourself unable to move, anger can push you to have the strength and energy to run farther and harder than you normally could, joy and happiness however are stronger than both.  They allow you to have a positive energy that not only keeps you going strong but infects those around you.  Your vision of yourself is also affected by your emotions, it can mean the difference between looking in the mirror and seeing something beautiful with lots of potential or seeing all the scars and reminding yourself of the things that you are missing.
So I am striving to fill my life with activities that are going to shape my body into what I think will be a more attractive and healthy me.  I love working out.  I love when your lungs have that burnt feeling from breathing hard during a good cardio work out.  I love when the muscles are burning and the sweat is coming down so hard your eyes sting.  I am forcing myself to eat differently and believe me that is harder than the exercise... I hate broccoli! 
The cool thing I am finding is that even though it is going to take a while for me to achieve my fitness goal, my self confidence is growing.  If you could bottle self confidence and sale it... man I would be rich!  Self confidence means success in most things and it also means trying things you wouldn't normally think you could do but mostly it means happiness... and that is after all what I want more than anything... to be happy!