What's your priority?

This happened about a year ago, I almost had a partial heart attack one day when I climbed up the weighing machine to find I had gained another kilo! Another kilo??? It seemed as if that one kilo had made me a dead donkey unable to move and think further. What kept flashing in front of my eyes was a bulging tummy, uneven waistline, double chin and a clumsy figure! I was determined that I would leave eating and go on a GM diet, not even look at sweets, skip dinner and literally starve but lose weight!

While I was juggling and wrestling with the numerous "weight loss resolutions", my younger brother's friend who lives in the US came to spend the evening with us. She was in her thirties and was a single mother with two daughters . While we all sat talking , what I observed about her was that whatever was being served to her for eating, she wasn't saying a no to it. It seemed as if she just did not care if this kind of eating would add more kilos to her weight . Inquisitive as I was, I just could not resist myself and asked her if she wasn't conscious of getting over weight by continuing to eating this way and the answer she gave changed my perspective towards life and what actually is a beautiful body!

She said" I live alone with my two daughters in US . There is no other help or support I have and its only me who is there for my daughters. If I fall ill. who will take care of them ! I eat whatever I get to stay healthy because for me staying healthy is more important than staying beautiful

Her answer made an everlasting imprint in my heart. Today I want to stay healthy but don't want to join the race of losing weight. People most of the times tell me that I need to loose weight, have a flatter stomach and I smile at them and say" I am not a calendar girl and neither plan to become one ! I am a mother whose priority is to stay fit so that I can take care of my son, I am a professional who needs to sit for hours at her desk to complete her tasks because I have my commitments towards work, I am a daughter who needs to stay strong to take care of her mother and finally I am a woman who is made of flesh and bone and if I have gained a few kilos more than needed it is just alright because being a responsible mother, a sincere worker and a dutiful mother makes me happier than striving to achieve a flatter stomach !