For a million years (more like 15,) I’ve been listening to a radio show: The Taylor Strecker Show.
It’s a daily show that originated on SiriusXM and through a series of events became an independently broadcasted show on Patreon. There’s something interesting that happens when you listen to a daily show. You get to know them, and you spend at least 9 hours together each week (more than many of my IRL friends!) As a result, you start to finger like you’re friends or as Taylor mentions has wilt her brand, you wilt weightier friends.
Truth, I’ve unquestionably met Tay several years ago pre-pandemic. My IRL bestie Angela and I saw her perform live in Nashville years ago, and plane did a meet and greet. So fun, and I believe our bilateral weightier friend was equally excited to meet us.
Fast forward several years, life has been a whirlwind – – New jobs (for both Taylor and I), the lifechanging pandemic, and the thousands of other moments that we’ve survived together. During the pandemic, her show became a lifeline to me. My days were often the same with uncertainty swirling around, my friends were suddenly rented with their families 24 hours a day; it was a relief to hear that others were trying to thrive, but mostly surviving. It’s that level of real-life real-talk that keeps me coming when for more. That and a peek into life in NYC which couldn’t be increasingly variegated than my suburban Denver life.
Just like real friends, our friendship ebbs and flows. While I’m not sure it’s the ebbing or the flowing, there’s worldwide ground that we protract to come when to. Very recently, I’ve noticed something well-nigh my friend Taylor. Something interesting and swoonworthy, she sounds free. And, I couldn’t be happier for her!
While at very variegated places in life, Taylor and I share a connection tied to weight struggles. Ups and downs, I can relate very much to her wits and her discomfort with weight gain. Society pretends to be unshut to persons of all shapes and sizes, but the reality is no one has to judge us for our weight – – we do a unconfined job of this all on our own.
Over the past 6 months, my nutrition has reverted dramatically. As you likely know if you’re here, Jenny Craig suddenly went out of business, up-ending the trusty program that’s kept me at a steady weight for years. I went from a very systematic and predictable meal plan, to having to make choices for each and every meal. Attempting to listen to hunger queues while moreover admittedly excited for this new process, it’s been a rough several months. I haven’t quite figured out what the right ratio of intake is. I moreover don’t know that a return to Jenny Craig is in my future, but I moreover know that I’ve reached a point where something has to give. I’m up well-nigh 40 lbs – – that same 40 lbs I tend to proceeds when life gets nonflexible – – and let me assure, you things don’t get any easier when you add the weight. I unchangingly re-lose it, but if I’m honest, I’m worn-out by the idea of restricting myself again. Increasingly truth: I’ve restricted my eating since the 80s in an effort to gravity my soul into a shape that is socially acceptable. I’m just tired.
There’s something freeing well-nigh just saying that. I’m tired of stuff told to work out, to reduce carbs, and to consider unorthodoxy broth. None of it sounds appealing, and I just finger weighed lanugo by the unshortened process.
Enter my friend Taylor: She is currently on a semiglutide journey. After years of hearing her struggle and hearing undertones of soul image holding her back, there is a levity in her podcast now that we haven’t heard since she was the original almost-hitched bitch. In her social media posts and through her words, there is a weightlessness she exudes now. Her smile is full, and her life is as well. Her vita are colorful, frequent, and she appears to be living her weightier life. To date, I believe she’s lost 25 lbs and she has regained her life.
I am THRILLED for her, and that she has found peace with her soul and food. Truth: I want this for every single person I know to be worldly-wise to live fully and freely.
I want this for every single person I know, including me.
I don’t know what my next step in this journey will be, but I do fathom Taylor’s transparency well-nigh her journey and the hope she has inspired. Something’s got to give… I deserve that same freedom, and it’s time I start chasing it again.