Square Runners: My Clean Date

New Year’s resolutions often involve weight loss and exercise. Square Run Club member Sara Erbeldinger resolved to lose weight a couple of years ago. Though it was not a New Year’s resolution, her story is offered as inspiration for those who might have similar goals as Sara had when she decided to take control of her life. 

By Sara Erbeldinger

November 7, 2009, is my "Clean Date.”

That was the day I went to the doctor and decided to change my life.  

Granted, for two months before this date, I had been working out at the gym every day, but still had not lost one pound. It was at that doctor’s appointment that it clicked for me—I had hit my "Rock Bottom." I knew what I had to do, and it was no longer seemed like an overwhelming process to do it. 

It has been two years now. I have kept the full 60 pounds off for a full year. I have run four half marathons, three 10K’s, and a bunch of 5K’s. In a few of these races, I even placed in my age group.

It has been a profound change. I use words that are used by people who have an addiction. I know now I was addicted on some level to food, and I realize how being overweight made me feel about myself.

It is not so different than someone who uses a substance like alcohol. It is a relationship that interferes with intimate contact with others. Being overweight hurt my relationship with the outside world because I was not happy with myself. 

Reflecting on things, I realize that over the last two years, I have developed some pretty fantastic friendships, and I attribute this to the weight loss. Over the last year, I have met a core group of women who really are something special. One is my good friend Renee Mangretta Craig, who is also a Square Runner. I get out to run with them at least two times per week. With some, I also work out at the gym. It is something I really cherish.  

The majority of these women I had known long before any of this. But now something has clicked. I feel confident in myself, more so than  at any other time in my life, now that I have these awesome friends. I am more open to things now then I was two years ago.

I am a trained Gestalt therapist. Sometimes people get stuck in cycles that ultimately interfere with intimacy. I feel my weight was a literal physical bumper to keep people from getting too close. I feel like that does not exist anymore. I am able to let my guard down, and people are going to be OK with me.

Believe it or not, it was my fascination with Edward, a character from the “Twilight” series, which got my butt to the gym during those early days of not losing a pound. I needed motivation, and taking those books to the gym helped me get through the hard work of establishing an exercise routine. 

Not to sound like some crazy cougar from a bad Oprah Winfrey Show, but meeting Edward awakened something in me, and struck a chord that forever changed my life. 

I always tell people that my love for a vampire got me to lose weight.

For more on the local running club, click here.