Birds of a feather flock together!

As I'm sitting at my desk this afternoon, eating my healthy :0) lunch, I can't help but think about my journey and involvement with Fitopia Gurlz. We started this part of our journey together only 6 weeks ago. The majority of us have been friends for awhile now. We have shared lots of laughs and lots of meals together. Part of this group use to participate in a book club. We would joke that we were an "eating club with a book problem". We would meet together once a month to discuss the book of choice and to sit down to an AMAZING meal. There is something to be said of "breaking bread" with others.  There is an intimacy that is shared through conversation around a dinner table. 

There was a corporate giddiness over the meal planning as we tried to tie together the menu we prepared with the book we were reading. We read "Memoirs of a Geisha" so our meal for the evening had an Asian flair. We read the "The Secret Life of Bees" which takes place in the south... so peach cobbler was on the menu for dessert (you get the idea). With each book we read, we created culinary feasts. We planned our book club dinners with gusto and passion. Recipes were traded and the conversation whether about the book or not stuck to our ribs and filled our hearts just like food we shared. Good times!

What does book club and Fitopia Gurlz have in common with each other? For me, it's the friendship, fun, laughter, family, a feeling of connectedness, a place to belong where those that surround you understand where you are at, encouragement and last but not least... recipes! There is also this knowing of what food had come to mean to most us in our little group of Fitopia Gurlz through the years and the type of relationship we have had with it. We all know that food is not the enemy but what we use it for can make it seem like it is. For me, it has never been about my love of food except maybe french fries ( I love me some french fries). It really comes down to... "this is really about that." (A quote I like from one of Rob Bells books) Understanding that statement when it comes to my own relationship with food has been pivotal for the life change I am now experiencing. It has been through candid conversations with some of the Gurlz through the years that has brought me to the understanding I have today. Those conversations have given me the opportunity to take an honest look at myself and to seek out understanding of what I was seeing.

As I mentioned before some of the ladies that are now a part of Fitopia Gurlz use to belong to the book club. I see that same passion ignited as we face this new journey together. But now, the recipes are healthy and instead of sitting around discussing books (which we all still LOVE to read), we get together to work out. We are quick with a word of encouragement or celebration as a personal goal has been met.  The best part is we went from building friendships and waistlines in a small book club of about 7-8 ladies to 16 women with the common goal of becoming the very best version of themselves. Not only that we have begun to see healthy changes in spouses and families. I'm telling you, this group is a force to be reckoned with. I see the same gusto and passion being applied to these new life choices throughout the group. "They" say that "birds of a feather flock together." If that's the case, watch us take flight!

I am thankful for each one of my Fitopia Gurlz and what they bring to the table (no pun intended). They have made all the difference in the success I am seeing in myself, through the encouragement I have received, candid conversations, and the quality time "working on our fitness". Life is meant to be shared and celebrated. Thank you for making this a party!

Love you all bunches,
Beck (only God and my best friends call me that! ;0)

*If you are looking to make some big changes in your life, find some friends to walk or run with you. They can make all the difference!