Caveat: I have not been on a traditional weight loss journey - when I moved out of my parent's house many years ago, I changed my diet and have slowly lost about 35 lbs since then. It has taken me more than a decade to change my body and my lifestyle.
That being said, I have often thought that my mom's attitude towards sports is part of what made me so overweight as a teen. My mother regularly told me and my sister that we (as a family) were not 'genetically fit' for sports. She cut us down all the time and taught us to be embarrassed about everything from our performance to our red faces during exercise. Even something as simple as sweat or a high heart rate were held up as 'evidence' that we were not 'cut out' for athletics.
My mom wasn't trying to be mean - it was a symptom of her own crippling embarassment that led her to be obese as well. But she was very negative all the time. I grew up believing that there was no chance I could ever be good at sports.
Over the last ten years, I have incorporated a lot of jogging and hiking into my weight loss plan. I have even completed a marathon in 2014. I joined a local softball team and did actually suck at it, but I persisted for more than four years. I did OK at softball by the end, but I still considered myself kind of uncoordinated and not really 'fit' for sports.
Well, tonight, one of my colleagues asked if I could substitute for his soccer team. I said OK, even though I could barely remember the rules. I showed up in all the wrong clothes, forgot even a water bottle, much less shin guards or socks. I had to buy socks and guards at the booth before the game.
But let me tell you, something amazing happened at that soccer game tonight. I DID NOT SUCK! Not even a little bit! I kept my head throughout the game and was able to follow everything that was going on. That was surprising to me, as in the past I have gotten very confused by what was happening in games. When the ball came to me and bounced off my feet, I didn't lose my cool or act flustered. I got control of it and took the time to put my shots together. I made a few goofy shots, but mostly they were fine. I didn't make any goals, but I set two people up for them. I ran sprints in the game and was gasping for air, but so was everybody else. I didn't act like a person who was bad at sports, and nobody thought that I was. Not at all!
I wanted to share this because I want to encourage people who think they are bad at sports to keep playing. People who seem like talented athletes have really had ten or twenty years of experience already, counting the time spent in their childhood. If you are just starting now, your fumbling or confusion is completely normal. Don't expect it to come quickly, it may take many years to develop - but you CAN develop coordination and talent, and you absolutely will. If you enjoy the activity, please stick with it - and really, do what you love!
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