STAND UP FOR YOUR OWN LIFE-STORY!

This is what I posted on the Virgin Pulse Global Challenge (a sports and activity program sponsored for my colleagues and me by my company) and it was a moment I was very proud of:

I was thinking a lot about posting this .
But I think I need to. I was asked lately, if I am cheating in this challenge, as my score is quite high.
Simple answer is NO - I am not cheating.
I just upped my activity game (which is what this was all about). I am out each morning to do a walk in the park (in case of heavy rain, I found myself two good aerobic instructions online). Before this challenge I was doing my errands with my car. Now I am walking or cycling to places I have never been before and it is energizing. This earns you additional steps (when you enter the cycling you have done).
I also realized that there are special trophies you can get for running, swimming and cycling at the same day- so I set out and did my mini-triathlon. On a usual day, I now also do an evening exercise in the park, at the pool or cycling to parts of Munich I have not seen yet.
I felt hurt, when people suggested I was cheating, just because I am overweight.
3 years back, I weighed nearly double of what I am now. To get there I had an operation and since then I am keeping strict discipline.
YES - I would need to cheat, if I was putting myself in competition with some of you.
I would need to add endless hours of heavy weight lifting to make up with those of you, wearing much smaller sizes.
But I don’t, where would be the point? How do I achieve these points? I take the challenge seriously, but having as much fun as I can muster and enjoy my life.
I watch and track my weight and food = points
I track my sleep = points
I answer questionnaires = points
I follow the balance track = points
I smash the mini-challenges = points
I do the breathing exercise = points –
The Challenge offers so many ways to contribute to your own point balance as well as the team’s balance. You just need to take the system as serious as your activity.
It’s a pity, that you believe I am not thin enough to enjoy sports and being active - but sorry, that’s is your problem.
I took it hard being asked if I am cheating, but then I looked at it from a different perspective and realized that I understand where this was coming from.
It is a common perception: obese people are lazy, they hate sports and they only eat junk food. We judge books by the cover because reading them is too much effort.
Food for thought: obese people often suffered a horrendous trauma and gaining weight was their way of coping. That is my story - though I will not share my trauma with this audience.
I am grateful in a way for the person stepping out and asking me about cheating. It gave me some well needed time to reflect on all the things I have achieved during the past three years and within this challenge.
I think it very brave, to speak out your "narrow-minded" thoughts - better it’s out in the open than whispered behind my back. But I still hear the whisper….
I do not want to spoil the fun. Please consider this a thoughtful post, rather than a negative one. At last I realized that I am proud of my achievements and my life. I also appreciate the trophies I got during this challenge and I am thankful for the “food for thought “a colleague presented to me unintended.
I am proud of all the people out there, who challenge themselves each and every day to be more active, to stay fit, to be happier and more balanced. We are in this together !