by Vivian Cumins | Sep 25, 2023 | Blog
“I don’t have time for this!” I told the nurse. She did not respond to my outburst. The MRI revealed no sign of injury, but the intense pain in my right shoulder suggested otherwise. I knew the moment I sprinted with two 30-pound kettlebells in hand that my days as a...
by Vivian Cumins | Aug 21, 2023 | Blog
I found myself comparing all day yesterday. I haven’t done that since I was an insecure teenager with a freakishly large bosom and stringy hair. It started in the morning when I became jealous of a friend who celebrated her weight loss via social media. We are on the...
by Vivian Cumins | Jul 17, 2023 | Blog
I am not sure how I ended up crying in front of a shelf of taco shells and carb-control tortillas holding a copy of Woman’s World magazine. Nevertheless, there I stood, weepy and alone, in the middle of the grocery aisle at the Santa Rosa Safeway. My heart fluttered...
by Vivian Cumins | Jun 19, 2023 | Blog
I didn’t even use a fork. I shoveled pieces of the coconut layer cake into my mouth with one hand, while gripping the steering wheel with the other. It was the first time I gave in to a sugar craving to this extent. Never had I ever put my bra back on at the end of...
by Vivian Cumins | May 31, 2023 | Blog
My husband and I watch reruns of Friday Night Lights, a drama television series about a high school football team in rural West Texas. It is our “go-to” show when we cannot find anything else to watch, which means we watch it a minimum of five times a week. We have...
by Vivian Cumins | May 31, 2023 | Blog
It happens a lot. People approach me in public places and ask, “Have we met?” My response is always the same. “No,” I say with a smile, “we have never met.” That is when the stranger standing before me dives into a long, drawn-out story about how I am the spitting...
