“I remember a year and a half ago … I noticed I’d started gaining weight,” she laughs.
Salty laughs too. “Sorry,” she giggles, “but a lot of people can relate to that!”
Zoila Gomez smiles good-naturedly before she continues, pausing and fumbling a moment for the right words before she finds them. “I love myself. Being overweight or being bigger doesn’t bother me. But what I noticed was my change in mood, and I didn’t like that. I’m normally a very positive person, but I started feeling more pessimistic than optimistic, and I didn’t like that.”
“Just knowing you now, it’s hard to imagine you ever being like that,” Salty says, incredulous. It’s only been about twenty minutes since we met Zoila, but I can’t help feeling the same way. Zoila is a woman who bubbles over with happiness and positivity. Being near her is like finding a sunny patch on a chilly day; you turn your face toward the warmth and can’t help smiling.
She goes on to talk about having to size up in clothing. “I said ‘no thank you.’ I needed to start moving because … I needed to go and teach children about fitness and nutrition.” These are things you don’t expect to hear from a woman who was the 2008 USA Olympic Marathon Team Alternate. And we marvel at Zoila’s matter-of-fact smile in disbelief that someone so elite can be so very like us. Read more >>