I was always the girl who managed to stay moderately fit through an active lifestyle. I relied on my brain but largely ______ my body.

Then, due to a mixture of ______ and overwork, I found myself no longer the ______ and happy person I had been. I couldn’t find ______ in the things I loved. I was unwell and needed to find a way to get better.

I added ______ to my schedule, along with more time outdoors and reducing my ______. I didn’t expect to enjoy it, and knew that I would need a one-to-one trainer to ______ me to exercise regularly. I ______ a personal trainer. I explained that I wasn’t aiming to lose weight. I had no ______ of shifting my anxiety on to the way I looked. ______, I wanted to improve my balance, flexibility and strength.

My trainer presented exercise as a way to boost myself up (增强) rather than ______, and to help my body be stronger and ______ for the things I wanted to do every day. To achieve this, I ______ time and energy in myself. ______ myself physically has not always been easy. It is hard work, I sweat a lot, and I ______ it. I finally found myself understanding ______ I would want to make exercise part of my life.

My body has built up. When I run, it takes less ______; when I dig my garden for hours, my back no longer ______. Now, when I’m ______ who I am and what I’m worth, I look down at my arms. Thanks to the exercise, my newly defined ______ reminds me of what I’m made of: the determination to thrive as well as survive.

If you asked me how I felt about running five years ago, I would have laughed at you .Coupled with my asthma (哮喘)and general lack of motivation, I considered running as one of my __ enemies.

As a pre-teen, the days in gym class always __ me when the teacher announced that we would be running the mile. I would __ myself to the starting line, a little behind everyone else, and wait for the whistle to ____. After the whistle blew, I started off in step with my classmates, but felt my __ began to bum, and my legs felt like they’d __ out any minute. My breath would hitch in my chest as I slowed to a walk, __ looking up to see my classmates run past. I’d constantly __ myself for walking. I felt like my lungs __ me back. If I can’t even run a __ , can I even do anything right?

Having those _____, I decided it would be best to avoid running at all _____. If I went to the gym, I took gym classes that __ little to no running, such as yoga. My ____ to avoid running succeeded.

Years later, I impulsively (冲动地)decided to run a 5k. When I ___ the course, I felt the same pit in my stomach. But something __ happened. Instead of allowing my thoughts to overtake me, I __ putting one foot in front of the other, and I let myself get caught up in the __ of my feet hitting the ground. Surprisingly enough, my lungs were able to find a beat with my feet, and I ended up running the entire race without __ to walk.

In hindsight (事后看来),I realize that it was my ____that got me through the race, I believe in running.

A few years ago, I felt like a true failure. I was doing Weight Watchers for the third time in order to lose weight, but not making ________.

At that time, I spent hours every day working out to my videos and was still ________. I thought I was meant to be overweight forever and there was no need to ________ it. I needed a ________ of heart and mind. That change came in the most ________ way. It came with running. After dinner on Thanksgiving, I went out for a ________ with my family. I had turned my little MP3 player on and was ________ the music when my favorite song came on. I felt like dancing, but that was impossible, for I had my children with me. So I caught the speed a bit and started to run slowly. I was quite ________ with my burst of activity.

What was more surprising was that I ________ the next morning and went out again. After running, I felt strong and ________ at the same time. I ________ the good feelings I felt when I used to run 20 years ago and decided that I wanted more of that. I ________ up for a spring race and practiced hard for it.

________ my weight is still heavier than what I would like, I no longer care about it. I try to stay more focused on my life. Most ________, my workouts are less than an hour per day and I take Sundays off completely. My ________ is to keep exercising in my life but not let it control my life. After all, I am so much more important than my weight.