About three quarters of the way through Saturday's Jazzercise class, while I grapevined across the gym, sweat flying, I started singing along with the thumping song:

"Free, free, free. Set me free, free, free. Wanna be free, free, free. Set me free."

And I had an epiphany -- that's why I was working out so hard. I wanna be free from having to think about my weight. About planning the next meal, the next snack. About worrying whether the scale went down. About whether I can zip my jeans.

I just want to be.

The process of losing weight can be mentally taxing. Why didn't I lose weight this week? Too much this? Not enough that? Did I journal enough, exercise enough, drink enough water?

I want to dance and sweat my ass off for the sheer fun of it, not because I'm burning off 300-something calories.

The song is Be Free by Jason Antone. I doubt he ever thought it would become some sort of anthem for overweight Jazzercisers.