One Year Ago Today

This exact day last year was when I made a conscious decision to stop being out of shape.  I had been gaining weight and becoming such a sloth and having basically no activity.  The scale kept climbing and I kept sitting.  Then, on August 3, 2011 something clicked, or snapped, and I decided to be proactive against where my body was heading. 

I'm not where I wanted to be, weight wise, but pretty close.  I am using the excuse that the first six months of 2012 have been pretty darn hard on me and my family.  An excuse, yes, but I do think I do have a reason to use that excuse....the death of my father-in-law, the stress of my dad's inevitable death, my daughter receiving two concussions in 2 1/2 months; traveling to bury my f-i-l, the death and burial of my dad, and to top it off my hubby and daughter being in a head on crash (by a gal on meth) and all that goes with dealing with a crash (doctors and car hunting).  I think that pretty much sums up those months. 

I was hoping to be 25 pounds lighter and much, much stronger.  I'm actually 19 pounds lighter (I did drop to 23 pounds during the stress of my dad's illness but have since gained a bit back due to the above).  I am much, much stronger.  I know that I made the right decision to get healthier.  I saw the difference this summer.  I play softball and hit far better than I ever have.  In my first game I hit a triple.  I don't know if I've ever hit a triple in my life.  To call me quick on the bases is a HUGE lie.  I am more of a turtle.  But this season I felt faster and even a teammate commented that I was running faster on the bases.  So I know that even though I have a bit more to go, I can see results, and that helps to motivate me to get back in the swing of exercise. 

Some things I've learned in the past year:
1.  I Do Not do work out videos.  I've tried but it just doesn't do it for me.

2.  I do like to crank the tunes on my MP3 and tune everything else out when I work out.

3.  You don't need a gym to lose weight.

4.  I have to decide to work out every time.  It's still so easy to not do it.

5.  Gaining weight is so much faster and easier than losing it.

6.  My family is the best and I cherish them!

I hope your weekend is spent cherishing those you love.

Missed it by this much

And I’m good with that.  I set a goal to lose 20 pounds in 22 weeks. Before I let you know how I did (I think you know a bit by the title), let me take you back to how this came about.

I was one of the lucky ones growing up.  I was always thin and didn’t have to worry about weight.  After two kids I never dropped back to pre-baby weight.  I began to gain extra weight a few years ago (up to 10 pounds then dropped  a couple) and last summer put on another six pounds in just a couple of weeks.  I was watching the scale climb and not liking it.  I knew I needed to cut back on the treats, watch portion size and begin exercising.  I knew what to do, I just didn’t have the will power or literally, the get-up-and-go to do it. 

One day I was reading blogs and clicking around on the web and came across the site, Two Girls on the Go.  They just so happened to be running a daily challenge for the month.  Any other day I would have continued my surfing.  Not that day.  I followed that monthly plan only missing three workouts.  The first week I thought I’d drop at least three pounds.  (When you are a “Biggest Loser” watcher you expect to lose like they do.)  Nope, I lost just one pound.  A bit discouraging.  The second week had to be a couple of pounds lost.  Again, just one.  After four weeks, four pounds.  Ok, so if I keep at this, in another four weeks I should be around 8 pounds down.  I was beginning to see that one pound a week really is a good thing. 

During the 22 weeks I caught a cold and had little energy for three weeks but maintained then lost again.  I also made it through Thanksgiving.  Then the two weeks surrounding Christmas did me in.  I succumbed to eating all the goodies and couch potato-ing.  There was also the passing of my father-in-law.  The motivation pretty much was gone during those few weeks.  Which brings us to today.  So here are the numbers…

I lost 16 pounds.  I started out at 154 pounds, jeans were pushing into a size 12 and my size 10 work slacks were tight.  I know some people would love to have my weight “problem”.  I know I was very unhealthy – and this is the problem.  I had very little muscle and mostly fat.  I had no endurance.  I struggled to run at a 12 minute mile pace – I could only last four minutes on a good day.  Today I am 138 pounds, jeans are a size 8 and dress pants size 6.  Trust me, I don’t look like someone who should be in a size 6.  I still have that thick layer of fat; it’s just in a smaller circumference.  I can usually run two miles on the treadmill at a 12 minute mile pace.

My first major goal is to get to 134 pounds.  Ultimately I would like to be down to 130.   I’ll admit, the numbers are important to me (it’s nice to see results), but they aren’t the most important.  I want to be strong and healthy and this is what I’m most excited about. 

I share this to hopefully inspire anyone else feeling they need to get healthier.  Trust me.  If this mid-40’s gal who could never say no to a sweet treat can do it I know you can.  I still have a treat but not every night.  Instead of a bowl of ice cream I have a spoon of sherbet ice cream.  I will still eat treats next Christmas, but I will sweat and burn some of those calories instead of letting them settle in my rear.