My story from the last couple of years

jo_marnes

Hi Everyone,

This seems a bit wrong to be posting a 'success' story as my very first post on MFP, but maybe it might help some people and it seems like a good way to introduce myself.

I'm a 26 yr old Mum (3 boys) and over the last couple of years I've been trying to shed my pregnancy weight, plus all the extra kg's from just over eating. My first pregnancy was fine - hardly gained and went back to normal without trying. Not so with the second! My dawning realisation came on holiday once when I saw my arms in a short sleeved top - ruined the rest of my holiday!! Unfortunately, I then also found out I was pregnant with my third, so needless to say, while I ate better, I did no exercise (never did any previously) I didn't lose any weight!

After I had my third child I was determined to shift the weight as I was getting married in 4 mths! Nothing like trying to look amazing in a wedding dress to motivate you! I cut my portion sizes as I ate fairly well anyway and started to exercise. My goal was to drop from almost 12st to be 9st something on my wedding day. I rode my bike for increasing lengths of time and invested in some DVDs I did at home when the kids were in bed. I went to a LBT class once a week. On my wedding day I was 9st 10lbs :-) Goal 1 achieved!

I then wondered could I get down to 9st 7? I exercised more and I did it. Then I wondered if I could get down to 9st.... this was hard as I hit my plateau. I had to up the exercise and restrict the kcals more. I wasn't counting kcals back then, but I just followed low GI and stopped the snacking. Eventually I got to 9st - goal achieved!

My family and I then moved to Australia (from the UK) and I was determined not to stray from my success. I moved away from my classes etc so enrolled in a gym here in Adelaide. My first class was a Les Mills Body Attack class - omg! I nearly died! That put me off for a while so I started to try running - the views here make running very rewarding. After a while I managed to get up to 4k runs in - took a while but my fitness was rapidly improving. I was strugglng to understand the scales here - I had to switch to kg's from lbs, lol. What with moving a lot and not focusing on losing weight so much, I was surprised to discover I had again dropped and was now under 9st - I have never been this light since I started weighing myself. But then I've never been into exercise before. I was starting to lose motivation as I'd reached my goals but was concerned that I would gain if I didn't have a goal in mind. I decided to run the half City-Bay (6k) here in Sept 2009. I trained on the tread mill to measure distance and was up to 6k in no time. The day dawned and I was very excited and anxious. I ran for a charity but really in my mind it was a real personal accomplishment. I ran the 6k in 35 mins and was over the moon. At the end I thought I could either do the whole race (12k) or the 6k faster in 2010. The 12k seemed the hardest option - so that's what I went for.

I struggled to get much distance on the treadmill so started running routes along the beach etc. I google mapped and found that my front door to my Mum's front door was literally 12k exactly! A beautiful route, flat and scenic, with a little beach running. I achieved it on my second attempt. I don't run 12k very often as it's hard to fit in to my week what with the kids. However, I ran the 12k City-Bay this year in 69 mins!! So pleased with myself, it was hard going but my mind won out over my legs!

So once again I find myself without a short term goal. My kinda goal is to run half marathon (21k) but this is proving extremely hard as I need to run a LOT more than I do currently. This means getting up early and being back home and ready to do the school run at 7am - any later in the evening and it's too hot. I also need to find people to run with - going that distance alone is really hard on my own. I have friends who want to run, but they aren't up to my fitness yet and so I wouldn't improve. Not to say I'm ignoring them - we are going to be doing a 4k Resolution Run in Jan - their first organised event! I'm excited for them.

So I've gone on a bit (or a lot) but basically over the last 2.5 yrs, I have lost about 23kgs (50lbs), dropped 4 dress sizes and reduced my BMI from 26 to 19. I am fitter than I have ever been and my current weight is 52kgs (115 lbs).

I am now seeing a dietician as I'm not sure how many kcals I should be eating for the exercise I do - I workout/ run/ walk about 10 hours a week if I can. I am now trying to build muscle and stamina for the running without gaining too much. I wish I'd measured inches when I started as people say I'm tiny now and it would help me to know the inches aren't gaining even if the scales are!!

Anyway, thanks for reading and maybe my story will help someone....

Best of Luck with all your goals, there is nothing quite like the feeling of attaining them!

Jo xxx