Ding ding, round two. Here comes the fighter.

August 17th, 2011 will always be remembered as the day I decided to make a change. I decided to throw my excuses out the window and do something. You always hear those people who make excuses for why things happen and I was one of those people. I had gained an extraordinary amount of weight over those past four years. I was no longer myself and I was not happy with the person I was projecting. Whenever you think of yourself, you always cling to one version that you think best represents you. I was clinging to that body image I had in high school and I was definitely no where near that anymore. That day, as I've said before, was the day I found my wedding dress. It really hit me that I wanted to look beautiful in it.



I also wanted to be the person I saw myself as when I entered this new phase in my life: marriage. Well, through sweat and tears I accomplished something amazing and beyond what I thought I could do. I lost 62 pounds as well as over 30 inches.



I will always remember that moment where it really hit me of how proud of myself I was. I was doing a Jillian Michaels Ab workout and at the end I just broke down and bawled my eyes out. I was really doing it. You read all those stories of people losing weight, but to have it happen to you... It's an amazing feeling. It's a hard journey you put yourself through. I had to change my eating habits, my exercise habits, as well as my lifestyle as a whole.



Some of my favorite moments came from my coworkers asking me, "How are you doing this?" "How do you have such great self control?" "Hello, Miss SKINNY!" Those moments fueled me to keep it up.The month leading up to my wedding I was told I was not allowed to lose any more weight for fear that my dress wouldn't fit me. Well, that meant I had to change my eating and exercise habits again. Instead of losing weight, I had to learn how to maintain it. It was kind of liberating. Being able to eat more, not work out as hard... After that month, I got to marry my best friend. It was a beautiful ceremony and a wonderful reception. Devan has stuck by me every step of the way. He was there for me when I wanted to eat something I shouldn't. He was there for me pushing me to workout harder. That led us to the day where he said "I do" in front of our closest friends and family. It was a magical day... "You are the Minnie to my Mickey, the Beauty to my Beast."



We then headed to our honeymoon location, Disney World! I wore tank tops and shorts almost every single day we were there, something that would not have happened a year ago. I could sit in the airplane seat with room to spare, and I could fit through the turnstiles that I couldn't fit through without turning sideways the year before. These were big moments for me and Devan was proud. Being on our honeymoon, I ate whatever I wanted. When I came home, I knew it was time to get back into gear. But, everything was so new and exciting so I had other things on my mind. Well, I have gained back five pounds and have decided that enough is enough!



I was not going to turn back into the girl who was making excuses. There's a familiar phrase that gets uttered by one too many people. It's "I'll start my diet tomorrow" when in reality, they never get started. That was not going to come out of my mouth. Sunday night I told Devan to make me one of the unhealthiest dishes imaginable as my farewell to this unhealthy lifestyle I had picked back up after getting married. He made a nacho doritos, cheese, and salsa casserole. It was DELICIOUS. I also ate a snickers ice cream bar to top it off. What a great way to say goodbye to that nasty lifestyle. Now, to be fair, I hadn't completely derailed. There were days I was still working out and making healthy choices, it just wasn't as habitual as it had been previously.



Today marks my second perfect day of healthy living. I've worked out both days as well as made home-cooked meals. It's amazing how much better I feel. I just feel more like myself when I'm living healthy and I feel so much better too! My goal is to lose 20-25 more pounds bringing my total weight loss to 82-87 pounds lost. I will also be running my second 5K this year on Thanksgiving. What better day to say hello to scrumptious food after a 5K, am I right? One year, you never would have believed me when I said I would be running two 5Ks in 2012.


Round 1 of my journey resulted in a 62 pound weight loss, the loss of 30+ inches, the loss of 10 jeans sizes, going from a size XL-1X t-shirts to a size medium, and the knowledge of a healthy lifestyle.

Round 2 of my journey has all new pictures to look back on. Granted, these probably won't be nearly as eye-opening as the Round 1 pictures, but they are motivation for me.



I also have to say that I could never have started this journey without the help of my two sisters, Sarah and Kate, as well as the support from my family. They pushed me and always asdhad faith in me. I also had amazing support from my facebook community and I thank you all so much for that.



So, here comes the fighter. You'll be seeing more of me.