Here is some motivation for those of us who need it

January 6th I weighed in at 305.8 (ish depending on the scale) I overhauled my life that day. I completely cut out soda, junk food, fast food, fried food, "white" starches and my Starbucks. I spent the first week learning to cook food that was not only healthy but something I would eat and LIKE. I didn't worry so much about if the food was super good for me, I focused on choices that were better than what I had been eating.

Skip ahead a week. I discovered I love whole grain pasta!!! I love Almond Milk!!! I love salad with only 40 sprays of Italian dressing. I LOVE Feta. I also started watching my caloric intake. Now, in the next week both my children got very ill, I took a final, started a new class, and became very stress out. I ate pizza for dinner after spending 5 hours in the Er with the sick kids. (I totally beat myself up, but I came in under my calorie goal by 68 or so calories so at my husband's encouragement and support I let it go)

Skip ahead another week. I lost weight. I lost more than I thought I would. I ate pizza again, (But this time at a restaurant that uses whole grain bread) I ate 4 pieces, and loved every bite. I still lost weight. I realized, this is a life change, not a diet. I can eat whatever I want. If I want to lose weight, I need to make better choices more often than I make bad ones. Awesome, I can totally do this.

This week I realized I no longer needed to take 800 mg of iron a day because I was eating foods with iron in them and taking my daily vitamins. Also, I no longer had heartburn! Which meant no more heartburn medicine! Sweet! Doctors appointment to get my yearly physical done- No longer prediabetic! Cholesterol is lower, blood pressure in a healthy range (105/70) and no longer severely anemic! (Just need to up my iron intake- more salad with the veggies I actually like now!) Oh, and most exciting, I like veggies now!!!! Not all of them, but wow, a month of new eating habits and I actually snack on celery, broccoli, carrots, avocado, olives, and mushrooms! (I have hated mushrooms always, now I love them)

Okay so to the best part. This morning I weighed in at 288.8 My goal was to be under 290 by my birthday. (Which is Sunday) Sweet! Awesome! I rock! New goal, get under 280 by March 25th. (I can totally do this) Day gets better. My husband takes me to Lane Bryant to prove to me he can see the weight loss. I had been complaining I couldn't see it.

I went from a 24 pant size to a 22! I went from a 44dd bra to a 42g. (Hello bigger boobs, smaller around?! Yeah, muscle there under that fat now)!) Shirt size- (here is the amazing part) went in wearing a 26, came out wearing an 18/20 that was not tight anywhere on my body!

I have only lost 16.6 pounds, but wow what a change! The scale is no indicator of how much weight I have lost and how much my body has changed.

To all the people struggling, who feel like the road ahead of them is too long and its too hard to lose the weight here is my advice: RELAX! Figure out what foods you can ditch. Figure out what you can live without, and what you can't. (I love pizza, so I still eat it. I just don't eat it everyday.) Give yourself time to adjust to every new thing you do. Working out is really hard for me. So I am starting out slowly. I started just shaking my groove than in the kitchen while doing dishes and cooking. I tried Wii games, and a dance exercise game. Hated them. So I kept looking for workouts I liked enough to do again. So far, I found my son's Shaun T workout tons of fun. We do it together, and giggle together, and I motivate him. (Awesome side note- exercising with your 9 year old son is SO MUCH FUN) I give myself props every time I enter the kitchen and leave without making a bad choice. EVERY TIME! I tell myself how great I am doing because I didn't eat donuts, or I didn't cover my salad in Ranch and croutons. I log everything I put in my mouth. I stopped putting myself down when I didn't do well. (There is no cheating and no failing at CHOOSING to eat healthier) If I fail to eat all my calories for the day, I forgive myself and try harder the next day. If I eat to many carbs and not enough protein, I forgive myself and move on.

So here's to everyone struggling to get healthier! I have managed to turn my life around in a month, with very little effort! If your struggling, and its too hard, and you want to give up, stop trying to force feed yourself food you don't like, and doing exercise you hate. Explore more foods. Try new things, until you find foods you like that are healthy. Keep moving, even if its only spazzing out in the kitchen, or dancing around while you put laundry away. Its moving! Give yourself time to adjust. Smile everyday!