Then...and now

What a difference a year makes! It was the end of April last year when I decided enough was enough and I made my lifestyle change.

I've always struggled with my weight, it seems to fluctuate with what was happening in my life and I've always had a bad self image of myself. So, even at my lightest of 135 (I'm just shy of 5'3"), I thought I was fat. Boy do I have a different outlook on that now! When I look back at pictures I see how good I looked and I longed to look that good again. 13.5 years ago I weighed that, 135lbs...sigh. Then I had a baby to which I never really lost all of the weight from (and I gained A LOT...tipped the scale at about 205lbs). Then 4 years later, I was pregnant with my second and even though I didn't gain as much as with my first, I was still sneaking up on the 200lbs mark. I never fully lost the weight from that pregnancy either. So, there I sat, longing to be that weight before having kids but sitting at almost the same weight as I was full term with my second child. I'm was tired of not being able to find clothes I liked in my size and I'm was sick of the way i looked and felt.

What has made me decide to embark on this weight loss journey you ask? Well, 2 things...1 being that I was sitting at a weight I was when I was 9 months pregnant, and #2- being terrified of looking like my parents and having all the health problems they have because of being obese. I took a trip home over Easter last year to visit with family and it was then that I realized that I was closer to that reality than I thought. Although I don't have any health issue yet...if I keep going the way I am and don't make some drastic changes in my life, I'm going to be exactly like them and April of last year I was well on my way and that scares the crap out of me.

My lifestyle/eating habits before this were terrible. I never drank water...ever! I went from coffee in the morning, to pop in the afternoon, to a couple of beers in the evening with my husband. I am/was a junk food junky. I love it! I would rather sit there and eat a large bag of chips than snack on a plate of veggies or fruit. I never ever exercised. The extent of my exercise was chasing kids around or watching them play (I run a day home) and the very occasional leisurely walk with my dogs. I would never break a sweat. I lived a very unhealthy lifestyle and it was time for a major change.

As of April 14 last year, I started drinking the recommended or more of water every day. I do still eat the occasional junk food but rarely, I eat healthy snacks and foods, I'm watching/counting my calorie intake/used and I have acquired quite the workout equipment over the past year. I have turned the basement into a workout room, have started lifting heavier weights ( started SL 5x5 ) to now change my body composition and get my body fat % down. I LOVE lifting weights! I love even more that my husband has decided to join me so it's something we can do together.

When I first started last year, I was a size 16-18 ( an XL or a size 36 in jeans). I just bought a pair of pants in a size 6 yesterday but for most things an 8 fits pretty good ( I fit a small in a lot of things and my jeans are now anywhere between a 28-30 depending on the make and style). I still have 6 lbs left to go to reach that 135lb goal and about 4-6% I'd say for body fat but I feel fantastic! This is the healthiest (and strongest) I have ever been in my life. I still struggle with body image sometimes but for the most part I think I look f'ing amazing! 1 of the small reasons I decided to change was because I didn't want my husband looking around for a woman who had a better body than me, he deserved a hot little wife by his side and this was a big fear I had...now the rolls are reversed and this is how my husband is feeling, lol.

Even though I haven't quite reached my goal yet, I just wanted to share my past year with you. All the success stories have been a great inspiration to me and I could never of done this without this site and all my supportive pals on here!

Then and NOW!