40 pounds!

Today my diet tracker said 40 pounds lost! When I started almost two years ago my goal weight was 130. Today I am 130.4 I have gone up and down over the last couple years but have been really committed since July. My heaviest was around 175, and I could get to 155 with diet and exercise and some cheats. The last 25 pounds have been a lot of work, I have really tried to emphasize veggies and lean protien and healhty fats. I used to live off toast and cereal, now I eat lots of omlettes, salads, and stir frys. I feel like I never knew how to eat before and now that I have learned proper amounts of protien, carbs and fat I don't even feel like I am on a diet! I exercise most days and do weights and cardio to round it out.

People ask me a lot about my weight loss as it is noticeable now. They ask if its diet or exercise. When I think about it though I think its both and neither, its mental. I really had to set a goal, be committed, but most importantly believe that I could do it. Its all in your head when you need the strength to say no to junk food, or to get to the gym, push hard through a workout, and then come home and plan for your meals and prep. I think for the longest time I never really believed I could reach this weight. I wasn't even this thin in high school! But now I am here, and I deserve it, and it feels good! Its kinda scary too I worry that now that I am here I don't want to fall back into old habits. But at the same time I think being 27 I have just been trying on different lifestyles so far, from student to shift worker to now (I call my current lifestyle ninja training). I have faith that this can be the way I eat and live for the rest of my life because its not a sacrifice. The diet is healthy and varied, my execise is consistent and it makes me feel good so going to the gym isn't a chore, and now when I go shopping I look for clothes to celebrate my body, not clothes that will hide me. I don't buy things just because they fit, or because I think they make me look good. I know I look good so I can dress in trendy styles if I want and not be defined by rules like empire waists will hide a belly

Anyway I wanted to share this milestone. I don't post a lot but I read a lot of the posts and get a lot of tips and trick and inspiration from the 'community'. I really want to pass on that its been a mental/emotional journey for me. Its as much about buying good food and exercising as it has been about journaling, checking in with myself, making vision board collages, etc. I would post pictures but I am not sure how. If someone wants to tell me I can do some before and afters


http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1869551&l=fa5a484b19&id=604115553

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=15176198&l=43a2bd13bf&id=604115553

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=15176050&l=06c5e2f0d3&id=604115553