160 to 125 with pics

Some of you are asking how I did this and how I did this so quickly.

I woke up on Jan. 1st, 2011 knowing I had to change something in my life. I took a good look on the inside of me and saw that I was depending on others to make me happy. My children, my husband, my work, my church etc....I was trying to make others like me in order to feel a sense of self-worth. And it dawned on me...THIS IS UP TO ME! No one will "like" me if I don't like myself first.

So I decided that I would start a workout and eating regimine on the following Monday, which happened to be Jan. 4th. I decided 5AM was the only time I could fit some ME time into my schedule. My days of using family and work as my excuse of not having enough time were officially over. And let me tell you, that was so liberating! Really, there are no excuses. If anyone has them, I do. But that's another post.

As far as what I did to succeed? I used MFP! YEAH!! I set the guidelines to lose 1lb per week. And that really worked for me. As I look back, I've lost roughly 32lbs over 5 months. That's less than a 1lb loss per week, so I don't think I lost too quickly. And toward the end when I started ramping up my exercise to lose, I also upped my calories by setting my goals to lose 1/2lb per week. I recorded my exercise everyday and was honest in recording my food intake. Calories in -- calories out. I changed my eating a little bit in that I eat much more "fresh" than I had before. I also eat a lot less "white" than I had before. But I didn't nix anything totally out of my diet. Fridays are a family pizza night and I never once skipped that outing. Instead I loaded up on the fresh fruit & veggies and only had 1 slice of pizza and sometimes I skipped the dessert. I still drank a beer or two or even a glass of red wine or two. But all those calories were recorded. I usually ate back my exercise calories. Most of them, anyways. There were a few days I went over, birthday celebrations or other family-type parties, but really, I never totally lost control and binged or lost my way on this journey.

Exercise? I started the 30 Day Shred in January and stuck with it. THen I did the JM 30 Day Slimdown. And I stuck with it. Then I started the C25K program and am sticking with that (3 days/week -- just having completed week 8) and mixing up my JM DVD's on my "off" days. I rest on Sundays. The Lord rested on Sundays so I can too. Only it's not a cheat day. It's a rest and non-recording day.

I went in this with the goal of a life-time change. Not a diet to lose weight and go back to my regular old eating habits. I've measured and counted food. I've enjoyed my foods. I've found out that I LOVE exercising and am excited to get out of bed in the morning to go workout. I know that sounds weird, but it's true.

Some people say 10, 20, 30lbs isn't a lot. For me each LB was huge! Consistant losing was motivation in itself. But I really feel that I'm finally in the right frame of mind and the right place in my life to make it happen. Sure, I want to look nice and maybe even try being a little sexy once in a while, but for this 35 year old mom of 3 -- it's really about me and finally doing somethign for myself. This makes me happy. This puts me in wonderful place where I can take care of others without the guilt and shame that I was always heaping on myself.

Oh, and I want to be clear -- none of this is "baby weight". My last bio daughter was born 12 years ago, lol. We are an adoptive family also, so that little munchkin you see in the "after" photo has nothing to do with any weight needed to be lost. The only culprit to blame is me. And I'm done with the blame. Life has so much more to offer when you take the lead and don't sit back and watch things pass you by. :happy: