One Year of MFP - Justin Beiber Was RIGHT!

Justin was right... we SHOULD "Never Say Never!"

One year ago today, I started Couch to 5k to prepare for Warrior Dash in June, and joined MFP to track my progress. It was one week into my decision to get in shape. I still didn't think I could lose weight - why should I believe I could when every other attempt failed - but it was also the first day I got on a scale and realized I weighed ten pounds more than I thought I did, at 160#. If I was 150#, I was comfortable being about 15# over what I considered my ideal weight of 135, but I absolutely REFUSED to be 25# heavier!

My first day of C25K, I took my dog with me. A Pekingese. Pekes have about three inch legs and aren't known for their athleticism. It was ROUGH. I didn't have a stop watch, so I counted the seconds in my head, and probably didn't quite complete the workout as suggested. And it wasn't the little dog's fault. Damn, was I out of shape! I had doubts I could ever do this, but I was determined. The next time, I left the dog at home, and didn't fair much better. Then we had a snowstorm, Christmas, another snowstorm, and I knew the only way to keep at it was to join a gym, and I did.

Since then, I've kept up with the running, completing seven 5k races, a 4.5 miler, a 5 miler, a 10k, and 3.5 mile Warrior Dash. I've become addicted to it, and keep pushing myself to go faster. I picked up a couple of medals for best in age group in a 5k, and 2nd in group for the 10k, and my best time for a 5k has so far been 24:59. Today, I timed myself going one (cold and windy) mile in 7:16, and my goal is to win a trophy next. I gotta get a lot faster and I'll probably have to find a small race that all the area's best women aren't competing in to win, but it's still my goal. Plus, I always run better with competition.

A year ago, I had exercise and old weather induced asthma. It took me over an hour to stop wheezing after exerting myself in the cold. Now? I was a little raspy when I got back from my 5.6 miles today, but I was fine within 10 minutes. No albuterol required.

I've also started strength training in July. Prior to that, I only did body weight and stuff with a 5# dumbbells. I love how my body has been transforming with weights.

All told, I lost about 35 pounds since I signed up on here, then "gained" about 4-5 back since going on maintenance in October. I'm not sweating that "gain" though, because at 125# I bought size 7 jeans, and at 130#, I bought the same brand in 5, and the size 3 almost fit, but squished my bum in an unflattering way.

I don't have any photos at my starting weight that show how I really looked. But I do have one I took about a month into my weight loss, down 6# and feeling really good about how I looked. I was about to go to Zumba class, which was also a humbling experience because I have two left feet and no rhythm. I still can't dance, but I look a lot better now.







I loved these jeans, and was sad that a year ago, I had to undo the top button to wear them comfortably. They were a very stretchy size 8, but I typically wore 10 or 12.



Now, I'm happy to be a "loser" in misses' 2 or 4, or juniors' 5.

Thank you, MFP for making this transformation seem almost... easy! I worked my bum literally off, but I enjoyed myself and never felt deprived, hungry or frustrated. (Yay for exercise calories!!!!) And thank YOU to all my friends who've been so motivational and inspirational. I know I couldn't have done this without you all, and my uncontrolled addiction to this website. :drinker: