52 lbs so far... before and after!

Your post was very inspiring for me.. you look awesome.. you should be really proud of yourself! I am currently at 178.. so it kinda touched home.. and the weight you are.. seems so far away for me right now..I was originally 205.. and have lost 25 pounds since last October. I have been at my current weight for a month or so, and i am so ready to get out of my 70's. I have been doing different exercises, walking, (trying to jog), tae bo, stationary bike, in the begging swimming & using the gym. I enjoy getting a good workout. I am well aware of the healthy food choices, and i would have to be honest with myself and say that i could try a little harder in that area. The temptations are hard some weeks, i cave in and others i dont. My saving grace is my workouts. But, I really want to test my will power and eat better. Your post hit home, for me, and i had a big smile on my face when i saw your pictures because I was invisioning myself making it to the finish line like you have. You look beautiful, and your smile carries a new found confidence. And i can not wait until I get to that point in my life. I am see myself there. The journey seems long, and hard, but I know hard work pays off. I guess I have a few questions, Did you have any set backs? If so, what were they? How did you overcome them? And what time of workouts were you doing? Sounds like a lot of cardio/weight lifting... I just want to make sure I am using my workout time in a great way because I am a mom of 2~ and have to make the best out of my time! Thank you for sharing your story and pictures... i want to do the same thing when I hit my last goal!

I am glad it got a smile out of you!! It seems like far away but once you get there it's so worth it. Just keep pushing through and envisioning the results you want. Seriously, if I'm on the elliptical or lifting weights or something and I feel like I just can't push on anymore, I envision the six pack I want and it's enough to keep me going a little more. Mind over matter!

Setbacks, hmm... not one thing really sticks out in my head, but I do have an issue with occasionally WAY over doing it and binging out on some horrible food. Then I get really down on myself, say "screw it, whatever" and slack off on exercising, double whammy!

Lately I've had this horrible though go through my head that I wish I could push out. I'd like to lose another 5-7 lbs (thats not the bad part, lol) but I've had so many friends and family members telling me how great I look, that I start to lose site of that goal and say "why keep working at it, I look just fine how I am". I think maybe lately I've been losing some motivation because I've gotten so many compliments, if that makes sense. I feel like I've got nothing to work for which is awful because I have so many more goals to meet. Somedays I am in overly motivated and some days I just don't care. I'm still working on overcoming that one, not sure how to squash that thought yet.

Last year when I was really working on losing fat my workouts were usually about 60-90 minutes and mostly cardio, only did machine type lifting for about 15-mins to a half hour usually. Lately I have slacked off on cardio a bit and started working more on building muscle by using free weights, not many machines anymore. Muscle burns more calories than fat. The way I see it, the more muscle I have, the more calories my body burns just by being alive, and I'll take all the help I can get.