New Blog, New Outlook

All blogs previous to this one are copied from my journal on Purerave.com. This blog is the beginning of me writing all my goals, thoughts and victories on my path to being a healthy weight and to total wellness. 

As of my last weigh-in on Tuesday I weigh 150.6lbs. This is down from my all time high of 189. That is what I weighed on January 12th 2010 and that is when I started my journey. 

Headshot of me May-ish 2009

 

 

This picture is of me is the Spring of 2009 and I think it shows me at my biggest. I have photos from New Years 2010 but they have all been retouched so I don't think they are an accurate representation of me at my biggest. I was uncomfortable and could barely find any clothing that fit me right. This was a photo that was supposed to "sell" me as an Journalist. As shallow as it sounds, I don't think many news directors would be willing to put a girl that large on Television. 
Part of the reason why I got so big was Boredom and Stress. I constantly was going between these two extremes at that point in my life and my reaction to both was to eat. If I was going to class I'd make sure I had a snack to keep me entertained. This was usually two over-sized chocolate chip cookies from the Cafeteria. If I was stressed or working really hard I'd get a Large Double-Double and/or a Donut as a reward for getting a certain task done. My relationship with food had become a toxic one. I was using it to fill a place or to fulfill a task other than fueling my body. Thankfully, now that I have realized that I have started to make changes.

Feb 2010- Changes are Starting

In January 2010 I started thinking about my life and where it was headed. I am turning 25 this September and I was tired of how things were going. I wanted to make changes. Call it my "Quarter-century Crisis" if you want, but I knew that I didn't want my next 25 years to feel like my last did. So on January 12th, my Sister's 23rd Birthday, I went to the Gym for the first time in over a year and worked out. I worked out hard and it felt good. I started using an app on my iPhone I had downloaded ages ago but never seriously used. The app is called Lose It! and it helped keep me on track. I started to go to the gym as often as I could. I made excuses to go; I would bring my workout clothes to Work with me so I could go after work. I started to see the pounds come off. My first two weeks I lost 4 pounds each week and I felt amazing. I because I felt good I kept going; I would try for at least 5 day a week. 

It's now almost 7 months later and I've lost nearly 38.5 lbs. I've had to buy all new clothes and I feel strong and fabulous. Random customers at work will come up to me and ask me if I've lost weight. I don't really like to talk to strangers about it but I'll say that I have. People will ask me what's my secret and this is where I get kinda defensive. I tell them hard work and keeping an eye on my calories always but I always feel like they are disappointed by my answer. They want to know my miracle answer to Weight Loss but unfortunately it's what they already know. 

Canada Day 2010 - Progress!

I'm now at a point that I consider the middle. For the last month my weight loss has kinda stagnated. I've gone back and forth each week between losing one pound, gaining 1.5, losing 2 and so forth. I need to step up my game. I have to make every work out count. I've decided that I'm going to run a 5k in the fall. I feel that having this training goal in front of me will make me train harder and hopefully give me stronger results. I also know that I need to be more diligent with my food journaling. I downloaded a new app to my phone called "My Fitness Pal" and I love it. I has a much more user friendly interface and it has a library of much more food including Canadian brands and restaurants. I'm hoping that these changes will push me past this plateau I'm in. Orignally, I wanted to be at my Goal Weight by my 25th Birthday, which is September 7th. I know that is not going to happen now but I'm not worried. I know this journey is now about life long health and there's no reason to rush that. I know I need time to learn how to live like this always. It takes time to make healthy living second nature and I'm okay with that. 

So here I am, 25 pounds until my ultimate Goal Weight of 125 pounds. I welcome all positive comments and suggestions and I thank you for reading! My next blog will hopefully be on Wednesday with an updated weigh-in and measurements!