I am coming into the final stretch....

It was December 6, 2007 that I decided I needed to make some life changes. I had put on quite a bit weight after High School and after each pregnancy. I never had the determination or time to do something about it. Working retail right out of High School, all I was eating was vending machine snacks and fast food...so not good for you! I hardly had the time let alone energy to do any type of physical activity so I slowing slipped into the worst physcial shape of my life. I had severe mood swings and no energy when it came to the kids. This is what made me the sadest of all....not being able to be the best mom to my kids. And how could I expect my children to live a healthy life when I couldn't even do it myself. So I gave myself a swift kick in the a** and did something about it. I had my 6 week post partum check up with my doctor I told myself that 1 yr from today I would lose at least 60 lbs. which would still leave me with 25 lbs to reach my ultimate goal.

This is me on Dec 1, 2007

My all time heaviest weight....ugh! Who is that person?!?

I can't even bring myself to publish my actual weight at this time.

I am so embaressed about how I did not take care of myself.

This is me on August 26,2008.

I lost 48 lbs!!!!

Dustin doesn't even know me at this weight.

I tried on my wedding dress and it is loose on me. yeah!!!!

I then preceeded to try on the dress I wore to my High School Graduation. It is unbelievable.....I can fit into the dress I wore 12 yrs ago. wooohooo! Now I need to continue my efforts so I can wear the dress I wore to my Sophmore Homecoming Dance.

It is now November 20, 2008....I am at a total loss of 50 lbs. I have reached a plateau that I am finding it very hard to overcome. I continue to fight my battle everyday. I try and remember that if I give into my bad habits, it is ok. I just need to regain focus and get back on track.

So many people ask how I do it so I thought I would share some of my secrets. First thing I had to do is commit to living a healthy and better lifestyle. I have done so much research and signed up for so many email lists to try find that miracle weight loss plan. The best advise that I found was to make small changes and take things slow. Plus put your goals in writing and hang them somewhere you can see them on a daily basis. I put mine on the refrigerator so I saw it every time I "thought" I was hungry.

For example:

week 1 :

diet goals: #1eat 5 small meals a day. (when I was working, I never ate on a regular basis so this was a definite change for me)

#2 drink only 1 caffeine free soda a day and no chocolate candies (other candies were ok).

#3 drink more water.

fitness goals: work out 1 time a day for at least 3-4 days a week. (I purchased the "Slim in 6" workout video..best video ever!)

week 2 :

diet goals: #1 cut out all soda #2 stop eating fast food. If I had to I would order chicken.

#3 drink more water.

fitness goals: work out 1 time a day for 4-5 days and stretch in the evenings.

Small changes every week so it wasn't so drastic that I couldn't stick to it on a regular basis. I would post my goals 4 weeks in advance so I had to think about what I wanted to accomplish ahead of time. Everytime I felt bored with my exercise routine, I would change it up. So instead of doing the workout video, I would go to the local park and walk. When that got boring, I added stairs and then added some jogging....and so on.

The hardest part of eating healthy is learning to slow down and enjoy the food you are eating and stop eating when you are full. I am so guilty of scarfing down my food so fast that I don't even now that I am full until 20 minutes later when I feel like I am going to explode. Busy at work, busy at home, eat fast so you can move on to the next thing in your life. Okay, Okay...I'm getting stressed out just writing this. Ultimately, you just need to stay postive. If I fell off track one day, I started the next day right back on track. Or sometimes it was a week of falling off track and just taking 10 minutes of time out and figure out what short term goals I want to accomplish now.

Wish me luck...I have 16 more days to lose 10 lbs to reach my 1 yr goal.