The photo on the left was taken the day after my friends Judy and Joel were married. This is the week I made the decision to make some life changes. With my friend and roommate Kerry, we both decided to workout and eat healthier. We started Yoga for Beginners, started buying whole wheat bread instead of white, spinach instead of plain lettuce and I began to kick my Diet Coke habit.
I don't know what my starting weight was but my pants size was a 24. I had never been a 24. For most of my adult life I had been a 22. My shirt size was starting to reach a 26 and that is when I KNEW I had to make a choice. I didn't want to be limited in my clothes selection. I didn't want to be overweight any longer!
As the months ticked on I started to notice the changes. I was down to one Diet Coke a day or sometimes none at all. Wheat bread didn't taste bad and I was actually starting to enjoy veggies. My pants and shirt sizes went down and I was officially buying 18/20s. Mostly 20s but it was progress. I was feeling better and healthier. Then the weight loss stopped. I have to admit I wasn't being as proactive as I could have been. Yes, I was still eating healthier but my workout routine was lacking.
Then came 2010-2011. I was going on a cruise for the first time and I decided that I didn't want to be the fattest person on the boat. Now, I know this sounds ridiculous but this is what helped me kick in into gear. I looked into calorie counting apps and finally started with My Fitness Pal. It's a great way to track your calories, exercise as well as communicate with other people who are doing the same. When you first set it up you put in your current weight as well as your goal weight and how many pounds a week you want to lose. It then calculates how many calories you can eat each day.
From January to beginning of May I was eating only 1550 calories a day. With working out you were allowed more calories but I tried to not eat back all the ones I burned. In this time I dropped 25 pounds and was feeling great. It's weird the little things you notice about your body and your health just from losing a few pounds. Walking long distances didn't bother me, my asthma was better, I wasn't craving sweets and most of all I could buy clothes in a variety of stores.
Finding this old picture of me is causing me to recommit to my healthy lifestyle. I still have 50 lbs I want to lose. I know it will be a struggle. I mean, it took 9 years to get to where I am but I'm not going back to the 2003 me. I hope that in 9 more years I have a third photo of me that is my final weight loss.
Here's to healthy living!
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