You CAN do it!

Last January, I told myself it was time to change. I told myself this every year (you know, the typical resolution), and for some reason, I just never had the motivation to do it. However, last year hit me hard. The scale was an ice cream sundae away from 300 pounds, and I just knew I couldn’t keep doing this to myself.

So, I downloaded MyFitnessPal on my phone, and started logging every bite of food. It was hard at first. I mean, how natural is it to remember to journal EVERY bite of food? It’s really not, but I knew this was the only way.

I slowly added in workouts, including Jillian’s 30 Day Shred, and then I told myself it was time to run. Running was something I was always terrible at, but I thought why not? I committed myself to the Couch to 5K workout program in the summer, which was fairly insane. I had to run at 7:30pm to make running slightly bearable.

2012 was hard. The weight I lost was not easy, but I’m proud of what I accomplished in 2012.

There are some times where I still question if I could have worked harder, and had better results, but the wonderful thing is I’m healthier than I was last year. All of my fat clothes (except for one “before” pair of jeans that I will probably keep forever) are in garbage bags, ready to be dropped off at a donation box, and I feel awesome. I still have a long way to go on my weight loss journey, but I’m hoping I can lose the same amount of weight in 2013. That would put me in the 100s, which I haven’t seen since MIDDLE SCHOOL.

That’s just exciting to me. 🙂

I really wanted to write this blog post to let you know that you can do this too. I sat on my sofa 120 lbs. overweight last January, and I was so overwhelmed. 120 lbs. is a lot, but I took it 10 lbs. at a time, and rewarded myself along the way. I LOVE those little rewards….they really gave/give me something to look forward to (besides weighing less).

I’m a big fan of calorie counting, because I didn’t have to give up any food. I still ate ice cream, went out to eat (and didn’t eat grilled chicken/veggies) and enjoyed my baking from time to time. I think my biggest wake up call were my portion sizes. I don’t eat nearly as much as I used to, which just happened over time. I’ve become a lot more conscious about when I’m feeling full, instead of just eating everything in front of me, then regretting it. I also LOVE having my BodyMedia Link armband…it’s good (at least for me) to have a better idea of how many calories I’m burning during a workout, and even throughout the day in general. 🙂

I know this is very cliche, but I’ve been overweight for a long time. A LONG time. I was the fat kid in school, and if I can do this, you really can too. Just realize the weight will take time to come off, and try not to obsess as crazily as I did over the scale. You’ll be surprised how much you can accomplish in a year. You don’t have to lose 100 lbs. You don’t have to lose 50. If you even lose 5 lbs. this year, you are 5 lbs. lighter than you were last year, and that’s just an awesome feeling. 🙂

You CAN do it!