It's not very often that I even blog about myself in general, but I have come to a large (or smaller) milestone (depending on how you look at it) and am very proud of what I've been able to accomplish! After having three kids in four years my body was not in the best of shape...unless you count round as a shape:) But to be honest, I've struggled with my weight my entire life and tried to blame it on a number of things; being 'big boned', it just runs in my family, I'll start tomorrow,... you name it, I had an excuse! And now, looking back I am truly not positive what finally clicked in my mind that finally got me on the right track. Honestly, I can see it has been a combination of several different influences from several different people and circumstances.
My first step was really back in college when some friends of mine invited me to come to Weight Watchers with them. At that time I was at my highest weight of 183 and was able to lose almost 30 lbs. That was about 6 months before I got pregnant with Cooper. From that point on, my body was nothing more than a baby making machine and with each child we added, I was put lower and lower on my own priority list. It wasn't long before I was just about right back where I started.
About two years ago, not long after I had Carter, a few of my playgroup friends and I joined Weight Watchers again. I had such great success the first time, I knew that I could do it again. I started at 181 this time around and lost about 20 lbs. Not long after that, my friend Kristin and I joined 24 hr. fitness. She and I would meet at 5:45 as many mornings as we could and work out together. I have to say that this was the biggest turning point in my reaching my weight loss goals. I always thought of exercise as something I would do once I got most of my weight off. I assumed that I would hate it, and that it wouldn't really produce any results. Ultimately, I think I was afraid that I wouldn't lose the pounds that I was looking for. And to be honest, I was right, but what I was wrong about was how much better it made me feel and that I didn't hate it. I didn't LOVE it, but I didn't hate it. The pounds didn't come off right away, but my body was different and the inches came off slowly but surely.
Most of all I owe my success to my husband, my motivator, my encourager, my friend. He has loved me at my biggest and everything in between. He started running in a few 5K's and finally convinced me to do the Cowtown back in 2007. I walked the whole way with a friend, but enjoyed the atmosphere and realized that being healthy might actually be fun! We've done a handful of 5K's since then and I've realized that running makes the weight come off much faster, and I'm all about that! My competitive nature has taken over and I'm always trying to beat my time and am now considering doing the 10K at the Cowtown this year. My last 5K was the "Jiggle But Run" at River Legacy Park. The best part was that I did it with my playgroup moms. We've all been working on getting our bodies back in shape and I was so glad that we all did this together. It was so fun and I had my best run yet at 34.14. I'm so glad I have my girls to keep me motivated too! Here are some pictures from that run...
Here we are before the race...looking nice and energized!
And I'm off! 
"Go Mommy!"
Here we are after the race...still look pretty good I'd say!My initial goal weight was 140 and I felt like I would never get there, but after a year of hard work I've finally gotten there and even surpassed it by almost 5 pounds!! I haven't weighed in the 130's since junior high, and I'm sure I'm taller now then I was then...so I look even better now. I sometimes don't recognize myself in pictures or even in the mirror. This is the first time in my life that I am comfortable in my body, and most of all I am hopeful that I can erase some of the health problems that have been so common in my family. Like heart disease, diabetes, etc.
So, I had to add some before and after pictures...
The first one is from spring of 07' at a marriage conf. that our Sunday school class went to. This was about 6 months after I'd had Carter...yet I still look pregnant! That was not what I saw when I looked in the mirror. I didn't realize I'd gotten so overweight!
The other pictures is the same picture from the anniversary post, but side by side you can really see the difference in both of us! Day has lost nearly 45 pounds alongside me! I'm so proud of us!
