Friday, August 3, 2007

The tale of two July's

First picture was taken July 12th, 2007 and the second picture was taken in July of 2006. What a difference a year makes!
Well, it's now August and so I was thinking about changing the name of the post, but I liked too well. LOL! Anyways, it has taken me some time to decide to post this. It really doesn't have too much to do with our family, but it is a personal struggle for me and I'm really proud of my hard work so here goes...


Right after Julia arrived home, I started to pack on the weight. I was heavy to start with and when you do more eating than exercising, the weight fairy starts to drop hints. Like on my thighs, butt and stomach. 2 pounds here, 5 pounds there. Ugh. It was a ride from hell that I wanted to get off. I really don't know what my highest weight was since I banned scales in my house. In my best estimate I figure I was about 205. Remember, I'm only 5'3". Yikes is right.

So in April when I got the chance to submit a proposal to speak at a conference in North Carolina, I took this as a sign of needing to get my shit together. I was tired of being heavy and just plain tired of being tired. I started exercising, eating better and staying busy. It was really tough at first. There's this vicious cycle I believe people get caught in. Since you're heavy, you don't exercise and if you do exercise, you get more tired. So who in the hell wants to get more tired? LOL!

Slowly but surely the weight has came off. When I started I was a size 20/22 and now I'm a 16. I still have a long way to go, but it's working. I'm so much happier about the way I look and how I feel. I'm not tired all the time, I enjoy getting out and walking and running. I don't miss all the junk food. Well, that's a lie. Haha. I do miss all the over-the-top fatty, greasy, oh-so-bad for you foods. But to be honest, they actually don't taste that great anymore.
Weight issues aren't easy to talk about, in fact...I'm embarrassed to really talk about it. I hated shopping for clothes. I hated getting in a bathing suit. I promised I will not ride my high horse of being thinner. I'm still this fat girl at heart and love to make jokes about it. But on the serious side, watching what I eat is an hour to hour, minute to minute battle for me. Right now there are cookies, chips and soda in my fridge that I swear are calling my name. Like after I had the Bunco ladies over. There was a brand new full 2 liter of Coke. I love Coke. Well, I used to go open the fridge and just stare at it. I knew I didn't need it. But I wanted it. I did that for about a week, till I finally just dumped the damn thing out. Laugh if you will, but it's true. Everyday I get up, I have to make a choice of what I eat. I hate it. But my desire to wear a smaller size and be healthier usually beats out my desire for that cheeseburger. :-)
So there you have it. I'm 178 as of this morning. That's 27 pounds lost if you're counting. YAY!