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Any products that I try in my healthy journey I am using at my own risk. My opinions of these products are not intended to be used in lieu of a physician's recommendation. Please check with your physician before trying any of the products or ideas that I have posted in my blog.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

I've always been a big girl...

So I've always been big, even as a child. Here are some pictures from my past.

This is me at about 12 or 13.


 This was me at about 18 or 19

 This was me at about 21.

 This was about 22.
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This was me in 7th or 8th grade (so about 12 or 13) Side note: why did my parents let me have bangs??? And dress like a boy?

This was me at 18. I was skinnier here than I was at 16. This was my lowest weight (about 165.) But while I was skinnier I wasn't any healthier. I was running myself ragged at this point in my life. If you can see it my eyes look like they're going to sink into my skull. And I remember thinking how fat I was then.

This was me in November of 2010. That was 14 or 16 inches of hair I was donating. That helped me drop a few pounds....


So you can see weight has always been an issue for me. I'm just ready to get rid of this!!!!

I'm finally ready to do this!

So last year I realized that I'm going to be 30!!! I thought to myself, how awesome would it be if I could loose 100 pounds by my 30th birthday. I thought I could do it and started walking - a lot. That lasted for about a week....

So a few weeks ago (June 10, 2011 to be exact) I finally decided I'm ready to loose weight. I'm not happy with my body, I'm unhealthy, and to put it frankly I'm fat.... I just want to feel comfortable in my body, and I'm upset enough with the way I've treated myself for the last 30 years to finally do something about it!

I've tried walking, which is painful for my ankles. I like workout videos, but my jumping around on the floor may just be a recipe for disaster (Hello basement.. LOL!!!) I ran in high school and can still feel the shin splints, OUCH! So what's a girl to do? I decided to put that bike in the garage to good use. I got on and my first day I did 3 miles in a half hour, and had it not rained I felt like I could have gone further (because yes I will melt, I'm made of sugar). So a few days later I did just that - 7.5 miles in 45 minuets! And again felt like I could've done more (Just scared to push to fast to hard and do some damage). But I decided that my body will tell me before I go too far, and so my next ride I did 10 miles in an hour!

That was almost a month ago, given how quickly I've given up in the past I should be done with this biking thing now, right? WRONG! I LOVE biking. I'm not sore (well my but gets a little sore) when I'm done and I feel like I could ride forever. It's so calming to me. When I haven't gone on a ride for a day or two (like right now it's been 90 degrees and I'm not a happy heat kind of person) my body almost seems to CRAVE getting a ride in.

But riding a bike will not do the job by itself. At my house we don't eat healthy - AT ALL!!! so that was the next thing I had to change. While I can't seem to get anyone else on board with this thing I have realized that I don't need everyone else here to limit themselves for me to limit myself (but misery does love company doesn't it?) So I'm using SparkPeople.com to help me track what I'm eating. They've recommended between 1800 - 2100 calories a day for me. I've stuck to it too! I do have to admit that I've given myself what I'm calling Splurge Sunday but even on Sunday's I'm only going over by 200 calories or so.... And with the calories I'm burning riding 10 miles 3 - 5 times a week 200 calories isn't going to thwart my plans.

So now that I'm my 4th week what kind of progress have I made? Well I started this battle at 299 pounds and as of last Friday (July 1) I'm down to 285, that's 14 pounds in three weeks!!! I'm pretty proud of myself.

And on top of all this I decided that July 1st was my last day as a smoker. While I'm struggling a little bit with that I haven't had a full cigarette since I decided to quit.

So it's going to be a journey. I didn't get this way overnight, it took time to put on all this weight (almost 30 years to be exact). So it's going to take time to get rid of it, and I'm all for that - as long as it doesn't take another 30 years...