Weight Loss Journey

My journey in blogging began as a way for me to track my personal goal of becoming a better me. It was a form of accountability to myself. I felt that if I announced to the world my intentions, I would be more likely to stick with my plan. My first blog (that I no longer use) was dedicated to a weight loss journey and a plan I had for streamlining my life through organization. While I am still an organizer, I don't spend inordinate amounts of time working on it. Being organized and having less clutter is a great thing, and I still am a little anal about mindful of it pretty much all the time!

As far as losing weight, you might need a little history about my situation. When I was a little girl, my grandfather nicknamed me 'Chubby.' It stayed with me as far as he was concerned for my entire childhood. Unfortunately, just as puberty struck (at a very early age), my body compensated by truly becoming chubby. At age 10, I was 4'10 and weighed in at 110 pounds. I looked a little pudgy and a lot older than 10. Now, understand that my weight didn't change for years. I grew taller (not much, true, but a bit), and obtained a more girlish figure with hips and a B cup chest; however, I stayed between 100 - 110 lbs until I was 18 and got pregnant. After my babies were born, I lost my baby weight immediately. However, post-partum depression and extreme stress in my marriage caused me to turn to food as my friend and confidante. I quickly packed on the pounds.

In my struggles with weight as an adult, there was a time in my life when I reached 197 pounds. For my short stature (5'1"), that. is. huge. At the most difficult and most stressful point in my life, I lost 94 pounds of that. For me, 103 pounds is too skinny. Skeletal. When my stress subsided, I began feeling better and noticed that the pounds were coming back. The first 20 lbs were okay...I still looked great. In fact, I looked better than I did at 103. I was still happy. Over then next five years, I put on another 50 lbs. This put me at an embarrassing 174.4 lbs in December of 2012. Gah.

Needless to say, after numerous starts and re-starts, eventually I just gave up on losing any weight. However, my weight loss journey began again without me making a big announcement or any huge changes.
My goal is to finish out my 30s (I am 34 now) between 120 and 130. Since December (it is now mid-March 2013), I have lost 19.2 lbs! That is the most I have EVER lost intentionally. It hasn't even been that difficult. I work out when I feel like it, and I eat/drink what I want. Now, I definitely am careful and don't eat nearly as much as I did...portion control, you know. If I drink a Coke during the day, I don't allow myself dessert or an adult drink later that night. Moderation. The picture below shows me at the 174.4 with 41% body fat of December...

After Christmas, I put together a little collage of me from 2010 - 2012. It isn't beautiful. I am sure that when I am not listening people say...'she has such a pretty face.' I hate that phrase. We all know that it is a nice way of saying...'she's such a fatass.' So...here is the fat collage in all of its jiggly, squishy, lumpy glory. Really. Even my nose had gotten fat. Why didn't anyone tell me?!?!

 So, after quite a bit of hitting this lovely place, (that's me on the far end by the windows, second treadmill)

And a lot of eating things like this...

Lean cuisine spaghetti with mushrooms, 300 calories!

I am finally making progress!!! Here is my updated collage from February 2013...are you ready???

YES!!! Even I can see the difference. And if I can see it, I know it's really happening! I can see my cheekbones. I had to buy a smaller bra (go figure). I had to buy jeans...2 sizes smaller. I am on my way!!! In March 2013, I am actually enjoying snapping little pics to see the differences in me. It's been a long time since I wanted to see myself on camera!

feeling sassy!!!

stoked to be in a medium top again!!!

truly feeling slimmer, lucky me!!!

Sadly, those twenty pounds jumped right back on my butt (and belly and boobs and face) in July after I had a little fun surgery. I had a boob job and some liposuction, and the swelling/water retention following surgery weighed 17 lbs! It never went away. I guess the swelling weight just transferred over into fat weight as time went by. And now I again resemble the girl in the fat collage. *tear* So, once again...I am on a re-start. This time I am trying out the 'Plexus Slim' diet. Check out this post to see how I got on board with it. I wish there was a better way to post my measurement updates...

Beginning Measurements
Taken = December 2012      Height: 5'1"
Weight:  173.4 lbs 10/2/11    156.4 2/28/13  155.2 3/17/13  176 12/9/13
Bust @ nipple:  41 inches    37 inches    42.25 inches
Waist = 35 inches
Belly (@ button):   42 inches    no change    40 inches
Hips (@ c-section scar):  45 inches   43 inches 45 inches
R Thigh:    28 inches  27 inches
L Thigh:     28 inches  26 inches
R Bicep:     13.5 inches  12.5 inches
L Bicep:      13.5 inches  12.5 inches