before.during.after

With 20 years of bad eating and exercise habits in my back pocket, you don't really change over night. It takes time and it takes effort.
I've never had a good relationship with food, and in my early teens it started to catch up with me. I spent my entire teen years overweight. I was always happy and I never hated myself.

September 2010-Before
But I knew there was more and I chose to change.
In January of 2011 I decided to change my lifestyle permanently and to dedicate my energy to my health and fitness to properly care for my body the way God designed it.
I set a goal to loose 67 pounds and began working out 5 days a week and changing my eating habits. 


November 2011- During. -25 lbs.
After 11 months of sweat and tears I reached the 30 pounds lost mark!! Wow!! I felt incredible!
I decided to take a couple of months off to focus on maintaining my weight loss.
My intention was not to'get skinny', it was to completely overhaul my lifestyle to make fitness a priority.

I took an 4 month break and successfully maintained my weight loss.
During those 4 months I focused on listening to my body and focusing on what needed attention.

This change in my life has caused me to fall in love with running. I am a slow runner, but improving every day!! I have run several 5ks, a 1/2 Marathon and am training for the full 26.2 in April, 2013. My favorite time to run is early morning and I love running in new places! I love that my legs can show me places in this world that I would never have seen without them!!
I also cross-train extensively by lifting weights, HIIT workouts and playing high-intensity sports (volleyball, basketball, tennis etc...). On average I work out 5 days a week with two rest or 'low mileage/intensity' days.

During November 2012- down 50 lbs.
I changed my life because I decided to be done looking in the mirror and wondering WHO was on the inside. I'm not done yet!
What am I made of? What can I do? Who am I?
I'm learning to accept progress, resist the idea of perfection and love myself on the good days and the bad days. I changed my life and am now healthier and happier than I have ever been.
It is hard work, it is the best work.
YOU ARE WORTH IT!
I'm on a journey to be the best me that I can ever possibly be.
One day at a time, better tomorrow than I was today.
We don't 'arrive', we're not 'perfect'; we work, we fail, we try, we get back up; we succeed! 

10 comments:

  1. Awesome job on the weight loss! Don't give up, you can do it girl!

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  2. so glad you added this page. You rock. I know all too well that feeling of complete VICTORY!!!!!! It;s such a glorious thing:) xxxxoxo Hanna

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  3. what a healthy attitude you have! I wish I had had that attitude during my weight loss. If I had I'd probably be in a much better place now! Very inspiring!!

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  4. You. Look. Awesome! Fantastic, lady! :)

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  5. How amazing! Good job on the lifestyle change. I'm sure that wasn't easy. What is HIIT? Also, how did your marathon go?

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    1. My marathon was amazing-- such a fantastic experience! You can read my recap in my April archives. HIIT stands for "High Intensity Interval Training" or basically the most evil form of sweating ever. :) Thanks for stopping by, and for the comment!! xoxo

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  6. I'm good friends with Kim @ Racing Bananas and she mentioned your blog to me, which is how I stumbled upon it. You look fantastic! You certainly have dedication and it's definitely paid off!!! Kim and I are running the Madison Half in November (her first, my 4th) and I'm all amped about running again - I'm going to stalk your blog now to read more about your full marathon earlier this year. That's, like, my ultimate goal! Excited to have found your corner of cyberspace!
    Jess @ What The Efff

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  7. I miss your posts, girl! By the way, where do you buy your jeans? :) I love the ones you are wearing in the bottom photo. <3 you! - Kourtney

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