Getting Me Back

With the encouragement of a dear friend, I have decided to start including fitness things one day a week. I know the accountability to you all will be a real help, and that this will also help me get real with myself about my health problems. As this is my first post on the subject, which makes it the hardest, I am apologizing in advance for the style it is written in. Some of these things will be very difficult for me to share publicly.

To start, I would like to share how I used to look, and how things have changed along the way. This was me back in jr high/high school (no, I didn't always used to be thin and had to work hard to look that way, but my teen years were at a normal size).

Either ninth/tenth grade

Back in ninth grade

After the birth of my daughter

Family last October

My birthday adventure last December

As you can see, my weight drastically increased after having my kids and being a full time working mom. Though I could have made healthier choices, I chose to make the (mostly) economical and quick ones. If we had the money we ate out as a way to cut down on time, and bond together before crashing in the evenings. When cooking, it was mainly Hamburger Helper and whatever other inexpensive thing we could find. Though I was walking daily, this was not enough to burn off the baby fat along with the new calories.

Years have gone by (my youngest is almost 4) with me nearly giving up as it is not as easy as it once was to lose weight. Since having kids, I am able to lose but in small amounts with constant effort. Though this should be expected, it is difficult to me to work with this change after so many years of doing nearly nothing yet being a size 5,

Over the last 6 months I have joined a gym (yet rarely have the time to attend) and have purchased a few workout dvd's that were successful in the past. I also am starting to find healthier alternatives, and am seeing that eating out (unless for a special occasion) needs to be done with.

The plan is to begin utilizing my gym membership by going in any day my husband has off (his schedule changes weekly) no matter what unless it is a day the gym is closed. If that is the case, I have to force myself to choose a substitute day. The rest of the days I will alternate dvd's along with starting back up in my jogging training. Sundays will be my day off.

I hope you all will come along with me in encouraging these changes, and will be my own private cheering section!