A Fresh Start

Wow has my life changed since the last I posted! My baby is now ONE YEAR OLD! I'm at a new job. I survived another tax busy season (something I never thought I'd endure again). My family and I are in a new home. And I haven't been eating all that healthy. But the good news? I haven't really gained any weight since I stopped the program :) Well...I did a little but I lost it quickly my first week back on plan.

But I don't really want to think of myself as "getting back on plan." It reminds me how I tried before and didn't finish what I started. So I want to start fresh. New. Like I've never done this before.

So here I am, week 2 of my eating plan and feeling good. No, I wasn't perfect over Mother's Day (darn husband bought me yummy chocolates...). But so far this week? I've been doing good. And I've made up a personal challenge for myself. It's a 6 week challenge where I am 100% on plan. No cheating. No straying from the program. No BLT's (bites, licks & tastes). And the fun part is, I'm not doing it alone. I've challenged my clients to do this with me. Lucky for them I've offered up a little reward if they complete it. For me though, I guess my reward will be to {hopefully} be 15 pounds lighter.

I guess since I'm starting new I need to say my stats. I am currently at 166.5 pounds (last week I was at 170). So guess what that means...I get a MANI-PEDI! I love having these rewards for my weight loss :). I had actually forgotten about the ones I listed before and so I made a new list. Instead of doing every 10 pounds I did every 5. And the funny thing is, my rewards totally line up with the list on this blog (5 lbs {165} pedicure, 15 pounds {155} massage, 25 pounds {145} fancy dinner, 35 pounds {135} shopping spree. Coincidence or meant to be? So I'm going to keep those goals I have listed on this blog & just add in the other smaller ones on my own (e.g. a new dress, a swim suit & family pictures).

{I'm actually really excited about the last one (family pictures). We took a family picture in the fall to use as our Christmas card. And while I definitely wasn't at my heaviest, I still didn't love the way I looked. I don't really want to hang that picture up in our house. I want one I'm proud to show everyone. So I can't wait to take a fun family picture to display in our home.}

I'm currently between a size 10-12. My size 12 pants are a little loose, but my 10's are still a bit tight. I'm definitely a "Large" when it comes to shirts & dresses though. And this time around I'm actually taking my measurements so I can see how many inches I lose. So let the embarrassment begin. Here are my measurements:

Upper arm: 14.25

Chest: 39

Upper waist: 35

Lower waist: 40

Hips: 42.5

Thigh: 24.25

Calf: 15.5

Man, I can't believe how open I'm being about this. And I can't believe how much bigger I am than I thought! Talk about motivation!

Oh, and last but not least...here is a picture of what I look like now.

35 pounds to go... I CAN DO THIS!

20 Pounds Down

Well folks, today I reached goal #2 with 20 pounds gone!! I feel great! I'm starting to get my confidence back already. I often catch myself thinking about how skinny I feel. That might sound funny, but I often feel skinnier than I actually am. And I've been feeling that a lot lately. Hahaha! Sometimes I have to remind myself that I have quite a ways so to until I'm where I really want to be.

But on the flip side, sometimes when I get frustrated at not being able to fit into my old clothes, I need to remind myself of how far I've come! I mean, 20 pounds isn't something to dismiss! That's a big accomplishment! That's a toddler! Cameron doesn't even weigh 20 pounds! I've almost lost 2 Camerons! Hahaha!

As hard as it is to look back at the picture I took on Day 1, it's also quite fun to see how much I've changed in such a short amount of time. I mean...CRAZY! It's only been a month and a half!

Ugh! I really hate that first picture. I hate to think that I ever let myself get that big. And remember what I said earlier about thinking that I am skinnier than I actually am? Well, I never felt THAT big a few months ago. That picture really helped open my eyes to see how big I had gotten. And now it helps me see how far I've come!

No more rolls on my tummy when I'm standing (sitting down is another story...but those too will disappear soon enough). My face has thinned out. My arms no longer look like over-stuffed sausages. My boobs have gone back to a normal size (partly due to no longer nursing). I fit back into a pair of pre-pregnancy jeans (they are the biggest size I have, but still...no more maternity clothes for this girl!!) And I'm starting to get my figure back! I can actually look at the picture from today and say that I look cute. That's an accomplishment in itself.

Oh...and I need to mention one more thing. This week I was FINALLY able to put back on my wedding ring! I've worn it for 3 days straight now and my finger doesn't feel like it wants to fall off! I love my wedding ring so much and it made me sad not to be able to wear it for such a long time. Now I catch myself just staring at my hand like I did when I first got engaged. It makes me happy.

So pretty much it's been an awesome week for me! I am so thankful to this program and my health coach for helping me get here. Yes, I have a long way to go on my journey still. But I've also made it quite far. And that's what I'm celebrating today. Now I get to go out and buy myself a new movie!! Woo hoo!

Discovering My Optimal Health

This past weekend I was fortunate enough to go to a national convention for health coaches. Boy did I learn A LOT! Sometimes I felt a bit overwhelmed with all the wealth of knowledge that I was getting. Not only was I trained (and CERTIFIED!!) to be a better health coach to my clients, I learned a lot about my own health and what I need to do to achieve optimal health.

Many (if not most) of the speakers and teachers that presented to us discussed the importance of "knowing your why." Basically, why do I want to be a health coach? Why do I want to be doing the health program myself? Is it just about weight loss or much much more? They asked us to visualize what we want our life to be like in the trilogy of optimal health - healthy body, healthy mind, healthy finances. Once we had a visual of what that life would look like, then we would work it down to clear, specific goals.

Without clear goals in mind, it makes it difficult to ever achieve them. I mean, how can you achieve your goals if you don't know what they are? Pretty understandable, right?

So I've been doing a lot of thinking over the past few days about exactly what I want to come from this weight loss / better health journey. I've decided that yes, I want to lose weight. But I've also discovered the reasons behind wanting that goal. Why exactly I want to lose the weight and get healthy. Plus I've decided that I want more than just to be "skinny." Healthy doesn't necessarily mean "skinny." It means just that - HEALTHY! And that's what I want. I want optimal health.

So, here are my reasons why I want to lose weight and get healthy:

~ I want to feel confident in my skin. I've always been held back by lack of confidence (except for when I'd lost the weight previously - then I was super confident). I want to be that confident person I was before. I want to love myself.

~ I want to have the energy to run around with a very active boy (I'm sure that once Cameron starts moving he's never going to stop!). I want to play with him at the park next summer and not feel out of breath.

~ I want to keep up with my super active husband. Brant loves to go hiking and camping and biking and pretty much anything outdoors. When I go on hikes with him now, I feel like I'm holding him back because I can't go too far before I get too tired. I hate it! I want to be able to go on family hikes and not feel like I'm going to keel over and die.

~ I want my kids to grow up in a healthy home. I don't want them to ever have to fight the battle that I've had to fight my whole life up to this point. I don't want them to know what it's like to look in the mirror and despise the person looking back. And the easiest way to have healthy kids is to show them how to be healthy. It starts with me!

~ I want to get to optimal health now so that I can enjoy it for the rest of my life!

So yes...my losing weight is SO much more than being able to fit into a size 6 dress (though I'd be lying if I said I wasn't looking forward to that too). That's one big thing that I learned at convention. Optimal health is now my goal.

What are your health goals and vision for the life you want?

Goal #1 Met!

I've done it! I've lost my first 10 pounds! Yay! That means I'm just 12 pounds away from being at my pre-pregnancy weight. And it means that I'm 10 pounds closer to my final goal! And it also means that I get to pick out a new nail polish! Woo hoo!!

I'm starting to notice that my clothes are fitting a bit better already. And I've had quite a few comments about how I'm looking really good! Such great motivation to keep going on this program. My pre-pregnancy pants are still a bit tight around the waist, so I'm holding off on wearing them for now. But I know that any day I'll be able to button them up without any difficulty. And before I know it - they will be too big! Oh how wonderful will that be?!?

I was just thinking the other day how great it will be to be able to put away all my maternity wear until the next kid comes along. And then how great will it be to drop off all my "fat" clothes at the DI and rid myself of them once and for all! I can't wait to go on that shopping spree when I'm 130 pounds. What will that be like? I mean...I haven't been that small since...who knows when! And I'm excited!

Anyway, just wanted to quickly share. Off to go make myself some eggs for breakfast! Yum!