My Journey

I've posted about it before, and I'm not going to go into too many details.  You can read about my weight loss journey on the "My Life" tab at the top of the blog.

Anywho...I've been stuck at a plateau.  There's been no motivation.  I stopped going to the gym for financial reasons.  All I do is make excuses.  Today, I decided to take a trip down memory lane.  Looking at these old photos reminded me of where I was and how far I've come.  I still have a lot to loose, but I've made significant progress towards my goal.

Here's where it gets real, folks.

At one point, I was 260ish pounds.  Shortly after the 2012 photo above is when I decided to start on the journey and a few months after this photo was taken,  I weighed in at 226 pounds.  Today, the last photo above, I am 180 pounds.  Everything I read says that my ideal, healthy weight is around 130 pounds.  What?!!  That means I still have 50 pounds to loose.  

Here's to gaining the motivation needed to get this thing done!  

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Color Vibe 5K

Last Saturday, I ran in my third 5K experience.  Years ago in high school, when I was running collapsing halfway through the mile, I just knew that I would never be a runner.  Fast forward to 2013, I joined the YMCA and started running (gasp!) on the treadmills and realized that, hey, I just might be able to do this!  

So, naturally, a short few weeks after I started running I signed up for my first 5K, which was last June.  I've since dropped my membership to the gym...not a choice I'm extremely happy with...but sometimes you've got to do things you don't want to, right?  

In the four months leading up to this past Saturday's 5K in Richmond, I ran/practiced/trained ONE TIME.  And that one time was the week before the race.  So, I basically expected to do an awful job during this race.  And I was pleasantly surprised!  I did end up walking a little bit, however, my time was much better than I expected!  Here's a recap on my 5K experiences...

6/15/13 - The Color Run 5K - Roanoke, VA 29:00

11/23/13 - Race for the Chocolate 5K - Williamsburg, VA - 33:45

5/31/14 - The Color Vibe 5K - Richmond, VA - 34:50

Yes, my paces have gotten slower, but I'm still totally proud of these times!  And...I've got some awesome plans (hopefully!!) for another 5K in February!  I'm hoping it will work out!  Until then, here are some photos from Saturday's Color Vibe!  

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Running

Lately, I've been a fan of running.  Actually, I think it's not so much the running that I like - but the pushing myself to new limits that I like.  I love pushing myself to find that, hey, I actually can achieve these goals I set for myself!  And the effects of running have been super nice as well :)

Almost two weeks ago I shared with you this post about my first mile run.  On that day, April 29, I ran a mile in 11:01.  Today, May 8, I am so excited to share that I have shaved 1:12 off my mile!  Yes, you read that right.  I ran a mile in 9:49 today!!!!

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Proud

I'm extremely proud of this image.

On Sunday, I ran a mile.  I ran a full mile without stopping or slowing down at all!  I ran on the treadmill - so I know that I kept the same pace the whole way.  I ran this mile in 11 minutes.  Okay, technically 11:01, but that's oh so close to 11.  An 11 minute mile may not sound "great" to you, but this is honestly the first time I think I have ever run a full mile without stopping.  Even in elementary school, I ended up stopping at some point during that dreaded mile run.  Words cannot describe how proud I am of myself for accomplishing this goal!  

Here's where this post gets a little personal.  I've never EVER shared my weight.  With anyone (except for maybe two people).  It's not something that I've ever been proud of.  But considering where I currently am, I feel okay with sharing this information with you.  I hope that this will make me more accountable for my actions - the time I spend at the gym and the food I put in my mouth - and will lead me further to my ultimate goal.

I signed up for Weight Watchers Online on December 21 (and I started going to the gym at the beginning of January).  At this time, I was 226 pounds.  A number that I will never, ever see again! :)  I weigh in every Friday, and this past Friday, I was 194.4 pounds!  As they say on The Biggest Loser - I'm in ONE-derland, and I'm never going back!!  

Since December 21, I've lost 31.6 pounds!

I've even reached a few non-scale victories!  Since I've started this weight loss journey, I've lost 3 inches in my waist, 1.5 inches in my hips, 0.5 inch in my thighs and I've gone down almost 2 pants sizes!  

There are so many people who know about this journey I'm on, and it feels good when they give me compliments on how I look.  However, I've recently started receiving so many compliments from people who don't know that I'm doing this - and that's when you know it's really working!  So many of the new clothes that I bought for school at the beginning of the year don't fit anymore, which is very exciting!  I keep thinking I need to go shopping for new clothes that actually fit, but then I think, "what if I buy these clothes and they don't fit in a few weeks?!"  What do you do in situations like this?  Guess I'm going to have to start thrift store shopping more!!  

There have been plenty of times that I've been proud of myself, however, this moment definitely tops all the others!  It's great to know that all the hard work, sweat, and money that I've put into this weight loss journey is paying off!  

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055. Lose 20 pounds. 058. 5% Weight Loss

**Normally, I don't like to post two 101 updates in one post.  However, I've been a slacker blogger lately, and these almost go hand in hand, so I'm making an exception this time!**

This is the goal.  When you are a member of Weight Watchers (even though you don't follow the plan perfectly) and a member of the YMCA, the goal is to lose weight.  I want to lose a lot of weight, but I didn't want to get overwhelmed in the process and easily frustrated if it didn't come off as easily and as quickly as I would like.  So, I'm setting smaller goals.  Weight Watchers focuses on small victories, every 5 pounds lost, etc.  So, I've been stretching for the next five pounds gone.  It makes the weight loss process much easier!  

My first "big" goal was to lose 20 pounds, and I can happily say that I've finally managed to reach that goal!  I've only been a member of Weight Watchers (this time) since December 27 and I've only been going to the gym since the beginning of January.  Of course, we'd all like the weight to fall off quickly, but I'm very happy with my progress so far!

The chart above shows my weight loss progress by the week.  As you can see, I've lost every, single week!  I know that won't happen forever, and this will probably change soon, but at the time of this image, I had lost something every single week!  That's a huge victory in itself, no?!  

As you can see in the graph above, the colored stars all have different meanings.  The orange star is your first five pound weight loss mark!  That's a huge victory!  Once you hit the first five pounds, the next five pounds doesn't seem so far away!  The pink stars are every five pounds after your first five.  See what I mean about small goals?  Makes the whole process that much easier!  And the gray star above?  That would be my 5% weight loss!!  YES!  5% is huge, and the better news?  Since I reached my 5% a while ago (and have just been a slacker blogger), I'm so close to my 10%!  And I couldn't be happier about that!  

P.S.  The screenshots in this post are from Weight Watchers E-Tools.  They are excellent tools provided for WW members to help with the weight loss!

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