A word of encouragement

If you are someone that is trying to lose weight, I highly recommend you take a before picture, an in between picture, and if you make it to your goal, an after picture.  I was not very good about this as I didn't want my picture taken when I was 228 pounds.  I would delete them as soon as I saw them.  Although I do have a few.  But seeing the difference your hard work is making definitely keeps you motivated.  It does me anyway.. 

I have watched shows on obesity, weight loss, etc for years.  After a person loses weight, I have heard many times on tv, they end up having something like a "fat syndrome".  Meaning, they still see themselves as being overweight, or in the clothes sizes they were in when they started losing their weight.  I definitely suffer from this.  I still find myself going to the "big girls'" clothing section in stores, and when I am in the ladies' clothing section, I have a hard time holding my size up and imagining that that smaller size actually fits me.  So I usually end up in the fitting room with three different sizes and am shocked that that smaller size that looked so small actually fits. 

I wanted to share my pics with you, as an encouragement and to show you how important this step is in the weight loss journey.


This is me January 2008 at 228 pounds



This is me January 2011 at 190 pounds



And this is me now March 2012



Proof that hard work and determination can pay off.  And pictures really can tell a story. 

Moving down the path....

Oh the frustrations of trying to lose weight.  I've said it before, I am one of those weird people who actually enjoy working out.  I workout at least 4 days a week for a minimum of 30 minutes, and on the other days I usually try to get some type of exercise in, even if it's heading to the mall and window shopping for a few hours. 

The frustrating part is that I have been stuck on a plateau for nearly a year.  I got on my fitness message boards recently and explained my frustration.  A personal trainer told me I probably wasn't eating enough calories. I usually try to stay around 1200, but she said since I do exercise as much as I do, I need more food to fuel my body.  Makes sense, but hard to grasp and put my mind around it as so many people think eating less = lose weight.

So for the past two days I bumped up my calorie intake.  I do not plan to weight myself for a week or so just so I don't get frustrated. 

My 2012 fitness minutes goal is 2700...and I am officially at 1473.  I do believe I will make my goal.  With that said, as frustrating as it is that I am not seeing the numbers on the scale go down, I DO KNOW that I feel better, and I am exercising which is good for my body and keeps me healthy.  I will NOT give up!