My Story--The Beginning

My intention with this blog is to try to motivate myself and others. I will be writing about my story and my workouts including successes and frustrations. I'll start with a little background information about myself. I never had a weight problem until college. In high school I was tiny, 5 feet tall, barely 100lbs. Then in college I started drinking and eating pizza at midnight and the pounds crept up on me. A few years after college I started running, which helped me lose some weight but then my body got used to the same old thing and it stopped working. About a year and a half ago I reached my heaviest--146lbs. Being short and weighing that much is not a good combination! The thing that really opened my eyes and got me motivated was a snowboarding trip. The resort that my husband and I were staying at had a heated indoor/outdoor pool & hot tub. As I packed for the weekend I tried on my bikini, and I was horrified. I ended up wearing a one-piece swimsuit and I was still mortified. I cried and decided that I really needed to do something about it.

That was the end of March 2007. I had been working with a personal trainer one day a week since November 2006 with very minimal results. In February 2007, she left my gym and I was assigned a new trainer. This was the best thing that could have possible happened to me. He kicked my butt in ways I didn't even know was possible! In March, after my swimsuit breakdown, I immediately added a 2nd session each week. On top of each session I also ran 3 miles on the treadmill every day. We weighed and measured once a month and I was quickly losing pounds and inches. The more I lost, the more motivated I got. I added a 3rd day each with with him. In August I slowly started to change my eating habits. The biggest change I made was swapping regular soda for diet soda. I lost 3lbs in one week! I was down to 116 by December (30lbs in 9 months!). I have come to love the gym and working out. I have made it a regular part of my day. I am lucky enough that my gym is in the office park where I work so I am able to do at least a half hour during lunch and at least a half hour after work. My basic routine is weights with my trainer 3 days a week, running 3-4 miles 4-5 days a week, 2 30-min cardio classes a week, 2 30-min bootcamp classes a week, and an hour bootcamp class on saturdays. I love doing classes, it is much more motivating to have other people getting their butt kicked at the same time!

I have been able to keep off the weight for 8 months now, but it is very hard. I could never have done all this on my own and I owe my trainer the world for what he has done to help me. I feel amazing and I feel like I look amazing too! I definately have my ups and downs, but somehow have been able to work through them. I plan to write about these ups and downs as well as document some of my workouts and what I think works and doesn't work (although I really am no expert!!) Hopefully this blog will help me to get through frustrating periods as well as motivate others.