time for a change

I was a little hesitant to post this but I want to be honest and authentic with my readers and friends. I also wanted to be able to celebrate my victories with you all and I can't do that unless I am honest with you. I wanted to share with you my weight gain/loss and why I think its time for a change. When I first started working at McLean Bible Church 7 years ago I weighed 120 pounds, I was at this weight for years before I started working at the church and I was very active with a Golds gym membership and loved running outside. Working at a church that had 13,000 members can be stressful and I found myself working overtime and volunteering allot with my students. I didn't have as much time for the gym as I did before and when I met Scott 3 years ago I weighed 140 pounds. 

When Scott and I got engaged I entered one of the most stressful seasons of my life. I was preparing for a marriage essentially on my own and knew I wasn't going to have any financial help from my family. I had to figure out a way to invite everyone to the wedding on a very small budget. I preferred to just have a small wedding but Scott wasn't able to cut down his side of the guest list. To cut down the costs I suggested we do an open/potluck wedding and we managed to get 350+ guests. The months before our wedding I was constantly overwhelmed and stressed. I also had a major fall out with one of my best friends who was also my gym buddy, so instead of hitting up the gym and possibly running into each other I was at home preparing for this massive open wedding. While doing this I of course snacked and because I have the sweetest tooth ever I always had a bag of sour skittles in my desk drawer or my car. Our 7 month engagement flew by and the night before our wedding I weighed close to 160! I wasn't to excited that I wasn't going to look like the bride I wanted to look like when I walked down that aisle the next morning.  

After the wedding we spent two glorious weeks in Hawaii. My husband loved his new wife's body, but I still had issues with my weight and I wanted to lose all the "engagement weight" as soon as we got home to be an even hotter wife for my husband.

When we came back from our honeymoon I started my running routine. I was running 6 miles every other day and at least 2-3 miles on my regular workouts. I was also still going to Golds to lift weights/take the classes. But I noticed that I started feeling really sick on my runs and things would start to smell really bad to me. Scott had a business trip to LA and after a night of painting our downstairs bathroom and drinking a glass of wine I realized "I think I'm pregnant!". Sure enough we found out that we were pregnant with a honeymoon baby. I asked my OB if I could still work out and she said I could as long as my heart rate doesn't reach over 140. I ran outside for another month or two, but I was so clumsy I was afraid I would fall down and injure Judah.

I did however still go to the gym all the way up to my 8 month of pregnancy. I was going at least four times a week and I was lifting some weights, doing the elliptical for an hour and walking on the treadmill. I did get mean glances and comments from people saying I was injuring my baby. Judah turned out just fine and I think working out actually helped me during my pregnancy. But my weight crept up to 199 pounds. Judah was born almost a month early.

I did lose a bit after I first had him. I thought that I was going to continue to lose weight over the past year especially since I was breastfeeding. But my milk dried up by 5 months and I hit a wall with my weight loss last summer when Scott's work travel got really crazy. We were all over the place and it was hard to have a consistent work out schedule and easier to just order pizza while we were on the road. Also family stress and the stress of raising a child with no real support in the area has hit us pretty hard this past year and I wouldn't make good eating choices.  

Since our wedding anniversary is next week I've decided its time for a change, no more excuses I can get back to my pre-engagement weight. Yesterday I started Couch to 5K, is a free Apple app for your phone and it teaches you how to slowly get back into running. When I start things I like to go all the way and with running if you haven't' been running for awhile you can't just go out and run 3 miles or  you might get an injury. This application is teaching me how to get back into running slowly. 

Yesterday we ran/walked 2.5 miles. 

We stopped by the park in our backyard so Judah can play and walk around while I stretched. Normally I just take him inside after my run but when I do that I have to change his diaper, feed him and put him down for a nap. Then I realize hours later when my muscles start to ache that I never stretched. At least at the park I have a few mins to stretch while he inspects the park and gets his energy out so he can come in and have a nap.

Also, Scott and I also started juicing a few weeks ago. I've noticed a change in my attitude after drinking a juice in replacement for my lunch. I also take fish oil to make sure my body is able to absorb all the nutrients from the juicing.

So here it is. Its time for a change. I am going to work this weight off and feel better about myself. I'm letting you all know so you will be able to hopefully celebrate with me in my journey and feel victorious with me when I hit that 160's in my weight loss, my goal is to get to the 140s or even lower but I want to celebrate when I finally get into the 160s. I know it will be a hard, but I think once I start consistently losing weight I will feel encouraged and start to really stay focused on my goal instead of wanting to just give up because its taking to long. Right now Judah is now almost 15 months and I'm feeling pretty discouraged that I still weight in the 170s, but that will change and I can't sit in my discouragement, I need to do something about it. 

Today since it was raining I burned 639 calories on the elliptical at home. Maybe one day I will be brave enough to post full body pictures of me in my workout cloths.

Today's weight in 175.5. (Ugh I hate sharing this online) but thank you for joining me in my journey and hopefully I can share lower numbers soon so we can all celebrate and do fist pumps in the air (hey that burns calories)

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