I'm Embarrassed to Admit it, but I've Lost Something...

My mind!! Admit it, that's what you expected.

Truth? I am really embarrassed to write this post. Other than Trent, I haven't told anyone exactly what it is that I have lost. I didn't want to perceived as "that woman". The one who is always talking to people about what she lost. But after much encouragement and peer pressure from my husband (I HATE peer pressure!) here we go.

I have lost an Abby:

20 dozen eggs:

or about 4 gallons of water:

image source

Well, maybe not all of those things. I am happy to say our Abby is still safe and sound with us, and there is still water and a dozen eggs in the fridge. But I certainly did lose something..

As of today I have lost 32 lbs. It's crazy to me that I can say that.

I made the decision to get fit when I saw this photo in June.

This photo was sad for me. Here I was, giving my husband a last hug before he defied death by jumping out of an airplane, and all I could see was how awkward and unhealthy I looked. During this time I was eating like crap and feeling terrible. I had no energy to play with my kids, I was embarrassed by every photo of me, and even my chubby pants were tight. I felt like I was slipping away to be replaced my someone who was unhappy.

I started changing slowly. First, I began doing Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred.

I had started this before after having Abby, but never finished it. It is really friendly to beginners. A short 30 minutes a day left me sore and breathless, but it wasn't overwhelming. I loved that I could work out and shower all within nap time. At first it was so hard for me that I used soup cans for weights, but by the end I was up to 5 lb weights.

I felt so proud of myself for finishing! A few weeks into the shred, I started watching my calorie intake. I downloaded the calorie counting app My Fitness Pal. It is really easy to use, and it was remarkable just how much I had been shoving in my face mindlessly consuming.

After the first 30 days I had lost 14 lbs and 11". Wow.

Next up was Jillian Michael's Ripped in 30. This was harder for me, and I did not enjoy it the way I did the Shred. But I pushed through, and felt like I gained a lot of endurance.

At the end of Ripped in 30 I had lost another 6lbs and 5". Moving in the right direction!

By this point I was really getting interested in running, so I switched my focus(and limited amount of time) to running. After a month of focusing on running I had dropped another 5lbs and 3".

The last 7lbs I have lost through a combination of running and strength training.

I am really proud of my slow and steady losses. There have been many days where I go crazy and enjoy every little food craving (Halloween and my anniversary) or skip a work out, but the difference is I don't let that define me. Having too much cake one day is no longer an excuse to have too much cake everyday.

While I would like to lose another 10lbs, my main focus now is training for my Spartan Run in January and my half marathon in February.

It feels kinds cool to be able to describe myself as a runner, a weight lifter, and as a person in training for something. I am liking the kind of person I am now. I love having the energy to chase my kids around the park and up the monkey bars. And I am so happy to be a strong, capable, daring woman again.