✷My Weightloss Journey

I have been overweight most of my life. Even when I was not "obese" I still saw myself as HUGE in the mirror! I was a twirler in highschool and therefore had to wear a skimpy little outfit and go in front of crowds of people to twirl. I was always self-conscious about how I looked in the uniforms, but I wanted to twirl so badly that I just pushed it in the back of my head to deal with later. When I graduated highschool and started my first year of college, I gained the dreaded "freshman 15",  plus about 15 more. I then started thinking that if I was ever going to get a date, I needed to lose weight. So for all of the wrong reasons (including a certain boy) I stopped eating and started exercising.  I did Tae Bo an hour a day, 5 times a week. I would then eat a sandwich for dinner. That's all. A sandwich all day. I lost 50 lbs. in 3 months. I still felt so incredibly huge (and was told often by someone that I was). I look back at pictures now and wish I could be that size again! Then it happened...I met a boy. It wasn't the boy I had had a crush on for 2 yrs. It was his friend. He declared his love for me and I accepted his request for a date. I would not eat anything in front of him at first, but quickly learned that it was ok. Fast forward 9 years....I have gained 111 pounds! The best part (which can also be a curse) is that my husband loves me EXACTLY the way I am! He tells me daily, multiple times a day, how beautiful I am! He has been one of my inspiration's to become healthy. Knowing he thinks I am beautiful the way I am has actually given me more self-confidence. I actually feel "cute" when I am in workout clothes because he tells me I look cute when I workout. He has given me the confidence I need to start exercising and eating healthy. He has given me the confidence to start running!

This was me after I had lost the 50 lbs. I would love to get to this weight again!

I started "working out" in September of 2009 after I finished Nursing School and had gained 20 more pounds. I then had over 100 lbs to lose!  I always wanted to run, but I kept telling myself "If I can just lose 100 lbs, I can start running".  Well after "working out" (doing the elliptical 3 times a week, 2 hours at a time, and doing weight machines) and changing my eating habits, I only lost 11 lbs in 10 months. Very discouraging. I made a decision to quit wasting time saying "When I do this...", stop thinking about all the weight I need to lose,  and just start the Couch to 5K program and start running. I had always loved the idea of running. I have wanted to be able to just go out and run a few miles if I'm stressed or just need to be in my happy place.  I thought, since I want to run, I just need to do it and not worry about waiting to lose a few pounds first. So that's what I did!

  This is me at my sister-in-laws wedding in June 2010.

I started running with the C25K program on July 14, 2010. I had a miscarriage at the end of June 2010, and wanted to start my running so I could lose weight if we started to think about a family.

I then found out I was pregnant in August 2010, had a miscarriage in September 2010, then found out I was pregnant again in October 2010! I had finished the C25K program at the beginning of October, right before we moved to Fort Worth and found out we were pregnant for the 3rd time. I then had to put off my running in order to have a healthy pregnancy. I was a bit disappointed, but knew it was worth it!

 Me a week and a day before I had June Bug.

I have now started to run again in attempts to lose my baby weight plus 90 pounds!

I now had another reason to run...

I was the leader of the Fort Worth Chapter of Moms RUN This Town!

I tried to run a few times a week with my fellow MRTT moms and am working on eating healthier and losing that weight! I'm loosing verrrry slowly, but I'm not giving up! I love running and hope my daughter can choose a healthier lifestyle because of my choices! :)