Cleaning it up and turning up the heat!
Cleaning up my food that is and turning up the heat on my exericse!
As most of you know I have lost 55 pounds from my highest known weight of 208 and I have lost 20 pounds since having Lizzie (my 2nd daughter) a little over 2 years ago. I am currently residing in the low 150's around 152 give or take a pound or two on any given day. I am actually at a pretty comfortable weight and at a place that I have actually maintained for over 1 1/2 years which is AWESOME in my book. To be able to maintain my weight for that long is just as hard if not harder than losing it for me.
In that 1 1/2 years I have run 3 half marathons and a full marathon and although you can lose weight when doing those types of endurance events it is difficult. You have to be extremely mindful of what you eat and what you give yourself as a treat or how often you splurge. My main focus during the runs was the running and I made sure I ate the necessary nutrients to give me the energy that I needed but I also indulged a lot more than I typically would b/c I had a little more wiggle room. I was totally fine with the maintenance and even gained a few pounds with the marathon training. No problem though, completely fine with it and happy that I was able to stay this weight throughout the last 1 1/2 years.
Well now times have changed and I am ready to push myself a little further than I have. I feel like I have come this far and I want to keep going with my fatloss mission. As far as my health goes I would say I am good, I eat what most people consider healthy foods 80% of the time and I still indulge in foods that I consider un-healthy and I enjoy them and don't feel guilty about them. So the next part of my journey isn't about being healthier it is more about my self satisfaction and proving to myself that I can do it. It isn't about seeing a number on the scale although it will obviously go down as the fat goes away. It is about looking in the mirror and being proud of what I have achieved. I am extremely proud to date I might add but I want to go further and push what I think are my limits. If you reach a goal in life then it is a natural process to make another and go for it so that is what I am doing here.
In order to get to where I see myself getting I have to tighten up what I feel is already pretty tight eating even more and I MUST hit the WEIGHTS!!! Obviously, I LOVE to run but I also LOVE to lift weights and I have seen first hand what they can do to change someone's body. Strength training and a healthy clean diet TRANSFORMS people. But like anything you have to do it or it doesn't work. Just thinking about going to the gym or turning on the exercise DVD won't make you fit. Boy, I wish it did.
To give me some momentum at Phit-N-Phat we are starting an 8 week individual challenge and the winner gets some CASH!!! I am known on PNP to be rather competitive. As a team leader I have won a couple of challenges on PNP and I previously won an individual challenge in 2007. So this is one more chance to do it for myself and in the process I could win some cold hard cash. Who doesn't need that?
So stay tuned for the coming 8 weeks beginning on Monday, July 27th for my updates of what I am eating and what exercise I am doing. I plan to be shocked with myself with what I can do in 8 weeks. I can't wait to see the transformation. I will take before and after pics and measurments too so I will share those. I might not share them until the end though just for a dramatic affect. I'm winning this thing and if I don't I can assure you I won't go down without a fight. I have my food MOJO going and I am determined just like I was when I decided to train for a full marathon, there was nothing stopping me.
The great thing is that there are MANY PNPers who have their fires lit and they are ready to give me a run for my money so I know this will just keep me going and keep my momentum strong!
As most of you know I have lost 55 pounds from my highest known weight of 208 and I have lost 20 pounds since having Lizzie (my 2nd daughter) a little over 2 years ago. I am currently residing in the low 150's around 152 give or take a pound or two on any given day. I am actually at a pretty comfortable weight and at a place that I have actually maintained for over 1 1/2 years which is AWESOME in my book. To be able to maintain my weight for that long is just as hard if not harder than losing it for me.
In that 1 1/2 years I have run 3 half marathons and a full marathon and although you can lose weight when doing those types of endurance events it is difficult. You have to be extremely mindful of what you eat and what you give yourself as a treat or how often you splurge. My main focus during the runs was the running and I made sure I ate the necessary nutrients to give me the energy that I needed but I also indulged a lot more than I typically would b/c I had a little more wiggle room. I was totally fine with the maintenance and even gained a few pounds with the marathon training. No problem though, completely fine with it and happy that I was able to stay this weight throughout the last 1 1/2 years.
Well now times have changed and I am ready to push myself a little further than I have. I feel like I have come this far and I want to keep going with my fatloss mission. As far as my health goes I would say I am good, I eat what most people consider healthy foods 80% of the time and I still indulge in foods that I consider un-healthy and I enjoy them and don't feel guilty about them. So the next part of my journey isn't about being healthier it is more about my self satisfaction and proving to myself that I can do it. It isn't about seeing a number on the scale although it will obviously go down as the fat goes away. It is about looking in the mirror and being proud of what I have achieved. I am extremely proud to date I might add but I want to go further and push what I think are my limits. If you reach a goal in life then it is a natural process to make another and go for it so that is what I am doing here.
In order to get to where I see myself getting I have to tighten up what I feel is already pretty tight eating even more and I MUST hit the WEIGHTS!!! Obviously, I LOVE to run but I also LOVE to lift weights and I have seen first hand what they can do to change someone's body. Strength training and a healthy clean diet TRANSFORMS people. But like anything you have to do it or it doesn't work. Just thinking about going to the gym or turning on the exercise DVD won't make you fit. Boy, I wish it did.
To give me some momentum at Phit-N-Phat we are starting an 8 week individual challenge and the winner gets some CASH!!! I am known on PNP to be rather competitive. As a team leader I have won a couple of challenges on PNP and I previously won an individual challenge in 2007. So this is one more chance to do it for myself and in the process I could win some cold hard cash. Who doesn't need that?
So stay tuned for the coming 8 weeks beginning on Monday, July 27th for my updates of what I am eating and what exercise I am doing. I plan to be shocked with myself with what I can do in 8 weeks. I can't wait to see the transformation. I will take before and after pics and measurments too so I will share those. I might not share them until the end though just for a dramatic affect. I'm winning this thing and if I don't I can assure you I won't go down without a fight. I have my food MOJO going and I am determined just like I was when I decided to train for a full marathon, there was nothing stopping me.
The great thing is that there are MANY PNPers who have their fires lit and they are ready to give me a run for my money so I know this will just keep me going and keep my momentum strong!
Comments
And I wish you lived closer too!!! :)