Lets take a minute...

Ok, this post goes against my nature but it must be done... this is going to be a serious one.

This is me.

This picture was taken in 2008, when I weighted 185 lbs. This isn't my personal high (that's actually 205) but it is my NON-Pregnant high. I hated myself and I rarely did anything to make myself look better than this because I felt disgusting. I had tried to lose weight here and there, but always gave up before I made any real progress because I was only looking at it as a short-term goal.

In June of 2008, Twin and I were walking :) and told me how much she loved Weight Watchers. I thought, you know what? I want to lose weight and I want to learn how to eat so I don't gain it back ever again! So I joined and refused to use any "diet" food... no shakes, no bars, just real food. I focused on moderation and the long-term goal of a healthier life. Some weeks I did better than others, but I just pushed thru the bad days and slowly but surely I became this...

Here's the thing...

I get that sometimes this is hard, depressing and you don't want to keep going. But time is going to pass whether you try to get healthy or not... why not let go of the "quick fix" or "rapid results guaranteed" attitude and make a long term comitment to small changes? After a while, those 1 lb losses add up to big numbers... in my case, 50lbs...

What did I learn then that helps me now?

• Support systems are HUGE... but I'm the who is ultimately responsible for my own weightloss.
• Weightloss by diet alone is wasted effort; you gain it back twice as fast and you end up with weird side effects during the process...hair loss, insomnia, wacky temperature fluxes... Just work-out already!
• A 0.5 lb loss doesn't seem like an accomplishment, but 10 weeks of that is 5lbs, and 20 weeks is 10 lbs... a year is a 25lb loss. It all adds up, so be proud of every loss!
• A small gain isn't a failure, its a wake up call... how can you fix what you did wrong last??

This challenge is about fun. Its about competition. Its main goal is to take your focus off the scale and put it on something more exciting! This is about changing and sharing that change with others so we can all get there! Don't take it too seriously; don't stress about the embarrassing moment at the end... for the love, people we don't even know are looking at our Lola's right now! Can you really be anymore embarrassed?? Most importantly, DO NOT QUIT! Keep going, and you will see results at the end of this contest.

Ugh! I think I just threw up in my mouth a little bit... EMOTIONS.... ewww...