Up until now, I had never thought to tell my story of how I got to where I am today, health and fitness wise since most of my effort was before I started blogging.
Two years ago today, just after graduating from college, I was the girl on the left weighing in at 155…
Now I am the girl on the right at 125.
Even through high school I was never a small girl (short yes at 5’2″) but not small. I played field hockey, ran cross country, swam one season and played lacrosse. I continued playing club lacrosse in college and even ran my first marathon. Despite all of that I was never in a healthy weight range. I had pretty much accepted that I was just never going to love the way I looked.
However, when my marathon was over, I stopped running. I sporadically went to the gym and at times was considering lacrosse practice 4 days a week enough. Some practices this would have been, but others were slightly less aerobic. I ate well for a few weeks and then would do whatever I wanted for a few weeks and yo-yoed between those philosophies of life.
January 4th, 2011 I stepped on the scale and weighed more than I ever had, 155 pounds. I knew I needed to slow this process or it was going to be a slow creep up, for the rest of my life.
At the beginning, that first spring, I had to be a little crazy, eating fruits and veggies only for breakfast and lunch and then just eating a small portion of whatever my mom was making for dinner. No carbs unless they were with dinner, and only a minimal amount. I think I really needed this to get started, but I ended up contributing to my anemia. Once I recognized this while training, I got it under control and proceeded on.
During that same spring, I trained for and ran that half-marathon and lost 15 pounds.
By the time I was ready for my big move to Charleston, I was 137 pounds, happy, confident and motivated to keep going. My goal had been 135 which I had always thought was unattainable but I reached it and kept pushing. By the end of that year I was 131, 25 pounds less than the year before.
The best (although annoying) thing was when I tried to put on the ‘professional’ clothes I had bought in January during that first summer in Charleston, they didn’t fit. AT ALL. To the point that my roommates told me I looked silly in the clothes. True proof that all the hard work was paying off. Although seeing the numbers go down on the scale was motivating, this was a whole different level of encouragement.
It didn’t come easy. I worked hard and made good choices but I wasn’t perfect. I had a piece of cake or a bowl of ice cream here and there. If I hadn’t, I would have rebounded back to craziness.
I wanted to share my story to helpfully motivate at least one other person. It was a long road but I came out 30 pounds lighter with exercise and healthy eating in every day of my life.
Start working today to be a stronger, fitter, healthier, happier YOU!!
That sure was inspirational, Alex…I am encouraged to begin my own journey to a healthier me. You look mahvelous!
Thank you Miss Kathy! You were there from the beginning, you know that gum really kept me away from those dang cheese balls! 🙂
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