Weight loss journey

Our last baby, Aowyn, was a surprise pregnancy. I had not lost all of my baby weight yet from baby number 3, Tayton. In fact I still had almost 25 pounds extra on me that I had not lost from his pregnancy. Needless to say with Aowyn I weighed more then I EVER have in my entire life. When I went to the hospital to have her I weighed 204 pounds. When I got pregnant with Tayton, (only 27 months before) I weighed 130 pounds. When I got home from the hospital after having Aowyn I weighed 193 pounds. So in my mind I had 63 pounds I needed to lose and I knew it wasn't going to come off quickly.

The first 15 came off in the first few months without much work. Since I was suffereing through post partum depression I hated myself, I hated how fat I thought I was and how I was too weak to do anything about it. I tried several times to work out and to eat right, but my heart was never in it, since my heart really wasn't in anything. At one time I started running and was doing well at that and then I hurt my bursa sack in my knee. I got some kidney stones and had set back after set back and I just never really committed. 

Then this past April I started feeling better and I got the will power I needed to work my butt off (pun intended). I started portion controlling and counting my calories. I started killing myself at the gym. I was running, lifting weights, going to zumba and working out every spare second I had at home. It started to pay off quickly. In just 4 weeks I went from 177 to 165. I had the will power, I was seeing results and I was making a lift style change. I felt so good about where I was headed. 

In the beginning of May I had some awesome friends come up with the idea of doing a weight loss challenge where we weighed in every week. I jumped at that! I am a goal oriented person and I work better under pressure so this was just the thing I needed. Plus I am SUPER OVER THE TOP competitive. Who me? Never? Um, yeah no sorry, I can't deny it, anyone who knows me knows that about me. So this weight loss "smack down" was just the thing I needed. I stayed steady some weeks losing 4 pounds and some

 weeks only 1 but never gaining and progressively doing better each week. I wasn't just losing weight, I was finding myself. I was getting in better shape. I felt healthier and I was changing my eating habits and changing me. 

I went and had some nutritional tests run on me, for me, and all about me in the middle of June. It was at a place called Metatest. It was wonderful because I had hit a plateau and hadn't really been losing any significant weight in awhile, just about a pound a week, which was okay, but since I felt like I was killing myself at the gym I was hoping for better. I was told that my body and cardio are not really friends. When I do cardio I burn so much calories that my body hoards them and stores them so I don't also lose the weight as fast. They told me to lift HEAVY weights and gave me a caloric meal plan and calorie intake plan for the day and how many Fats, Protiens and Carbs I needed to take in at every meal. They told me how much access fat I had on my body and therefor how much weight I still needed to lose. It was amazing and has changed my life. I feel even better then before. I lose around 2 pounds a week and even when I went on vacation I still lost weight. I don't work out as much. I go to zumba twice a week and that's all the cardio I do and then I lift Heavy weights for about 20 minutes 2-3 times a week. And by heavy weights I mean, grunting, straining, feeling like I am going to die with each rep, but I am doing it and I am so proud of myself and I LOVE it. I never knew I would love weight lifting so much, but I have not seen or felt certain bones or parts of my body in years (like teenage me years). I am now 140 pounds so that's 37 pounds in 3 1/2 months. I am not done yet either. I still have about 10 more pounds that I want to lose, but so far I am super happy with how I am. 

This picture is of me when I hit 140 pounds and the pants I am holding up are pants that only fit me for about a month. I was able to fit into them when I hit 165 and then I kept on wearing them the more weight I lost, I just kept cinching up the belt, but this day I put them on and they fell off of me as soon as I let go of them. I did the biggest happy dance when I hit 165 and could fit into them and then an even bigger happy dance when they fell off of me.