Before and After

Twelve weeks ago I paid $20 and entered the Biggest Blogging Loser weight loss competition.  Originally I thought the final pot would be about $700.  It turned out to be over $1500 for first place and over $600 for second place.

After the first couple of weeks I knew there was no chance I would be the overall winner nor would I take second place.  And while that was disappointing, watching the numbers steadily go down on the scale kept me sending in those weekly weigh in photos.

In those 12 weeks I lost a total of 16.8 pounds and I didn't take any pills or go on Atkins or eat only raw carrots.  I watched what I ate (courtesy of Weight Watchers) and I worked out 3 to 4 days per week.  And it felt awesome.

When I started at the gym I couldn't run more than 6 minutes without having to stop (I lied and told Morgan that I ran for 11 minutes.  Total fabrication.)  This weekend I ran for 77 minutes and 7 miles.  And it felt awesome.

When I started watching what I ate I couldn't tell you how much pasta should have been on my plate versus how much chicken or vegetables. I learned and it felt awesome.  When I started I felt hungry all the time.  Like, all.  the.  time.  I would eat 10 almonds or a string cheese and just wait for the hunger pains to return.  Now, I'm not hungry all the time.  I can eat a meal, then eat a snack and feel satisfied.

I cut out a lot of sweets and a LOT of beer but I was able to eat and drink both on occasion so I never felt deprived.  I even spent two weekends away from home eating and drinking merrily and came home to find I had still lost weight.  And that felt awesome.

I was surprised to learn that I am an emotional eater.  When I was stressed or bored I would head to the kitchen.  That was a pretty easy habit to break once I recognized it but it surprised me nonetheless.  The hardest habit to break, by far, was my naptime munchie-fest.  Every day, as soon as I put the kids to bed, I would hit the kitchen and eat whatever sweet or salty treat I could find.  Sometimes I would just eat more lunch.  Even still, as soon as I leave our hallway I'm tempted to check out the contents of our cabinets.  I found that eating (slowly savoring is more like it) 3 dried apricots usually got me over the worst of the cravings.

I also learned that when I fell off the wagon so-to-speak, it was SO hard to get back on.  Almost like starting over but with slightly less motivation because I had already lost a fair amount of the weight I wanted to take off.

Finally, I learned something really important about myself.  I learned that I can be fit and healthy and feel good.  And not because of the size of my ass, or arms or thighs.  I learned that by losing this weight I feel more confident, not because I am physically smaller, but because I feel a true sense of accomplishment in having started something and succeeded.  I take pride in how I look because I worked HARD to get to this point.  And THAT feels awesome.

                 BEFORE                                                                        AFTER

January 1st, 2011

March 28th, 2011

I still have about 6 pounds to go until I reach my ideal weight but I feel so pleased with where I am today.  My happy weight.  Who knew that I would feel better about myself at almost 32 than I ever did at almost 22?