I am a first time mother who has worked my way into BETTER shape than I was before my pregnancy. It has been a long process, but I am very proud to say that I have successfully shed the extra 25 pounds I had been carrying since the birth of my son in October 2009. What started in August 2010 as a frantic effort to lose weight and look halfway decent in a dress for an October wedding, became an eight month personal challenge. I was a smoker in a previous life. I gained 10 pounds when I quit smoking in May of 2008, and then gained just over 40 pounds when I was pregnant with my son. After I delivered my child, I lost 30 pounds but was still 20+ pounds overweight. I was uncomfortable in my own skin, I was miserable as a new mom, and I was always jealous of how great and fit other new moms around my age looked and felt. It’s been a long road for me but I will continue on in this healthy lifestyle. I love how I look, I feel great about myself, and I love the energy I have for my busy, busy toddler.
I was unhappy with who I was and how I looked. I could no longer continue on this vicious,self- deprecating and self-destructive cycle...It was time for a change.
I was unhappy with who I was and how I looked. At the end of the summer I received a wedding invitation from my dear friend. It was at this point in time, I realized that not only did I have nothing to wear, but I looked grotesque and I was embarrassed to see my old friends in my current form. I decided something must be done. I could no longer continue on this vicious, self-deprecating and self-destructive cycle of being overweight and being so depressed that I could do nothing about it. It was time for a change.
MyPlate was a huge lifesaver. I was able to track what I ate, every day, how much I worked out, saw my progress in weight, inches and BMI – and seeing the changes kept me moving forward.
My husband was, and continues to be, my biggest supporter. My other family members cheer me on when they see me and are impressed with the physical and mental changes I’ve undergone, but we don’t live near any immediate family members. My husband is my rock. LIVESTRONG.COM was definitely a pivotal piece to my fitness puzzle. I don’t remember exactly how I even stumbled upon the site, but it must have been when I was searching for calories in a certain food, and I found MyPlate. MyPlate was a huge lifesaver. I was able to track what I ate, every day, how much I worked out, saw my progress in weight, inches and BMI – and seeing the changes kept me moving forward.
I love that my body can carry me much farther than I ever imagined possible.
Staying motivated. My exercise of choice has been running, and I’m not particularly fond of running. I have a love-hate relationship with this form of exercise. It was, and continues to be, very challenging to wake up and get my butt in gear each and every day. But I love it. I love the way I feel at the end of a run. I love that my body can carry me much farther than I ever imagined possible. And I love that I am in shape, I can keep up with my busy, busy toddler, and that I like the way that I look.
I have two secrets. The first is always challenge yourself. If you aren’t constantly challenging yourself to eat better, run harder, or be healthier, you won’t succeed. You are your own champion and your best inspiration. The other secret is that you need to give in to your food cravings. You aren’t perfect, no one is, and so it is foolish to believe you are. Make room in your daily allotment of calories to enjoy your favorite snack so you don’t feel as though you are punishing yourself. LIVESTRONG.COM was one of the best tools used on my journey to success. I logged in daily for months. I downloaded the app for BlackBerry. It was easy to monitor my weight loss. Seeing my personal graph on MyPlate declining over days and weeks really motivated me to keep going. I could see that I was making progress, which in turn motivated me even more. Now that I know what this life is like, I’m never going back to the life I used to live.
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