Promises to myself

It is a new year and I already feel like a new me. Actually, more like a better version of the me that I used to be. I'm more energetic with my children, have an honest desire to work out and I've not been having any real issues keeping to my health conscious goals. Coming back from Christmas, I expected to have gained weight, but I had in fact lost 1lb. Not my normal 1.5 per week, but given all the yummy food, I'm not complaining.

So where am I now? I weigh 189lbs, if I lose seven more, I'll be at what has been my all time post Alice low. That is incredible to me that in four years I've not gotten under 182, but I know that by mid March, I'll be there, maybe even sooner! What is even better are the inches coming off of my whole body, it is insane! I have a 35' waist (imagine that being something to be excited about) and my hips are at 45.5. My husband would be happy to see that my chest is the same as ever, but he is still "over there". The reality is that I have only 1.5' between my hips and my chest, though, making me an hourglass. I look at myself these days and see a va va voom kind of attractiveness that I've been missing for the last several years.

This past month I've also been reading body fat verses BMI, which is more important? I don't honestly know but what I have decided to do is to pay attention to both. Why? My guess is that they will both put me in about the same place at about the same time, but honestly, I'm just curious. So, my BMI is 31.4 (this is calculated by height/weight). My body fat is at 28.2% (this is calculated based on different measurements around your body), and that puts me in the "acceptable" range, but 22% is where I want to get to.

How far have I come? When I first decided in May to start this blog and to have it chronicle my weight loss and a little bit of my self-discovery, I weighed 203lbs. Over the summer, I gained somewhere between 11-13 lbs, which was definitely not the intention. I got serious about the Y at the beginning of August and weighed 214 when the trainer there tested me and I had a 39.5' waist. So, since then I have lost 25 lbs, 4.5' off of my waist and God knows how many inches off my hips (the last time I wrote that down was in January and they were 50.75').

I also look in the mirror and can be proud of the woman I see in front of me. I am showing my daughter that it is important to take control of her health and be concerned with what she puts into her mouth. I am showing my husband that I care about him and myself enough to shed the weight I have been carrying around since I was 18. I am showing God that I have respect for this body that he so graciously gave me and that I will treat it with care from now on. Best of all, I am showing myself for the first time in my life that I can follow an exercise regimen and be disciplined about what I eat. I fight the urge to emotionally eat these days and I keep healthy options around me.

I have 39lbs to go to be where I was when at 15 I met the love of my life. If I keep working to lose 1.5lbs per week, I'll be there by the last week of July, but I'd love to see myself do it by the first week!

Being healthy isn't an option for me anymore, and it shouldn't be for you either. Every excuse I used (time, the kids, tired) just seems worthless now because the healthier I am the less I worry about those other things.