2010 New Years Resolutions

At the beginning of 2010, I made a few resolutions for New Years. The main one was to lose weight, just like most people. I was determined to lose at least 30lbs by the end of the year. I was tired of not liking how my clothes fit and hated shopping for jeans. If anyone has ever said to you "losing weight is easy", they are lying! It takes determination, mental strength, and of course - a lot of sweat! So this entry is about my journey of accomplishing that and my other resolutions and how I did it.

I started this year with 2 other New Year's resolutions which were going to help me drop the lbs. 1 - Run a 10k and 2 - Run a Half Marathon. I accomplished the first early in the year in March. It was tough, but I stuck with it and even had my very own cheer coach running next to me (thanks again Jen!). The second was accomplished in September after weeks and weeks of training and upping the mileage every week with my good friends Kim and Evie. It was hot, but I made sure I ran the whole thing (and I grabbed every drink they were giving out!) and I even got a pretty good time of 2:30.

Now, the other part that went along with all this running was changing my eating habits. I'm not saying diet, cause "diet" implies short term things you do and I was (and still am) determined not to put that weight back on. Early in the year, I lost the first 8lbs pretty fast and was on a roll, until we found out we were moving to VA. For all you military wives out there - you know what this brings! Stress, stress, and a lot of fast food. So although I was changing eating habits, a few of the bad habits came back for a bit -- but not for long. At the same time, we found out Jeff was going to be deployed right after we arrived in VA. Again -- bring on the stress and depression and chocolate! When he left, I allowed myself only one day of bad junk food and chocolate indulgence.

If you know me well, you know I'm no gourmet cook! What I hate even more than cooking for just 2 people -- is cooking for 1! So before all of this even happened, I always said I would go on some sort of food delivery plan when Jeff deployed so I wouldn't have to worry about cooking for 1. And that is what I did -- I started Nutrisystem after I came back from visiting Jeff in France at their first port. Now, I know what you must be thinking -- I thought she wasn't going to "diet". And I really didn't. Although I stuck to eating the food, I still went out to eat occasionally with friends and I didn't do any calorie counting or keep a food diary like their plan suggests.

By the end of October, I reached my 30lb mark (22lbs while being on Nutrisystem)! And again, this wasn't easy -- I worked out hard and/or ran every day except for Fridays.

The food helped but I know that I some point I would stop getting the food when Jeff came back and I'd have to do it on my own again. Well, I got an early wake up call with that when I had to suddenly travel for work about 8 weeks before Jeff was suppose to get home. And that means eating out for EVERY meal! For 8 weeks! And not to mention there are a few holiday meals thrown in there too! I did so well at first. I kept up with working out for at least 30 min a day - in the hotel gym or at my gym (Anytime Fitness -- there happened to be one right across the street from the hotel) as well as not over indulging in the food and ever tempting deserts at dinner.

I managed to keep that up till Thanksgiving. After Thanksgiving it started to get hard to make myself go to the gym. I didn't work out for 1 week and I felt awful at the end of it. I gained a few pounds back that week. I had to mentally pull myself out of that rut and get back to it. A military wife friend, Amanda, started a "Fight the Winter Bulge Biggest Loser Competition" and that was just what I needed for that extra motivation (thanks Amanda!). My competitive side is coming out in full force!

Now we are at the end of the year and I can successfully say that I've lost a total of 30lbs. Here is my before and after pictures.

I would still like to lose about 10 more pounds, so I feel like my weight loss journey is still not quite over just yet. I'm hoping with the motivation of Amanda's competition (which doesn't end till the beginning of Feb. -- and I really want to win!) and the beginning of a half marathon training with Jeff (Shamrock Half marathon at the end of March), I'll get there in no time! :)

Happy New Year! And stick to those resolutions!!