BACK TO WHERE IT ALL BEGAN

Before.....
You know all through my teen years I always had this vision of a "perfect" body type that I would love to have had. But never really was a mentally ready to pursue that, just a lot wishing and dreaming for what it might be some day.

My Senior year in High School--when I was single for a while I got there mentally and was ready for a change. So I made some changes and lost 20 pounds and was happy with the way I looked.

College set in, marriage and 1 child later I had managed to go from my prepreganancy weight of 140 lbs to 190lbs. When I saw that 190 pounds on the scale in the doctors office that was a very depressing moment for me. I had gone from a size 10 to a size 16 with in the period of probably 15 months, yes I was pregnant for 9 of those months BUT, I managed to put more on after my baby was born. So I went to the store bought me some workout videos, started counting my calories, me and my baby went for walks everyday I was determined to shed some pounds. Within about 6 months I had lost about 20-25lbs and was started to feel better about myself and less depressed. So there I maintained or plateaued for quite a while. We moved a few times and then in 2004 (about 3 years later) I got pregnant with my second child and didn't put on quite as much weight BUT still much more than I needed to. This time the weight did not pile on like it did before but I was out of shape and "flabby". We joined our local YMCA about a month (June 2004) after our second daughter was born and I started to workout there about 3 months after that....yeah 3 months after that. Gradually I got the working out thing under control, I loved it. Summer went on and life started back up again, I went back to work in in August of 2004 and so the eating our for lunch began. I don't think that I really gained any weight but I certainly wasn't eating healthy and my body was telling me that. I think the reason I didn't gain was because I was exercising 4 to 5 days a week so I was able to keep it the same but I wasn't losing or really losing any inches either. I changed jobs in Jan 2005 and it took me some time get used to the different hours etc and I let the exercising go and I could tell, plus with the eating bad I started to put on a little weight. I felt in my face badly, I could tell I was retaining water. So in Sept 2005 (8 months after I started my new job) I joined up with an online diet website. I wasn't sure at first if this was going to work or just one more effort to try and do it but it turns into a waste of money....once again.

But, thankfully I was wrong this time! It did work, I joined in with a support group and completely fell in love with the plan and everything about it. and you know what...I started to shed the pounds, what with the working out added to it, I started out great.

Of course I had many, many, many ups and downs along the way, but the support that I got was fantastic!!! I think that is what pulled me though all those REALLY rough times. I made it through christmas either losing or maintaing, which was great.

So today, I can say that I have successfully lost 28.5 pounds and I have 6.5 pounds more to lose until I hit my goal of 130 lbs. That is my first initial goal. My lowest I can go is 124. So, I was thinking like 126-127lbs as a good goal weight, it will give me a little wiggle room for vacations etc.
After.....
Now, I eat healthier and I drink so much water that people hardly believe me when I tell them how much I drink....100-120 ounces a day!!! Yes, that is even hard for me to believe. So many more fruits and veggies in my diet now, I exercise about 3-5 days a week now. Not quite as much but, when you eat right that's all you really need to keep it going.

I have sortof hit a "plateau" so to speak but it is a self-induced "plateau" because I am not doing all that I can do loose those last 6 pounds. So, I know that I can do better.
I hope that by posting on here I can get my friends that have been with me through this entire journey, so we can continue to inspire and help each other along.

Please feel free to leave comments, suggestions, complaints, whatever floats your boat to leave!!

Thank You to all of you who have helped me get to where I am.....shout out to my "feather" friends!!!

Love,
Adriane