What gets me moving.

I thought I'd take a minute to share some things I've learned about myself when it comes to exercise. First, I hate it. Yeah. Not very conducive to losing weight, right? I hate being hot. I hate being sweaty. I hate making my muscles burn. BUT I've discovered that I don't mind those things so much when I'm doing something FUN. My two favorite forms of exercise: Zumba and Pole Fitness.

Zumba, if you've been under a rock for the last two years, is a high-impact cardio dance work-out with a latin/hip-hop flair. It's fun, the music is bumpin' (yes, I said BUMPIN') and I feel exhilarated when I've finished an 60 minute class. Sure, I get hot and sweaty and my muscles burn, but I like dancing enough that I can tune all that out and just DANCE. It's hard to get into at first unless you take a few beginners classes or "break down" classes, but once you know the steps you're able to put your own flavor into each song.

Pole fitness, as in Pole Dancing, is more strength training than cardio. It's the sexiest I've ever felt while working out. I'm downright addicted. So much that I even have my own pole. The only downside to poling are the injuries. Mostly bruises, which us polers show off as badges of accomplishment and pride, but occasionally more serious injuries occur, like my recent wrist sprain. Despite the injuries, and I think this speaks to how awesome this particular exercise is, I love doing it. There's no nudity involved, I don't have to get on a stage, and I don't have creepy old men trying to hit on me. It's just me, Jax (my teacher), and the pole.

This is the move I was learning when I messed up my wrist... 

Yep, that's ME in an INVERT!!

When neither of these options are available, or on one of the days that I've decided not to exercise, I still try to stay active by cleaning, walking the dog, or shopping. Anything to keep this body moving!

Just a little bit...

WEIGH IN TODAY!! This morning I ran upstairs to use mom's digital scale because my cheapy dial scale is completely unreliable. The results:

*happy dance* Oh, yeah! Oh, yeah! 

That's -2.2 lbs since Tuesday afternoon! :):):) I won't lie, though, I was seriously hoping for a bigger loss, but then I thought about it a little more and realized that it's only been a couple of days. Sometimes the goal I'm reaching for seems unattainable, or at least a long way from achieving, but I know it can happen if I follow through. I can't get discouraged. I can't "watch the clock" the whole way there. I have to focus on the now and celebrate the little victories along the way. Today, I celebrate!

Baby Steps

While James has been in training I have been spending a lot of time hanging out with his amazing family. Last night his mom invited me to come out to eat with them at Texas Roadhouse, which just happens to be one of my FAVORITE places to eat. I ordered a 6 oz sirloin, green beans, and a side salad....and ate NOT ONE SINGLE ROLL! By the end of the meal I had to cover the remainder of the rolls with a napkin to keep from eating them, but I stood firm in my resolve! Bread is my ultimate downfall. I have the hardest time resisting the temptation of ANY kind of bread. The texture, the taste, the smell...it's like a drug. Being able to resist the rolls at that particular restaurant, because they are incredibly tasty, is a HUGE step for me. I couldn't help but be proud of myself.

Tonight, following an inspirational episode of The Biggest Loser and several hours of looking at weight loss success stories, I dragged my mom out to a Zumba class at Fitness Shakers. She's warming up to it but prefers the Latin dances to the hip-hop ones. I had a blast as usual. I love knowing the moves. It makes it a lot more enjoyable. 

I keep telling myself that I'm going to be successful; envisioning myself healthy and thin. I hope I can do this...actually, I KNOW I can!

Every story has a beginning...

I don't want to spill my entire story right now, preferring to leave some of my life a mystery in order to make things interesting, but I will give you some basic background details. I live, and was born and raised, in Greenville, SC. I'm 28 years old and I live with my mom. The whole "living with mom" thing is completely by choice and not by circumstance. My husband is serving in the US Navy. He is not here and I hate being in a house alone. I am a preschool teacher assistant at Head Start and I absolutely adore my job most days. I have a hyper rat terrier mix named Peedee and a fat white cat named Radley (Interesting side note: We named many of our pets after characters from To Kill A Mockingbird when I was a kid. Attica is my mom's cat. Boo came before Radley. Scout got hit by a car.) 

A few years ago I tipped the scales at 300+ lbs. Today I don't weigh nearly that much (70 pounds lighter, thank you very much), but I have hit my first plateau, and it has lasted a lot longer than I anticipated. My husband is leaving soon and I have an amazing homecoming from his first (short) deployment to look forward to. By June my goal is to be down to either: a) 200 lbs or b) a size 14.

The pic on the left was taken in May of 2007 at my heaviest, on the right was August 2011.

Here's where I am currently:

I recently realized that I have a food addiction. When I eat I find it very hard to bring to my mind my reasons for wanting to lose weight. The food becomes all consuming and once I start eating I don't stop until I'm stuffed stupid. I'm working on trying to change the way I think about food and to use some visualization techniques to help me stop overeating. I figure what I really need is one very good mental picture of one of my goals that I can pull to the front of my mind when I start to eat; something that I will have to sit and think on and take time to develop to make it as real and as detailed as possible. That, coupled with Zumba and Pole Fitness (YES I said POLE FITNESS!), and eating better should do the trick!

I will (hopefully) be updating this blog once a week with new weights and pics (always in the same outfit). I am determined to do this. I ***can*** do this!!