A Little Behind the Scenes Work

I've been playing with the idea of starting a fitness blog for some time now.  I'm no personal trainer or fitness guru or even a fit person... but I'm trying.  One thing I am, however, is certain that every single day, I'm a better person than I was the day before, and that's all that matters.

For example:

This is me in May 2008 after I graduated college...

...and this was me in May 2010 on my 25th birthday.









I wish I had a picture of what I looked like in July 2011 when I started my weight loss journey, but thankfully, I had finally realized what I actually looked like instead of what I thought I looked like.  At that point, I tried to have my picture taken as little as possible. 

My life was changing during these years I pictured, but it was going in the absolute wrong direction.  I won't bore you with wish-washy life details like where I was living, job changes, boyfriends, and other meaningless life events that will sound like excuses as to why I was fat (you'll figure all that stuff out as you continue to read my posts).  It doesn't matter why I gained the weight because now, all that matters is why and how I'm dropping it.

Unless you've ever been a heavy person in a world littered with small people, I don't know if you can ever reach the level of insane self-awareness that we, as large people, live with every single day.  If an overweight person ever tells you they are "seriously, really happy with who they are," they're lying (whether they know it or not).  That's an absolute fact.  We worry if we'll fit on amusement park rides or in a restaurant booth.  We struggle with finding fashionable clothes that fit well.  We are self-conscious when we eat in front of people because we are afraid they will judge us.  We worry that we'll be single forever because we'll never find someone to love us as we are (because we can't even love ourselves as we are).

I have never been open about being overweight; I didn't think I needed to be.  After all, it was obvious, wasn't it?  I mean, I was walking billboard for every single plus size clothing line out there.  It's not as though I could really hide the amount of space I took up in the world.  So why should I hide it from myself?

This is me now...

Another obvious fact is that I'm still not thin, but I am 44 pounds lighter than I was in July 2011.  I won't ever reveal my weight because frankly, it's none of your business (you know it's never polite to ask a girl how much she weighs!).  More importantly, my starting weight isn't important because I'll never be there again.  It's all about positive evolution.

If you continue to follow this blog (which I hope you will), hopefully you'll learn a little more about who I am, who I want to be, and who I will never be again.  I'll share recipes, workouts, failures, successes, and whatever else sparks my interest during this incredible journey of mind, body, and soul.  I've always said that I hope I never die without inspiring one person to do better for themselves and someone else... this is step one.