Backstory

So, weight loss.

yeah....

That isn't terrifying at all. Ha ha. No really, holy crap. Seriously addressing my weight is an incredibly daunting prospect but I truly believe for the first time in my life that I'm mentally prepared for it. What caused me to be ready at the age of 27 and being overweight/obese for the vast majority of it? I'm frankly not 100% sure, but a turning point for me was when I dumped my boyfriend this time last year. He was a nice guy, he was in love with me, and I probably could have stayed with him in a very long term way but I knew I would be settling. I decided I deserved more than the life I would be settling for if I stayed with him. Once that was done with I think I realized I was settling in other areas of my life, especially my health, so I started addressing my life.

The first big step I had taken in years towards being healthy happened a week or two after ending the relationship - I joined the YMCA. In the beginning I really struggled. I was incredibly inactive, and I had to push to finish 15 minutes on the recumbent bike. My feet would go numb after about 7 minutes, (God, even as I type that I am embarrassed!) and I felt a little panicked at the fact that I had locked myself financially into a year long membership. How was I possibly going to do this? Plus, I was (and still am for that matter) the biggest woman there by a fairly hefty margin. Daunting doesn't quite cover it, believe you me.

Almost a year has passed since then and I now go the gym regularly. I no longer use the recumbent bikes, instead using crosstrainer and elliptical machines, working out on them for usually 45 minutes and doing 120-145 strides per minute at high inclines. My fitness level has increased tremendously, I kind of can't believe it looking back. Unfortunately I have a bad foot/ankle following a fairly severe fall I had 2 years ago and that puts a bit of a cramp on my workout, but I am currently getting that addressed medically so hopefully that won't be an issue for much longer.

I never really weighed myself before all this, because who wants to know that terrifying number! If I had to guess I would say I was topping 325-330lbs a year ago, give or take. I was a size 24. Today I am a size 22 and as of monday I weighed 304. The fact that I have only lost ~25lbs of weight over the course of the year (I thought it was more due to using two different scales...) despite my rather epic shift in fitness says a whoooooole lot about my eating. I know I know, the whole "you gained muscle and that weighs more than fat" argument, but seriously... Anyway, I don't really eat unhealthy foods - there are no chips/candy/sweets in my house, I cook at home (exceptionally well if I do say so myself) and don't eat out very often at all, and never do fast food. I love vegetables and healthy foods. I just eat way too much of it. So I am now making the decision to get the food end of things under control. Becoming active seemed like an impossible task before I started but was easier than I thought. Hopefully it will be the same for this.