70 pounds down!!!

Hello everyone! It's been a long time since I've written a post, but I'm still on this journey! I am now officially 70 pounds down and I have learned a lot in the past (almost) year. I can't believe I'm coming up on my weight loss anniversary - I started my journey on July 9th 2012. Even though I wanted to be further along at this point, I'm very proud of my progress and I want to share some of the things that have helped and hurt me along the way.

1) Always keep your goals in the front of your mind!
So after I'd lost around 50 pounds, I started feeling like myself again. I liked how I was looking in my clothes, I was in good shape and I started dating again for the first time in a long time. And then, my weight loss stalled, lol. I got comfortable with the progress I'd made and wasn't so focused on keeping to my weight loss schedule, to counting calories or even to exercising as consistently as I was. So that's the bad part. The good part is that I had already been at this so long that I had developed some good habits and never went above maybe 3-5 pounds from my weight at the time. One of the most important things you can master on this journey is portion control. And even though, on my best week, I will eat McDonalds or any number of bad food, I never eat until I'm stuffed. NEVER! I never feel like I have to unbutton my pants or lay down or take a Pepto to relieve the pressure in my pants. So that definitely helps me stay in maintenance mode when I'm not losing.

2) Never forget the importance of fruits and veggies to your diet!
I love fruits but me and veggies have always had a difficult relationship lol. I only enjoy a few and somedays, the only veggies I may eat is the spinach I put in my morning smoothie. So I always have to force myself or remind myself to eat them. When I did this, I was losing 2-3 pounds a week consistently. When I stopped? I might lose 1-2 pounds in 2 weeks. If you're consistently ADDING fruits and veggies to your diet, then that means you're SUBTRACTING something too. So I'm following my own old advice and doing that moving forward.

3) Do not wear your old fat clothes - EVER!
I had a point where I was losing weight so fast that I was having to change clothes pretty regularly (every six-eight weeks). When I had lost 2 sizes, I was kind of bummed that my cute clothes I had just bought didn't fit so I kept wearing them. BIG MISTAKE! First of all, no one could tell I was still losing weight. Not that I need compliments from others, but I LOOKED like I had hit a plateau and I didn't, lol. Also, it makes you feel more comfortable when you're eating badly if your pants don't feel a little tight afterwards. So I made a resolution to only buy 4 pairs of pants in a given size. That way, when I lost weight, that's all I would have to replace. I found stores like Forever 21 and JC Penney that had good bargains and bought my temporary clothes from there. I also learned that some of my "bigger"shirts would still look nice with a well fitting cardigan so I did that to make my clothes last longer too. No one ever talks about the clothing issue with losing weight so I wasn't really prepared to be buying all new sizes every few months. If you're just starting on your journey, make sure you put up some money for the new  you!

4) Don't be afraid to challenge yourself!
For the first six months of my journey, I only worked out on one machine, the Arc Trainer. Now I increased the time I was on the machine, I changed levels and eventually worked out for an hour at the highest level, but I didn't touch a weight or get on a weight machine. So when I decided to get a trainer, I felt soooo weak! Now, almost six months after combining both, I'm in the best shape of my life and I am going to run in a 5k before the end of the summer, hopefully next month. Also, even though the scale hasn't moved much in the past few months, I'm down another pant size which means I'm losing inches. So challenging myself has definitely gotten me some great results!

I am still learning things about myself and I still get discouraged sometimes, either with lack of progress or just lack of discipline. But the important thing is to never give up and to keep trying your best, whatever that is at the time. Be proud of any progress you make and stay positive!