I started this blog on the same day that I started what I believe will be my final diet - May 14, 2008. That day, I weighed 256 pounds, which isn't a good look on most women, much less someone who is only 5' 1 1/2" tall! The reason I decided to blog about my weight-loss journey was so I could look back and see how hard I'd worked to get the weight off. I have a terrible memory, and my C.R.S.* moments are getting closer and closer together, so I figured that by blogging I would have concrete evidence of my successes, failures, plateaus and everything else in between. What I didn't realize at the time was how much support I would receive from the weight-loss blogging community. These people have been there for me when I've lost weight, when I haven't lost weight, when I should have lost weight but the dastardly scale didn't show it; they've given me ideas, tips and advice on everything from eating clean and exercising to why that stomach pain probably needs a visit to the doctor (can you say gallbladder surgery?) - they've commiserated with me when it was tough and celebrated my victories - scale, non-scale, running my first mile and jumping a scary box - with me. I couldn't have done this without my blogger friends - and yes, that is a statement I truly believe.
In the summer of 2010 I was at my lowest weight in over 20 years - 146 pounds. It was amazing and I felt great! At the end of the summer I began training for a half marathon and while I stayed the same size, I did put on about 5 pounds, which is pretty normal, apparently (hello, carbs!). I ran my race in November of 2010, and continued training for the Austin half marathon, which was in February 2011. Unfortunately, I injured my ankle in January of 2011 and had to stop running. A couple of weeks later my mother was diagnosed with cancer, and between stopping running and stress eating, I managed to gain some weight back. My mother had successful surgery for the cancer and is now doing great; I started swimming for exercise since I still can't run or do anything that might put pressure on my ankle (frustrating to not be able to run or jump rope or even do a burpee, should I want to!); and I'm back trying to get the extra weight off. It's not fun to diet again as opposed to maintaining my weight, and it's not what I had intended, but life, and how I deal with it, is a continual process, and I'm trying to learn to manage stress without chocolate.
And THIS time, I will keep the weight off.
*Can't Remember Sh*t
