Take 2.

I had a blog; a few years back. I would blog about my weight and what I was doing to change it. I lost quite a bit of weight... The blog (and the ones who read it) kept me motivated. I don't even remember why I stopped blogging, but I did and since then, probably needless to say, I've gained it all back.

Here's a quick recap of my relationship with food and the extra fat that resulted from it.

I was never 'skinny', but as a kid I wasn't 'fat' either.

After high school I gained, and gained... and gained.

At my heaviest, I was 220.3 lbs (Spring 2005)

Feb 2006 on vacation with my (now) ex-husband

Oh yeah, that's the other thing. Since the last time I blogged, I also got divorced... that's a whole other pile. To sum things up on that front, though - It happened just over a year ago, and I'm happy now.

Halloween 2005

Moving along... I realized after this trip that my weight was out of control and I needed to reel it back in. So I started to eat right and exercise.
By the fall of that year I had dropped around 20-25lbs (I'm writing this completely from memory, so bare with me - years are all melting together).
I was Cher for halloween... one of the cheapest costumes I've made, it was awesome.

I've blurred out my face... Right now I need the anonymity. I prefer talking about this with the blog world right now and no one else. I know you may find it hard to understand, but I have my reasons.

Anyway, I was starting to feel good about myself, and finally felt like I was getting all my issues with food under control. I don't seem to have any pictures from Christmas 2005.... 

2006 must have flown by, because I don't remember much from it... I do remember going to Scotland to visit my family... Anyway - Come Christmas of that 2006, I had lost a total 41-42 lbs (I went from 220.3 to 178ish). And I felt fantastic.

I was fitting into a size 12 pant size, I had a flatter belly and I was really starting to see my shape again. My shape was the one thing I was always grateful for - I have an hourglass figure and I was finally starting to see it. This picture to the right was taken on December 2006 (I was in university at the time), and me and my girlfriends went out for a friends birthday. I felt like a million bucks.

2007 rolled in and I was still doing 'ok'. I had kind of fallen off the wagon over Christmas because, well, it was Christmas and I kind of ate whatever I wanted.

throughout 2007 I stayed pretty close to my Christmas 2006 weight, didn't really go up or down very much (from what I remember). Here are some pics to give you an idea:

April 2007

July 2007

September 2007

I even signed up AND completed a try-a-tri - That's me in the yellow square crossing the finish line! I felt like a million bucks when I finished that race. I remember I had put on maybe 5 lbs since Christmas 2006 but I wasn't too worried.

I remember signing up for the try-a-tri because my big sister had just signed up for the Ironman and it motivated me. I was glad I did it - I wish I had kept on and trained for a longer one.

In January of 2008 my (now ex) proposed. I was at about 185-187lbs by that point and the thought of a wedding motivated me (as it does most girls) and I joined Weight Watchers. Weight watchers was great. At my first meeting, I ran into a girl I had taken a english lit class with and she said she was training for a 10k, asked if I wanted to join - I thought 'what the heck? Might as well.'

In may 2008 I ran 10k, I was below 178lbs again and I was feeling better than I had ever felt:

May 2008

That's me second from the left in the white hat. Before trainign for this race, I hadn't ever run... unless I was running from something. I finished in 1hr and 12 mins - I was proud of my time and really proud that I finished it.

When I trained for this race, I loved down by the lake, it was beautiful to get outside for a run, made it so easy to stay distracted from the fact that I was... well, running.

In 2008 I bought a house and moved in at the end of August. The picture below is the only picture I have of my at my slimmest, 162lbs.

July 2008

I love this picture of myself. It's what I go back to when I need to be reminded of what I can achieve...

After this picture it was all downhill. I moved into my house, stopped running, started eating and the weight slowly crept back on. I got married the summer of 2009, and had gained back about 10-15lbs by then, then gained another 5 on my honeymoon.

In 2010 I got on board again and dropped around 20lbs. I was running and eating well and that's when I was posting to my old blog. I was getting so much amazing support from the blog community. It was amazing - it was the first time I had lost weight on my own, without a 'weight loss partner' because I had the whole blog world as my partner. I was in the low 170s that summer - I was in 2 weddings and was starting to feel like a million bucks again. But for some reason, at the beginning of 2011 I had lost motivation, I wasn't blogging as much and I just wasn't 'feeling it'.

By the beginning of 2012 I was back up to 206lbs, and for the past year I have been wavering between 185 and 195.

Well, it's time to try again. I want July my 2008 body back.

It's the beginning of the summer and probably the most opportune time to get my sh*t together. I did a 5km mud run (metconblue.com) last weekend, and I was huffing and puffing the whole way through it - it was awful, I felt like crap and all I wanted was to get into better shape.

I'm currently at a CrossFit gym and really enjoy it. But lately, I've been slacking - not going as often as I should, not trying as hard as I should. I need to change. I love the CF mentality, but I need to live that mentality as much as I believe in it.

Alright kids - here goes nothing.