The Big Birthday!!

So last September I made my goal to get healthier by 30. On April 30th, I turned 30. Someone before my birthday asked me if I had reached my goal, so I started thinking about what my goals were, and realized they were pretty general. Healthier by 30, how am I going to quantify that? Maybe the whole story will help explain how I was planning on quantifying success.

In July I started a new job and decided that my weight had gotten out of control again. So I decided that I would start trying to lose weight. I had done Weight Watchers before but was embarrassed that I had gained weight back. I weighed myself after returning from Ireland and weighed 178, which was the highest I had been in years. So I decided on my own I would lose the weight. I started watching what I was eating and running after or before work. As time progressed I realized this wasn't really working and decided to go back to Weight Watchers and start working out. I also decided to start documenting my journey in a blog. Joining Weight Watchers and LA Fitness near work. By September I knew that I was not going back to teaching and fortunately there was an LA fitness right around the corner from work. And the journey began.

It wasn't easy at first. I started by getting into a gym routine and then decided there was no better time to rejoin Weight Watchers. I also decided for the first time to not just do cardio for exercise, but to actually incorporate strength training. Since I had never done this I decided to hire a personal trainer. It was a slow journey that required me to focus on the food I was eating and quality time in the gym. I got into a great routine at the gym and the food part was easy, just more focused than it had been. I slowly started to notice my body changing but the scale was moving very slowly. Which was frustrating at times. I started thinking more about my goals as my journey progressed and started to focus more on how I felt. I wanted to feel comfortable in my clothes. I wanted to feel comfortable with my body. One goal that I made was to post before and after pictures. I have never been very comfortable in my own skin in a bikini. I will wear one but I never want pictures taken in one. I thought this would be a great way to stretch myself. So in September I took two pictures in a bikini. One that was straight-on and one that was from the side. My real goal was to be able to compare those pictures to pictures taken around my 30th birthday.  I took the pictures on September 7, 2014 before I had joined weight watchers again and before I had joined a gym.

Before and after front view

Before and after side view

I love that I can see differences in the pictures. In places that I hadn't even realized. 

Today is when I weighed in for the month of May. I was nervous because it has been a couple of weeks of celebrating my birthday and although I have been paying attention to what I have been eating...It wasn't my best work. I was pleased that I was still within my 2 pound range!