Vices...

We all have them, and they are some of our biggest obstacles in losing weight.  What are yours?  Have you ever thought about it?  Mine are pretty easy to pick out.  First and foremost:

Ohhhhhh Mountain Dew (or mtn dew as the new labels signify it)...how I love thee.  Not only are you tasty and delicious, you provide me with my needed caffeine boost half way through the day.  Sigh.  I will miss you so.  I have a feeling your visits will be much less frequent in these coming months.

Second:

TV and general laziness.  I am a homebody.  I love to come home after a long day at work and curl up on the couch and watch my favorite show or read a good book.  I am typically exhausted after my work day so the thought of having to get sweaty during a workout is none-to-appetizing.  The good thing about watching shows like So You Think You Can Dance is that all the dancers are in phenomenal shape and it is a good motivator to hop on the treadmill and try to catch up to them!

Third:

Pride and general stubbornness.  It is worth noting that I am an independent person who doesn't like being forced to do something.  So when someone says "you've put on some pounds...you should probably hit the gym..." or "...are you really going to eat that?", you can bet that I am going to have the exact opposite reaction to whatever they have suggested.  Why?  I HAVE NO IDEA.  It is rather stupid, especially when I know they are right.  It makes it worse when my very loving and patient husband (truly, that is not sarcasm.  I am a very lucky woman) tries to help me out with the situations I have ate myself into and makes helpful suggestions such as "want to go for a run together?" or "let's go for a hike since I know that you love being outdoors" and I react illogically by thinking "what?  he thinks I'm FAT!  nobody loves me!!!! wahhhhh!"  

**insert tantrum here**

I think it is probably compounded by the fact that my husband is a sexy beast.  No, seriously.  Check this out:

How does one not feel inferior to such a fine specimen?  Hot Dayum.  Alas, my lack of self esteem plays mean tricks on his helpful suggestions.  That is one huge motivator for getting back into shape.  I don't ever want a few pounds to get in the way of such a wonderful marriage.  

So now that I've laid out my vices, I know where I need to put extra effort into.  By far the most important is #3.  Curse that stubborn pride!

Do I have to?

I think these pictures are more forgiving than they should be.  I spared you the ones of me in my underwear--nobody needs to see that!  Perhaps I will post them as a comparison to the new me a few months down the road.  It will make for a better comparison!

No more small chat...it's down to business.  Let's talk numbers:
Height:                       65.5"
Neck:                        14"
Left Bicep:                 12.5"
Right Bicep:               11.75"
Bust:                          37"
Waist (smallest part):  31.5"
Waist (biggest part):   39"
Hips:                          46"
Left Thigh:                  27.5"
Right Thigh:                27"
Left Calf:                   16"
Right Calf:                 16.5"

Okey Dokey--I'll update those once a month so we can track progress.  I find that those numbers are more telling than the scale, but I will be measuring all of the above because I'm OCD like that.

Speaking of weight...

I usually weigh myself in the morning, but in the interest of making this post complete I weighed myself tonight.   Unfortunately, that means my weight is higher than it would be at the beginning of the day (can you tell why I prefer morning weigh-ins?).  Drum roll, please...

.....


....


...168 lbs.  Right on the dot.  Party?   Suuuuure....I do feel like celebrating.  Oh wait, that's a lie.  Alas, it is what it is.  I did workout tonight.  I ran/jogged/walked 2.45 miles on the treadmill at a 1.5 incline for 30 minutes.  Yay for me.

Tomorrow I go backpacking for the first time.  This should be interesting....  :)

Let's Get Real...

Wow.  Where to begin?  I'm sure any of you that are reading this are in the same situation as me.  Observations like "wow...didn't know that I was capable of getting fat rolls there...awesome?" and "when did that stretch mark show up?"  are quite common for you.  I know that I have had my fair share of these occurrences.  That's why I am here.  By writing out all my thoughts (good and bad) regarding my journey, I will hopefully finally conquer my fat demons and come out victorious.  Perhaps some occasional shaming by the blog world will help as well in case I fall off the wagon... :)

So here goes.  I have a weight loss goal of 30 lbs.  I think this should put me at a nice healthy 135 lbs with some good muscle definition.  It's a weight that I think is reasonable given my age (26) and body type.  In high school I was hanging out around the 110 lb zone which is think is pretty much impossible (and unsafe).

I will post some nice (and by "nice" I really mean "makes me want to run and hide and never show my face in public again") before photos that show how I look currently.  Everybody loves weight loss photos!  I know that I love to look at the success stories and see what they looked like before they lost all that weight and go "wow...is that even the same person?"  I figure that I will like doing this about myself even more.  Can you blame me?  I'll do measurements as well.  Like I said, I will be honest and brutal throughout this entire journey.  I hope you can handle it!

I have some long-term goals and some short-term goals.  Shall we?

Short-term:

• Lose 8 lbs by family reunion (August 28th)
• Run 2.5 miles on treadmill (end of August)
• Hike Table Rock in the Grand Tetons (doing this on August 27th...holy moly wish me luck!)

Long-term:

• Run a 5K
• Run a 10K
• Hike Lake Blanche in Big Cottonwood Canyon
• Lose 20 lbs
• Lose 30 lbs
• Look close to this again:

2006 Bridals

In the middle--I would kill for nice legs!

Out on a hike--I love it!

On the left--those pants would rip if I put them on now!

On the right at Lake Powell.  Swimsuit shape--here I come!

Belly-baring would not be so good for me now (on the right)

Goal--happy, healthy, and care-free!

So what am I doing wasting time writing this blog?  Off I go...I'm going home and getting on the treadmill.  I'll update you tomorrow!