Here it goes...

So I have promised some before pics, so here they come! I can going to give some from the very start of my journey....mostly just for myself to document...

Here is me at the very beginning. My heaviest ever. 225lbs! Look how fat my face was!!! YUCK!

About a month or so after this pic, Mike and I went on a hike in Snoqualmie Falls where I practically died.....I was so out of shape. Here's a pic from this outing...I think I had lost maybe a few pounds..nothing too significant. 

 
Four months later I went on a trip to Las Vegas to visit my family and show Mike around....On this trip I was down to 208, so I had lost 17lbs. These pics you can tell a difference in my face...but I still am very heavy.

 In January of this year, I created a before and after pic...I was down to around 195 I think...I really should have been putting weights on my pictures. The before pic is from the same day as the first pic I showed. I did this pic mostly so you could see the change in my face...

Flash forward to this past July. I hadn't lost much weight. I was down to about 192. I had fallen off the wagon several times between January and July, but I still see a difference. Mike and I went on a camping trip to Glacier Natl Park in Montana. We did lots of hiking. Remember the hike I mentioned earlier at the Falls....that was a 1 mile round trip hike that I practically fainted on because I was so out of shape....on this camping trip, I completed a NINE MILE HIKE! With a 3600 foot altitude gain if I remember correctly! Take that!  oh and take a look at that second pic....notice a change in my face? I do!

 And finally the pics you have all been waiting for. These pics I took on Nov 1st. At 189. These are the before pics I will be using for my final journey for my last 49 pounds! 

 

Balance

Weight loss is all about learning how to balance your life.........this is one thing I have not yet mastered.....

Here's me:

~A full time Graduate Student. ---I have to read about a minimum of 120 pages a week---and I should add that this is highly academic/scholarly type reading. ----It's no Harry Potter Book. For comparison-It takes me about 1 hour, sometimes a bit more, to read 20 pages.....Harry Potter....I can read a 700 page book in about a day and a half.. Now on top of my reading, I have at least one, sometimes two, papers to write each week. A paper takes me about a minimum of 10 hours to write. And, I attend class for 4 hours a week. So let's total this up. 6 hrs min of reading + 10 hrs of paper writing + 4 hours of class time = 20 hours a week of school work (AT A MINIMUM), at a maximum it would probably be about 35-40......What does that sound like to you? To me it sounds like, some weeks school is a part time job, some weeks school is full time job.

~ On top of school, I also work a normal job. 36 hours a week typically. Some weeks we throw in an extra day. This means between school and my paid job, I work a minimum of 66 hours a week, maximum of 85. Phew. It really is feeling nice to lay this out. 

~  Now......I have a weight loss goal....Which requires loads of dedication. And loads of working out. My true goal is to get in a workout 6 days a week for an hour at a time. That is 6 hours a week.

~ I also have a wonderful, loving fiance.......He also needs to be allotted some time each week to hear my voice and enjoy some time. And to be honest, I need some time each week to enjoy his voice and enjoy some time not dedicated to work... I honestly don't know how the mom's I know do it. It's hard enough for me to balance all of this, I couldn't imagine having to throw raising children into the mix. 

~ And....I am planning a wedding. 

~~~~~~~~~Man I am one busy person!!!~~~~~~~~~

So how do I balance this? How do I get my workouts in? Anyone have advice? Tips? Usually I can manage, but sometimes, it just doesn't work. 

So this past week/weekend I did horrible! Horrible! I had two papers to write this weekend, so in turn, I got no exercise in! AND! because I still have very bad habits that I need to break, I snacked a lot. We bought some baked cheetos from Trader Joes.....and I ate way too many, and then during the time that I was writing one of my papers,  I ate even more cheetos because I had to stay up all night and I needed "fuel" to keep me going.....EXCUSES!!!!!!.....man I really need to stick by my mantra of STOPPING THE EXCUSES!!!...and this weekend, I met with a cake baker for the wedding, so I tried some cake...Really, this weekend was HORRIBLE for my diet and for my exercise.....Just trying to bounce back.....

So with that being said....I guess I will say goodbye and go hit the treadmill!

oh, and p.s. I took some before pics that I am hoping to show here soon....it's just a matter of my having some time to blog! :) but, it's something to look forward to.

Until next time....