life's better in lower numbers

I haven't written about my super diet since February, and all I had to say about it that day was it sucked.

In February I decided I better do something about my weight and fitness since my thyroid didn't seem to be the root of my weight gain over the years. Many pokes and prods, two ultrasounds, a biopsy and two different endocrinologists confirmed that my thyroid is functioning as it should given the nodules on it. Ugh. Not what I wanted to hear, but that solidified the fact that I better just get off my butt and work out.

So that's what I did.

For about two-and-a-half months from March to May I worked out and was super careful about what I ate. No fast food. No sugar. No carbs. Nothing processed. Everything fresh. NOTHING that tasted good. Even though I was crabby about not getting the "good" food, I started feeling pretty amazing and the pounds were dropping off. It worked and it was inspiring.

Bub-bye 30 pounds in a matter of weeks, really.

Clothes that hadn't fit in years were back in my drawers. (Luckily I kept everything I loved and said "I'll wear that again.")

July, July and August were bad months. It's so hard to be diligent about being on a clean diet when you're running all the time and everywhere. There's no time to work out and only time for fast food. Those months I didn't lose much weight at all. Plus, we were on vacation twice during the summer and took weekend camping trips which helped me gain pounds back. Darn those tasty, sugary, alcoholic drinks.....

September was the time to get back on the wagon and really buckle down again. Mike and I signed up for a 5K at the end of October, so I really had to start running outside to train. This girl isn't a runner, just in case you didn't know that. I pretty much hated it.

Not anymore!

I still think it's pretty boring and I have to concentrate and pace myself when I do run, but I've come to kinda like it. (I can't believe I'm saying that!) I like how it makes me feel when I get home and stretch out. I feel great!

Here's my first 5k run in Eddyville, IA. Why we ran it in Iowa is worth a whole different blog post.

I ran the 5k in 33:40. (I forgot to stop my tracker when I finished.) Mike beat me by 5 minutes and my cousin and her fiancé were behind me by about 4-5 minutes.

I finished! And it wasn't THAT hard! I didn't die! The fatter me would have stroked out a 1/2 mile into it just months ago.

Right now, I'm watching what I eat again and making sure I get out on walks during the work day and then work out hard 3-4 times a week. I'm not as dedicated as I'd like to be, but I need more time for that.

All in all, I'm down more than 45 pounds. How crazy is that!??! I wish I never would have been that big to begin with. It's embarrassing to admit that I've lost that many pounds because that means I was WAY too fat. I still have about 15 to go, and then I'll be happy. I know these last pounds are going to be stubborn.

Life's good these days.

Small jeans.

Smaller jackets.

Smaller shirts.

I can fit into little black dresses I haven't worn since I was about 19. No joke.

My bed doesn't creak and moan when I thrash around in my sleep. ;) (Yes, I know Mike is still in bed next to me, but he's dropped some pounds, too!)

It's so much easier to work out when you don't weigh so much!

And, things don't jiggle around....