Changes, still making changes

I started my Beachbody journey in December of 2009 (for the 3rd or 4th time) with Turbo Jam and Power 90 at 290+ pounds. I started, I stopped. I started, I stopped. I did this over and over again. I was fat fat fat. I had Postpartum Depression, I hated myself and my body. I couldn't stand to have my husband look at me, let alone touch me. I had serious gallbladder disease (and had to get it taken out in 2010). I did P90X in the summer of 2010 - 84 days of it. And I hated every minute. I was not losing weight. I was not losing inches. I was eating crap and fooling myself that it was okay. I would binge, I would eat in secret... I had problems. I did 1 week of Insanity, and "rested" for 4 or 5 months. I started Turbo Fire in January of 2011 and made it through a month before I started student teaching. Not that I did the program right. Hated long workouts, never made it past Fire30 and the HIITs. Made some changes, dropped some weight (not a lot. I hovered between 280 - 270, up and down, up and down...) I was in a car accident in June of 2011 and extremely lucky to walk away with a broken wrist and scrapes and bruises. The ambulance took me to the trauma center in the nearest big city because "no one will believe you walked away from that wreck alive".

The accident took a physical toll on me, and an emotional one on my marriage. I found running and inconsistently ran and did strength training at my college fitness center. Still ate crap, made some changes and hovered around 260-270. On Antidepressants, but still emotionally scarred. Running more consistently and in the winter of 2012 moved to a more whole foods based diet. Stayed in the 250s but far more flab than anything else.

Then something (inspiration, lightning bolt, cosmic head slap) hit me. I decided to become a beachbody coach. I restarted TurboFire (still not "really" following, but better) and I got Body Beast. Whoa. Serious changes ahead!

Since January of 2013 the weight on the scale has only gone down another 10lbs - but now I bounce around the low 240s, and the bouncing gets lower every week. The BIGGEST changes have come since June 2013 (around Summit). I am getting help with my emotional issues. I am changing more and more for the better every day!

Body Beast has contributed the most to my physical changes. Some measurements have not gone down much, but that is because my body composition is changing so much. Consistency is the key. When I truly committed to myself and my journey each small change added up. Again and again. Good choices led to more changes and better choices and more changes - a perpetual cycle. I am not done, but I am firmly on the path.

Since the beginning of my journey I have lost about 50lbs, completed a half marathon and learned to love and appreciate what my body can do for me when I take care of it. This isn't the end, but the beginning...

11 Days until I turn 35

On November 17th I will celebrate my 35th birthday and 6th wedding anniversary (yes I got married on my birthday, mainly so I could remember the day. Plus I love November). Every year since puberty (the last 20 at least) I have vowed to lose weight and be fit before my next birthday rolls around. Some hit and miss success, but never lasting weight loss. I do not want to make the same vow this year. I want a more tangible, measurable goal. One that will push me, test my limits and resolve, and help me be a better person in the long run (pun intended).

I would love to lose weight, and be fitter than I was on my last birthday, be more in shape than I was at my first anniversary (granted I was 9 months pregnant with the monkey that year). I would like to weigh less than  I did when I got married, or less than I did when I met my husband.

More than those things though, I want to be strong. I want to set a hard high goal and reach it. A big goal. One that seems almost impossible. I want to achieve the impossible.

Goals for my 35th year

1. Walk or run every day - at least one mile. I want to have a streak so that by this time next year, my mileage is over triple digits. 
2. Super big goal - run/walk 3500 miles my 35th year. I know it is almost 10 miles a day. I will actually have to work up to that amount. But I am going to do it. I am making a vow, a resolution, a super goal to run/walk at least 1750 miles this coming year with a super duper goal of reaching 3500. 
3. Eat to fuel my goal. I will not follow a diet or a plan. I will be reasonable in my eating, and work to ensure that what I eat fuels my goals and my life. 

There is no doubt that this will not be easy. But "If you shoot for the moon and miss you still wind up among the stars".

These are my stars for the next year. I'm going for it.