My New Size 10's!

On January 1st of this year I made a goal to lose a total of 40 lbs. I guess what got me thinking is...I STILL have baby fat, but no baby...it was the realization that I no longer needed to be or had an excuse of being overweight! Duh!
I have dedicated myself and have been great about sticking with it. In the beginning, it was TOUGH...I can't lie, actually somedays the chocolate and carb cravings were unbearable...let's just say, it was not a great idea to chat with me on those days, ha ha. The biggest thing that has helped me is going on the site http://www.myfitnesspal.com/ and logging in my food intake each and EVERY day...good or bad. My goal each day is to consume close to 1500 calories a day, it is great to eat healthy because you can actually eat A LOT of food and still stay under 1500 calories! I eat A LOT of fruits/veggies now (with Grapefruit being my new favorite food of choice! YUMMY!), where before I wasn't so good at and my new favorite is High Fiber Cereals and Trail Mix...great for getting my fiber and protein in for the day...very important for weight loss! Another great site that I found was http://www.sparkpeople.com/ , it has WONDERFUL articles, exercises and tools to being successful in weight loss. My goal each week is to get AT LEAST 30 minutes of exercise 5-7 days of the week...and I can honestly say that I have been faithful to this goal EVERY week. My exercises began with turning up the music super loud and dancing with my kids, working out on my elliptical and adding in some strength training each and every day...alternating days, upper body-Mon,Wed,Fri & lower body-Tues,Thurs,Sat & core 3-4 times a week. Now that the weather has gotten warmer, I go to an aerobic class at our church Mon-Thurs. On Monday we have Step Aerobics, then on Tues & Thurs we do Jazzercise and 45 minutes of Strength Training, then on Wednesdays we do Circut training...I LOVE all the classes, they sure get me moving! On Fri & Sat I grab some of my friends or neighbor ladies...anyone that is wanting and willing and we go SPEED walking up and around the Canal...it is funny because all the ladies compete in seeing if they can keep up with me, apparantly I am a pretty fast walker, he he. In a way, I think I have my Mother to thank for that...it seems like we were ALWAYS on the go when we were younger and with my Mom being one of the FASTEST walkers I have seen in my life, we had no choice but to keep up...going to BYU Football Games was probably some of the greatest training days, if you were to look close enough, I am sure you may have seen smoke coming from under our shoes, he he.
I am greatful for my commitment to my health because I feel Amazing and have seen some great results! When I began I weighed a total of 190 lbs...OUCH! My measurements were: Waist-35 in. Hips-45 in. Neck-14.5 in. I wore a size XL in shirt and size 15/16 in pants. Today, June 27, 2008 I weigh in at 160 lbs. My measurements are: Waist-30 in.Hips-40.5 in. Neck-13 in. I now wear a size M/L in shirt and size 9/10 in pants. So....to date, I have lost 30 lbs., -5 in. off of my waist, -4.5 in. off of my hips & -1.5 in. off of my Neck.
Losing weight and becoming healthy can be tough and somewhat a struggle, but it CAN happen if you stick with it until the end! Here are some before & after pics (including my pic that I took today with my NEW size 10 shorts...WOOHOO!)
BEFORE: