The End, Not Really

Some of you may be asking about my blog post title. It's because today was the end of my weight loss challenge, but not the end of my journey. January 16th of this year I was asked to join a biggest loser team at work, I reluctantly said yes because I'm not much for relying on other people but I figured I could join the team and see what happens. Fast forward to now, and here I am after my final weigh in, and possibly in 1st place of the entire competition. All by myself,  I did it. Sure I had a ton of support from Eric, as well as my family and friends but at the end of the day, I'm the one that ate right and worked my ass off. Literally. I've lost 55 pounds on this journey and can't wait to lose more. Although I am pretty relieved that the competition is over because believe me...I am one competitive girl. Once I realized I had a shot at winning this thing (and $500 mind you) I was all in. I removed my cheat meal and increased my workouts.

Taken before weighing in this morning feeling pretty proud of myself. :)

I'm sure many of you are asking the same question I've been asked frequently these past few months..."How are you doing it?!" It's simple. HARD WORK!

I first had to do a little soul searching and find out what it was in my head that wasn't allowing me to let go of my past and live a healthy life. It was really hard, I've tried for years and this time it finally clicked. I think a lot of it had to do with the post I wrote back in February about my eating disorder growing up. It allowed me to be honest with the people in my life. I was no longer living a secret. Once I was able to let go of that, nothing could stop me. I could shape myself and my life how I wanted it to be. I learned I was in charge, and I took charge.

I set goals. But not goals that were about a number. You have to take the number you have in your head and get rid of it. Don't focus on it. Don't put an end time to it either. I'm telling you, don't do that to yourself. For example, I want to lose 30 pounds by August 20th. Don't do that. I made goals that would instead result in weight loss.

Goals like...working out 6 days a week, drinking almost 2 gallons of water everyday, eating healthy, no drinking alcohol, run a 5K, get top 5 biggest loser. All of these goals, by working on them everyday, they resulted in the weight loss. Consistency will get you far.

Eating right - I'm not depriving myself. I'm just eating less. Instead of chocolate I crave fruit. That's where I get my sugar fix. I eat whole grains and healthy protein. Hummus and salsa instead of fatty dips. I eat often. I never go hungry.

Work your ass off - I started with the deck of cards work out. I added walking, walked faster and farther. I started training to run a 5k. I did sprinting intervals on my parents treadmill. I went hiking. I jumped rope. A lot. A lot of jumping rope. Kickboxing. I got up at 5:00 am to walk 4 miles on Grandview daily. I worked out multiple times a day. Once June hit it was ramped up a bit. It wasn't strange to see me working out 3 times a day. I learned so much about myself in these tough workouts. I didn't always want to get up and workout but I reminded myself of why I wanted to do this from the start.

Everyday I made the decision to live my life like this. Now I don't have to think about it because this is normal for me. Find something that motivates you and embrace it. But remember, no one can motivate you unless you yourself feel motivated. You have to want to do this.

"Commitment means staying loyal to what you said you were going to do long after the mood you said it in has left you."

Skys the limit for me. I am taking on the world. :) Whether I end up winning the contest or not (find out Monday) I feel like I've already won.

xo

Ps. I got to try my wedding dress on this past weekend and that was enough for me to feel like all of this extremely hard work was worth it.