Happy Birthday!

Guess who turns 1 today???

The BLOG!!!

I can barely believe it has been a year since I started this thing... but I went back to my first post, and yup... September 20. It is even harder for me to believe that before a year ago, I had no idea how to eat and exercise effectively. I have learned so much in the last year and have never felt so great about myself.

I thought it would be a good time to go over the changes that have occurred in the last year, for everyone in our family.

Let's start with the dogs, because they are most important. :)

A year ago, we had just brought Franklin into our lives and Deluca was in for quite the shock. Now, they are roughly the same height, annoying as can be, and the best of friends. I couldn't imagine our lives without Franklin, and I know Deluca feels the same way.

First week Franklin came home

Just a few months ago.

They may drive us crazy, but they really are good boys. :)

Moving on to Mike, my sweet, wonderful, always happy, neverthoughthewouldeverjumponthehealthytrain husband.

Before:

Last October, on our Mexican Vacay

He jumped on board much later than me, but since he did, he has lost about 30 lbs and helped me to lose the last 10 myself. Having him run and eat healthy with me has helped tremendously. I am so proud of him and so glad we have gone down this journey together. 

And then there is me...

My very first 5k, ever. Look at those cheeks!

and here we are now:

I could fill this blog with before and after photos, believe me, we have plenty. But, wow, what a difference! Together we have lost more than 50 lbs and have such different lives than before. Our days of poor food habits, wasteful weekends, and couch potato-ing are behind us and are now filled with exercising and cooking wonderful, healthy food. We still have our days that we eat what we want, when we want, but we know how to balance our days and even our weeks better than before. We still have times where exercise is not a priority, but between the two, one of us will always encourage the other to get us back on track.We make a really great team, and I really hope this continues with us for the rest of our lives.

Goals Update:

I technically didn't set the short and long term goals for myself until September 30 of last year, but I am going to go ahead and say what I have to say about them.

My long term goal was to lose 25 lbs and I am not going to reach that by September 30, or ever for that matter. That is a decision I made a while ago and I am completely happy with it. I had no idea when I set those goals for myself what 25 lbs would do to my body. I am currently at a solid 20 lbs loss, and I couldn't feel better. The things that I have left to change on my body are not measured in lbs. I want to tighten and tone, and continue with our healthy lifestyle. I am really happy with my weight and feel that I have lost all that I can. Pounds and weight aside, I have dropped 2 dress sizes and 3 pant sizes in the past year.  My body has figured out how to remain and maintain those 20 lbs off without me having to try too hard and that is how I would like to keep it. I want to continue to exercise and eat well, but I also want to keep myself at a healthy and happy weight, which is where I am right now.

One of the biggest reasons for starting this blog was to figure out a way to lose weight and keep it off, to change my attitude towards eating, and to find a healthy balance between good and bad foods, lazy days and challenging work outs, and to avoid 'dieting' all together. I think I have absolutely achieved that. There isn't much I won't pass up in the way of food, and I like that I haven't put myself in a position where I have to. Mike and I have both gotten to this healthy place without using any of the latest diet fads or quick fixes, which is something we are both really proud of.

Over the next year, I hope to achieve other goals that I have started to set.  I would like to complete a half marathon, improve my 5k and 10k speed, improve on my hill running, and learn how to set a pace and stick to it. I would like to get to the gym more, increase my weight training, and tone my arms, legs, back, and abs.

I thought that once I reached my happiest weight, I would be done and all I would need to do was maintain. I have learned that getting healthy is not so simple and the more I learn about it, the more goals I have and want to achieve. It is a life long commitment that I know Mike and I are happy to take on. I hope that we can continue to be an inspiration to others and most importantly, teach our (someday) children to have a healthy relationship with food and exercise.

I have to say that I credit a lot of my achievements to this blog. I know I don't have a huge following, but knowing that just a few people read it, help me to stay focused and on track. Life is pretty great right now, and I hope it never changes. :)