Challenge Update – Week 12 Phase 2

Just completed our first six-months on the challenge.  My stats to date are:  Down 26.6 pounds, lost 5″ from both my waist and hips.  Arms are down 2″, thighs down 3.5″, calves down 2″, under bust down 4″, and full bust down 3″ (that’s one area I could have done without any loss!  :)).  I would like to lose another 10-15 pounds over the next 6 months.  I have gone from a size 12-14 to a size 6-8.  I was able to wear a skirt on Sunday that I have owned for years and never been able to get into.  


I have been thinking a lot about the whole “losing weight and getting fit” thing.  Seems nearly everyone wants to make some progress in that arena.  Having had weight issues since I was 14 I have tried nearly every diet known to man!  All with some measure of success, but nothing that has allowed me to keep the weight off long term.  The thing I love about this challenge is that it is sustainable.  I can eat and exercise this way all the time.  We have even been able to keep ourselves (mostly on task) when we have been travelling or otherwise had an interruption to our regular schedule.  Having just sustained pretty nasty injuries to my right side from passing out last weekend due to dehydration from the flu, I have realized how much a way of life this has become for me.  In the past, under similar circumstances I would have used the stitches and severe bruising as an excuse to take some time off.  Instead, this time I switched up my routine and went from working upper body to an intensive ab workout.  I look at the scheduled workout for each day, do what I can and then switch over to my ab workout.  I am feeling very strong!  I have been pleased with the immense amount of stress we have been experiencing with our son and daughter-in-laws adoption (see Izze posts), how the exercise each morning has helped me to cope so much better.  I have discovered that I can cry and do cardio at the same time – talk about multi-tasking!  :))


I hope that my experience with this challenge will motivate you to do something active and positive with your own situation.  I am alarmed at the types of things women put their bodies through in an effort to be skinny.  So much better to eat healthy, exercise and allow your body to correct itself and find it’s healthy weight.  I used to long to hear someone tell me I looked anorexic.  NOW, I just want to be healthy and have the energy to get through life happy and contented.  THIS challenge may not be right for your lifestyle, but find something that will suit you and get started!  You will never improve if you don’t take the first step!  Having my husband join me has been incredibly satisfying and has helped me to stay the course.  Even when I still see myself overweight and out of shape, I can see how much he has progressed and it reminds me that I am just being overly critical of myself.  Here’s to another 6-months of healthy eating and exercise!  Hope this Thanksgiving you will be grateful for your health and the body that serves you!  Pay it back by being good to it!