Turning 30

It isn't so bad...as most of you know.

Back in November when I was trying to keep my head above water I had the realization that I was going to turn thirty in 8 months. I was feeling so sluggish, unorganized and a little bit out of control with myself that I decided to do something about at least one part of the problem. I was going to lose weight and get in shape. In fact, I was going to be in the best shape of my life when I turned 30 so that I could be excited about a new decade. I didn't want to think that I wasted my youth. Because don't we move past youth at 30? I don't know, that is just what I've been told. Anyway...

I figured out how many weeks until my birthday. Then I decided that I would try to lose 1 pound a week until I turned 30. This would put me at losing 36 pounds and back to my pre-moving to Star Valley and living with my oh-so-generous grandma that cooked 3 large meals a day working in an office-weight. I was excited. Brent had just lost about 25-30 pounds of his own and he was there to encourage me.

I started by joining weight watchers immediately. I had thought about it for a long time. Andrea, my sister, had great results from it. Brent also followed the program when he lost weight. I was going to make it work. Luckily we eat pretty healthy at our house. I'm not saying we don't have sweets or fat or butter or carbs, but the main thing I had to do was curb my snacking and reduce my portions. I didn't change anything that I ate. I wasn't about to make something for my family and then turn around and have salad. No way. I did find healthy snacks that would curb my cravings, like sugar free Jell-O and pudding, 100 calorie snacks that were pre-measured, and lots of fruits and veggies. One of the biggest things was cutting out the extra cheese that I consumed. I love me some cheese, but it had to go. I saved it for when I had it at meals. So I got my eating under control.
Second thing I did was start exercising. Maybe you remember, we bought an elliptical right before I got pregnant with Reagan. Well, I thought maybe I had wasted our money, nope! It was worth every dime. I started walking 15 minutes a day. I would go as hard as I could. Sometimes I thought I was going to die. Don't worry, I never did. Then I set some goals. I wanted to run in a race. I've never ran in my life. I would have rather cut off both my legs than run. You should have seen me complain in high school and middle school about running the mile. Yeah, I owe my teachers an apology for the way I acted. So, yeah, I was going to run in a race. I had two in mind. One in May and one in July. I had no idea (and still don't really) how to train. I started at 15 minutes. Did that for a week then for a week I upped the minutes every day so Monday: 16 Tuesday: 17 Wednesday: 18, etc. Until I got to 20 on Friday. Then I did 20 for a week and worked my way up to 25 the next week. I did this until I was up to 45 minutes a day. I didn't ever go longer because I was getting up plenty early to get a work out in before my kids woke up. I wasn't going to push it.
In addition to walking, Brent showed me some of the strength stuff he learned at physical therapy to strengthen his back. I started doing some of that. If you're familiar with the "plank" where you hold yourself up on your elbows and toes, I could barely do one for 10 seconds. By the time I was done I could do 5 for 20 seconds. I actually started to have definition in my arms and abs. Something I have never had.
As for those races? I didn't make it to the one in May because it was snowing and I am a fair weather racer. I substituted with the 4th of July run in Evanston and the other one was the triathlon in Lyman. I was so happy to have set some goals and actually reached them. I felt like I was in control of my life and it felt good.
As far as my weight goes, I ended up losing a total of 42 pounds. I dropped from a size 17-no I'm not kidding- to a size 7/8. I'm not trying to brag, but encourage. Seriously, if I can do this, anyone can.
I was so tired of feeling the way I did and wanting to cry every time I went shopping, looked in a mirror, or saw a picture of me that I think something inside of me snapped. I had determination where I didn't think it existed. Once I started losing the weight it was kind of addicting and very encouraging. It kept me going.
So, that is my story. Now I am 30 and don't even notice.