I’d be lying if I didn’t tell you guys right off the bat that I’m a little nervous about this blog post. I’m stepping quite far out of my comfort zone and sharing a picture of myself that I took today and paired it with a picture I took of myself 5 months ago when I first started my journey to become healthier.

The morning started off with me going to the basement to take out the scale that Dan so carefully “hid” from me. I slid out the grey and white scale and propped myself on top of it. It said I was up a pound. “Not possible,” I muttered before shoving it back in it’s dark corner. My list of workouts and calorie burns and food for the last few weeks played in a loop in my head and all came to the conclusion that I must just be retaining water today and will try a different day. Now, to a normal person this doesn’t sound like a big deal, but it was to me. Just a few months ago I would’ve seen that number and crumpled down at the sight. It would have taken me at least a day of mental pep talks for me to get the courage to keep pressing on. I lived for YEARS like this. Not anymore. After I texted one of my friends she suggested I take measurements or a progress picture. So, feeling like that would be a better option, I strapped on my workout gear and headed to the bathroom to take a picture. This picture. For real though, SCREW the scale. After I snapped this I put it next to a picture I took 5 month ago when I unhappily wrote this post: It’s all about the Journey. Here it is:

For goodness sakes I was happy about it!! I feel like all of my little good choices and the moments added together and I’m finally really seeing some progress after months of work that I’ve wanted! I’m not stopping yet and have more to go, but I know I will get there. Now to get the rest of my body on the same page. 😉

I’ll admit that taking the picture for myself to see progress and sharing it with everyone here were a wide step apart from each other. It’s personal and obviously I’m not happy with the “before” picture, but it does start to tell my story. Also I’m not at the finish line so why share this now? All of these things ran through my head before I realized that sharing this picture is actually WAY easier than sharing that initial blog post was about how I was at my low point and sick and tired of being sick and tired. “It’s all about the Journey” was harder and I think definitely more personal for me than this.

I look for inspiration and motivation all of the time by following and seeing other’s progress photos and transformations. If they are brave enough to share their photos then I can suck it up and do it too! I’m starting to finally get used to being uncomfortable, but that’s how we grow as people! I also have to say that I started feeling guilty claiming to not rely on the scale but only really posting about the weight I’ve lost in numbers on previous blog posts. It’s not accurate and unfair which is why I share this with you today.

This is what five months of small decisions, day-by-day, earned me. This is also a constant struggle and a long process which I hope to continually keep open about. I want to show my struggles and successes and hope that even if it reaches one person and speaks to them, it will all be worth it.

What makes this time getting healthy different than before?

SO many things. My “54 Things I’ve Learned While Getting Healthy” blog post has now definitely been expanded. There are SO many things that I’ve learned this time around that I didn’t know before. There are also so many things that I’m doing differently as opposed to the last time I lost the weight. Right now I’m doing the Bodyshred dvds over again but with 15 pound weights and trying the harder moves that I was unable to do before. I’m eating much more protein than ever before! I’m drinking a ton of water per day to keep things working. I’m eating more calories than I did last time and have an end goal to increase those in the future so I can sustain this lifestyle change. I’m in a challenge group called “Screw the Scale” but find it more like a support group that’s helped me leaps and bounds. I’m making recipes of things that I love and that are good and don’t make me want to barf. (My favorite recipes, especially those meatballs, are found here: FitShaped with Kelley) I’m not relying solely on a lying scale to check my progress anymore. Lastly, I’m not keeping quiet about this anymore either. I’m reaching out when I need it and trying to support those that ask for it. People can help people and I want to do that as much as I can, even if that means posting a picture in my workout bra hoping to show those that doubt themselves that it can be done. I promise you.

To anyone reading this and feeling like they want to start getting healthy: Feel free to message me…and start now! If I didn’t start 5 months ago I’d still be in the same place. You can change a lot in a short amount of time. Do I have more work to do? HECK yes! Mentally and physically. To the point that it overwhelms me sometimes, but I’ll tell you what I tell myself: Baby steps. One day at a time and one foot in front of the other. Is it going to be hard? Yes dang right! You’ll have to work every day at it…but YOU are worth the work. I’m on your side and I believe you can do this. Dude, you’ve got this.

XOXO

ALM