The Freshman Fifteen

 In my youth, I was never concerned with what I weighed or how I looked.  I was always thin and could eat whatever I wanted.  I was also decently active so even in high school, my weight was pretty steady.  When I started college, I was definitely a victim of the Freshman 15 due to lack of movement and late night border runs after the bar.  Fortunately that weight came off as I started a regular running routine with my roommate.  From that point on, my weight was pretty consistent and I worked out 2 or 3 times a week.  My body wasn't at it's best, but I certainly didn't hate the way I looked and would enjoy putting on a nice outfit to go out. All that changed during my pregnancy with Goose.  I had morning sickness throughout the entire pregnancy and definitely ate for two (give or take a few).  I gained a ton of weight but figured I'd be able to lose it once I had the baby.  Fast forward eight years and that never happened.  In fact, I steadily gained weight over the years.  Only two or three pounds per year, but still too much for someone that was already overweight.  I'd always tell myself that I'd start exercising again and that I'd watch what I was eating and I'd get back to feeling good about myself but that didn't happen.  I had a goal over the last year to lose as much weight as I reasonably could before we went to a family wedding in May.  That didn't happen.  I didn't lose any weight.  In fact, I was at my heaviest.  Finding something to wear for the rehearsal dinner and the wedding was a nightmare.  I didn't like the way anything fit my body and nothing I tried felt comfortable.  I ended up going to the Nordstrom's personal stylist and she helped me pick out something that wasn't a complete disaster.  The tipping point came when I saw pictures of myself. I was a completely different person in my head then I was in pictures. I don't think I've ever had such a low opinion of myself.  It wasn't entirely because of vanity.  It was also because it was just so unhealthy.  I knew that if I didn't make a change, I wouldn't be happy with myself and  I'd be impacting my long term health too.  Over the next couple of weeks, I started making small changes but nothing significant.  During this time, I also started a new job.  I basically had to buy a new wardrobe due to the fact that my previous job was jeans & tshirts casual and the new job was business casual.  It had been awhile since I was in that type of job and my old clothes didn't fit anymore.  I decided to only buy a very basic wardrobe with some transitional pieces like wrap dresses (thank you Banana Republic) in the hopes that I wouldn't have to buy in-between pieces if I lost weight.  I wanted to use this new start as a motivator to get healthy. It's helped that my supervisor had been on a "get fit" journey and has been great with encouragement and support which helps me stay on track.  She turned me on to myfitnesspal.com and that helped enormously. As of today, I've lost about 25lbs and I'm pretty proud of myself.  I still have a ways to go to be where I want to but I know I'll get there.