A journey to a healthier self

A little over 1 year ago I was shopping at the outlet mall and I had one of those moments. Anyone who has ever struggled with their weight / body image knows exactly the moment to which I'm referring. The "this must be a mistake, that nothing in this entire store fits me...." moment.

But alas, Ann Taylor Loft had not gone through some mean mis-sizing campaign against me. It was true, nothing in the store fit me. Or at least it didn't fit how I know that it should.

There is some saying that people don't change until "you're sick and tired of being sick and tired" and for me, that moment had come.

So I wallowed in my excuses for a few hours....I've been traveling a lot for work (do calories really count the same when you're in a different time zone?)....I don't have time to work out (but how do have time to go to dinner with my friends / boyfriend almost every night?) ....I don't know what i'm doing wrong...(how hard can it really be to learn?)

And when the excuses ended, I picked myself up (with some help from my mom) and embarked on what Mom and I called "ACDI" Amelia Can Do It. Little did I know the life-changing nature of this campaign...

I joined Weight Watchers, and I began tracking all my "Points". And miraculously, it worked! I started losing weight and had more engergy. Week-after-week my momentum grew, and I learned the first of many important healthy living lessons.

• There is always a healthier option.




• That option is often times more filling, but maybe not filled with cheese




• You'll feel better about yourself for choosing the right option.




• Sometimes you don't want the healthier option. That's OK. Just don't eat the whole pizza

My second step of ACDI was putting to use that gym membership that was sucking money from my bank account, but not from my waistline for the past few years. After a few weeks of getting back into a work-out routine, I signed up for the Biggest Loser competition at the gym. It was during this time that I learned another set of health living lessons:

• Working out can actually be fun




• While it's hard to get started, you always feel so much better after you do




• Having guidance and direction makes all the difference in the world (ie: spring for the trainer!)
  

And so the journey to finding a healthier version of myself began....

August 1, 2008 at Wesley & Katie's Wedding

August 29, 2009 at Mackenna & Eric's Wedding

I thought that this would be a good lead-in for the upcoming marathon post! (Not to give away the end of the story....but I think you know where this is going!)