i was really hesitant to post these pics because it feels weird to expose myself like this but then i figured since i talk a lot about vaginas and poop on the regular, this isn't too far off.
this is me, about 4 months since i started operation anti-lumpiness. unfortunately, i didn't take any before shots when i started mainly because i was pretty disappointed with my body but also because i forgot. instead, i have to substitute what my body looked like using crappy estimates shown above in red.
when i posted about my journey to a healthier me, i could wear size 7/8 comfortably; a size 6 with some discomfort and a size 4? forget about it. i was probably around 145lbs in january; the heaviest i've ever been (excluding pregnancy) and i was not happy with myself. i've come to realize that since i turned 30, whatever weight i gain will make a home in my mid-section and my face which was evident in my pants size and every single picture i took.
in the first pictures, the red illustrates what i saw in the mirror every night; it literally looked like i swallowed a spare tire that just hung around my waist and wouldn't go away. this was the result of eating all sorts of shit and not taking care of myself; even with loose-fitting pants, the spare tire always made itself known, leading me to wear loose-fitting shirts to hide the fact that i was practically a stuffed sausage in my jeans. when my arms hung down, they brushed against my waist - something that's never happened before.
i took the second set of pictures to illustrate my lower belly pooch. it's still there but no where near as much. back then, even when i sucked in my gut, that pooch was still there and got squeezed whenever i tried to ram my body into my pants. i hated feeling like my jeans were going to cut off my circulation whenever i sat down so i swallowed my pride and sadly bought one or two sizes up.
over-hauling my diet did wonders for my sleep and skin. the moderate exercise (4-minute tabatas + walking/lightly jogging on the treadmill) boosted my energy and made me feel like i was doing something and while i did see some weight loss, i didn't see real results until i started the 30 day shred. what i needed was a boost in my cardio and i find that my body responds really well to muscle toning; something that helped me stay in shape when i was younger. i still don't know how much i weigh or how much i've lost but i'm going down in pants sizes so i'm doing something right. i started this journey to get healthy again and because that was really my main goal, i don't meticulously measure and calculate how much weight or inches i've lost; this is mainly why i stay off the scale because if i find that i've only lost a small amount of weight, i'll probably get discouraged and want to stop. instead, i'm pleasantly suprised whenever i discover that my clothes fit better or are loose which motivates me to keep going.
after 4 months of eating well and about 15 days of doing the 30 day shred (even with some breaks in between), i'm ecstatic to say that the spare tire is practically gone. my arms no longer brush up against my waist and i can comfortably wear my size 4 jeans again without gasping for air. all of my clothes are looser and i feel great. i have no idea if i hit my original goal of losing 15lbs since i never watched the scale during my OAL but i've recently set one goal - seeing my abs again. by summer, i hope to accomplish this.
next up: the insanity dvd. who's with me?
(ps - i googled this and watched the trailer ... imma scurred!!)
