Transformation Thursday - #1

I've been neglecting this space and wondering in my mind what I should put here. I bake something and think “Ooh! Maybe I'll blog about that!”, but then I remember that I just saw a blog post about apple pie or chocolate cake, and who's gonna want to read that? I thought about putting my crafty stuff out there; and I may still do that, but for now I want to share with you a story about how my life has changed over the past year and my commitment to keeping it going.

 

A year ago I was sitting in a cubicle for 8 hours a day. Typing away, answering calls, scheduling stuff – trucking logistics, essentially was my job. My job was stressful, in part because I allowed it to stress me out, but also because everyone that called wanted something done right away and I felt the need to provide excellent customer service and make it happen for them. Happy customers, stressed out me. I spent most of those hours sitting in a chair, not moving much except to answer the phone, type something in, or get up to get another cup of coffee. All the while my dear husband was at home caring for our children. We made the decision early on that we wanted one of us to be home with our children while they are young – we didn't want to put them in daycare. It just happened to work out (God's plan!) that my husband would stay home with our little ones for the first 5 years. But we prayed, a lot, for a change so that I could stay home and my husband could find a job that would support our little family.

 

Then, it happened! Out of the blue, our prayers were answered! The timing, the logistics, everything about the situation can be chalked up to nothing but the will of God and His perfect timing. I gave notice, and two weeks my hubby started his new job and I was spending the summer with our babes. This is where the transformation begins!

 

In my new role, I was NOT sitting on my hiney all day. My kiddos were 4 and 2 at the time – you can imagine, there wasn't much sitting happening! We were taking walks and going to the library and the park and practicing soccer and we were on the move! This was a huge change for me. Not just the movement, but the career. Before this time I felt part of my identity was wrapped up in my job. And now I didn't have that. Oddly enough, I didn't feel whole. So in an effort to find some peace and maybe get a little exercise in I decided to start biking. I remember the first night I got on my bike. I thought I'd give it 30 minutes and come back home. 10 minutes from home and I couldn't believe how far away I seemed and how great I felt! So I kept going. That night I ended up biking for an hour and it felt great! So good, that I did it again the next night, and the night after that. I casually told my husband, “I'm pretty sure I'm biking like 3 or 4 miles a night.” He then said, “No, it's gotta be more than that.” Gee – I was pretty happy with 3 or 4, but I thought just for giggles I'd look up my route and see. I was shocked – 10 MILES! Me. Sedentary, overweight, non-active me was biking 10 miles a night! Talk about a confidence boost!

 

Well, from then on I was hooked. I kept going. And all the sudden I knew what those runners were talking about when they'd say “if I don't get a run in I don't feel right”. If I missed a night on my bike, I felt off kilter and couldn't wait to get back on it. Biking was my escape – not that I had anything to run away from. But it just ended up being a quiet time for me to think, or not think. To listen to music that I enjoyed instead of cartoons. To have a chat with God. To enjoy nature. And as it turns out, biking became my means of losing weight.

 

A heavier me on a zoo outing with my little guy

 

As I said, I was sedentary and overweight – in fact, according to my BMI, I was obese. Yikes. 26 years old, and I'm obese. I didn't start biking with the intention of dropping pounds. I had sort of set that aside for a while. But as I started tracking my rides I realized that I was burning major calories! I burned twice as many calories biking as I would walking the same distance. And the best part was, I enjoyed it! In addition to biking, I started keeping track of my nutrition on MyFitnessPal. I logged my meals – everything I put in my mouth went in to my log. And I started to see results. Slowly, but steadily, the weight began to come off. And as I started to see the change and feel more confident in my ability to keep going, I began to set goals for myself. By the end of the summer, I had lost 25 pounds!

 

A smaller me - ready for a ride and feeling great!

 

Then fall and winter came along, and sort of stole my thunder. I didn't gain at all through the end of the year – I was so proud! I maintained my loss, but I also didn't exercise, like, at all. And I probably indulged in a few too many sweets and baked goods. And so, at the beginning of this year, some of the weight started to sneak back on. And again, I found myself feeling lousy and hoping the weather would warm up so I could escape with my bike and start losing again.

 

And so here I am. Thankful for warmer temps and a fantastic new bike. I want to share some numbers with you, for the sake of accountability. It's hard talking about this, because I know I weigh more than I should. But my hope is that by sharing this with you, I'll be inspired to keep going. And who knows, maybe I can inspire someone else to take a ride. All right, here goes...

 

At the beginning of my weight loss journey, at the end of June 2013, I weighed 192 pounds. By the end of December 2013, I had lost 25 pounds bringing my end weight to 167 pounds. Dang, I was proud of myself! I have not seen that number since before kids, and I was fitting in to jean sizes I hadn't seen in years! Then, I hibernated (HA!) and gained 10 pounds. *gasp!* I vowed I would NOT see the 180's again, and so I started trying to eat better and when the weather allowed it, I went outside – walking or riding my bike, when I could. I'm now back down to 174 pounds. Still not my lowest yet, but not my highest either. My ultimate goal is to reach 140 to 135 pounds, but really, I just want to be healthy and feel good in my clothes.

My purdy new ride

 

So there you have it, my digits. The real talk. From the beginning of my journey, I had 52 to 57 pounds to lose, and I've already killed 18 pounds of it! Yes! Now, I need to get back on track. I mentioned above that I got a new bike – she's fab. It's a Kona Jake cyclocross bike. I feel like I joined a club when I got this thing – the first ride out I got the fellow biker wave of acknowledgment and beamed all the way home. I know, I'm a nerd. I've been riding almost every day and trying to incorporate walking and other exercise in as well. I think the warmer weather is finally here to stay in Michigan, so there's no better time for me to start! I'm hoping I can wipe out the rest of these pounds by the end of the year. I don't want to set my bar too high, but I want to challenge myself too.

 

Here's my commitment: I'm going to stay active. I'm going to track my nutrition and exercise (follow me on MyFitnessPal – username Clivingston722). And I'm going to come back here every Thursday and share with you how I did this week. I'll weigh in every Thursday morning and share my digits with you, and hopefully share my victory with you too! I believe I can do this. I KNOW I can. And I'm committing to seeing this through to the end!