Here's the Skinny

Myself (left) and my favorite little sister.

Motherhood, so far, has been everything I dreamed it could be and more. Sure, it has come with its fair share of challenges and rough moments, but it has positively impacted just about every facet of my life. Except my waistline. I originally had zero intentions of blogging about my struggle with weight loss, but, as you can clearly see, I have changed my mind. The photo above is from May 2011, when I was at my smallest. I had just completed a couch-to-5k running class, and was about to run my first official 5k. Since then, it has been a slippery slope back to my starting weight. Which is where I sit now, unable to get rid of the last 20 of the 30 pounds I gained while carrying baby Frank. 

Up front, here are my ultimate goals:

1. Get back into my jeans. I have been wearing sweatpants and yoga pants for the past four months. It's hard to feel good about yourself in sweats (and I'm not about to go buy bigger jeans).
2. Not want to barf when I see myself in photos. (So that's a little dramatic. There are certainly qualities about myself that I dig, but I'm a "big, puffy version" of myself right now.)
3. Leave my lowest weight number in the dust. First, I'd like to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight. (My weight has gone up and down so many times, I might be suffering from whiplash.) I'd also like to finally make it back into one-derland (where I haven't been since middle school).
4. Get back to running the way I was before. I worked up to two miles with no breaks. 

Nobody faint, but here come the numbers. When I initially began seriously trying to lose weight, I was at 272lbs. By the time we visited the beach, I'd knocked about 50 pounds off of that number, and weighed in at 220. Right before I got pregnant, I'd gained back up to 254. It's time to get serious again. I've struggled with the number on the scale ever since I can remember, and I'm over it. 

I've been lightly working out over the past few weeks. But, we're going to say today, March 4, 2013, is my official start date. I've also been positively reinforcing myself with heart stickers. Everyday, when I finish my workout, I put a fancy little heart sticker on my calendar (a little extra incentive can't hurt, right?).

Like I said before, I never thought I'd be sharing this with you all, but I figured I could really hold myself accountable by blogging my progress (besides, it's not like the weight is not there if I don't tell anybody). I am ready to never see 272 again.

Our starting point.