BEFORE & AFTERS

Georgia July 2005 vs. May 2006

So, as mentioned once before, one of my goals for this year was to loose some weight. Well, I'm happy to report that I have been fairly successful at it! In July of 2005 I was pushing 185 lbs, easily. I was not watching what I ate...which meant eating out for lunch nearly every day, and for dinner about twice a week. Not to mention that I only made it to the gym about once a week...if that. While Leonard was going to school, he was too tired/busy to workout, so I used that as my excuse as well. It was somewhat logical as I don't have a car and so we both use his... At that point, it was unbelievably inconvenient to do things without him. In September of 2005, my dear friend, Annette, asked me to audition for a play in which she had the lead. I did, and got the part... We did publicity shots in November...at that point I was about 181. After seeing the shots I knew I absolutely had to do something to avoid looking even bigger on stage come February. (Not to mention a period of reflection on photos from our annual trip to GA in July of 2005... I was also motivated by the possibility of not to having "fat Georgia pictures" this time.) At that time, I started working out more...doing Taebo and other home fitness DVD's, as we still were barely going to the gym. Shortly there after was the cast Christmas Party...I took a picture with Annette then and I could tell I was starting to loose, but still not quite where I wanted to be.

Cast Christmas Party 12/2005 vs. @ Dave & Buster's 5/2006

By February I was "good enough" to be on stage at 171 lbs. I had lost about 10 lbs...and was content, but not even close to thinking I was done.... So I continued doing Taebo and other stuff at home and we were back into the gym because Leonard graduated in January...at which time I started doing about 10-15 min. of cardio 3 times a week. Another, very important, change we made was we started bringing our lunch to work, instead of buying out...also had more grocery food at home. By April 2006 we got on a Lean Cuisine kick and eat those for lunch every day...rarely eat one over 300 calories. In May I started eating something in the morning as "breakfast" every day, eating snacks, and taking vitamins and supplements in addition to increasing my cardio workouts to 20-25 minutes from about 12-15 minutes. Now I am 158 lbs. :D We leave for Georgia on Friday and I will NOT have any "fat" pictures!

My next goal... To get into a bikini before the summer is over.

Leonard and I were discussing the key to weight loss on the way back from the gym yesterday. And we decided we could write a book. It would be 2 pages. One page would read, "Don't eat like a pig." The second, "Move." THE END. It's that simple. Watching how many calories you put in versus how many you expend... If you are active and exercise regularly, you can eat fairly moderately. If you lead a sedentary lifestyle...you shouldn't be eating too much. Period.

Georgia July 2005 vs. May 2006