Another step in the journey...

Phew - where to start??

I have struggled and struggled with my weight my whole life.  And like so many people I've lost weight and then regained it all (and more) back quite a few times.  About 10 years ago I lost half my body weight, took up running and eating healthily and really and truly thought I'd conquered it.

Ha!

I got injured training for my second marathon and had to stop the running.  Running had really helped keep my binge eating under control.  When I ran I felt good.  I wanted to fuel my body with the right stuff.  When I was forced to stop -- I focused less on the good food and slowly started to put on weight.  Each pound felt like a declaration of failure and so began a spiral until I found myself back where I had started.

The overwhelming sense of having let EVERYONE down was hard to take.  And I found myself hiding away as I hated the flicker of disappointment that I'd see when someone saw that regained the weight.

With each pound as my body became bigger my life became smaller.  I stopped going out and of course that just made things worse.  It got to a stage where walking to the corner shop felt like a journey.

My sister came to visit last March and it was a real wake up call.  I spent the week trying to hide (unsuccessfully!) just how unfit I was - but I struggled to make simple trips.  In museums I'd sit in the cafe and let her explore on her own because "I'd seen it before".  What rubbish.  I just couldn't keep up.

The day she flew out I decided that I had to get fit.  I wanted my life back.

So I started moving a little more each day.  I focused on healthy food and eating.  And slowly, the weight started shifting.  

Now, 10 months later I'm down 105 pounds - and feeling fit!  I can walk for miles.  I've added a cross trainer, pilates, yoga and a mini-rebounder into my training.  I bought CIZE (so fun!) and next week I'm going to try (gently) to start running again!!

I've still got about 40 pounds to lose - but already my life has transformed.

Of course I KNOW that the real challenge will be when I get to maintenance.  I HAVE to find ways to keep the weight off and the activity happening.  My plan is to make sure I've got LOTS of activity options this time so if the running isn't possible I've got other things I can do.

I heard about DietBet through Shaun T and it seemed like a good way to add a little extra oomph as I start the final push to goal.  I love Shaun T's positivity - so this seemed like the right challenge to start with.