~30 Pounds~

So I've been meaning to blog about this for months, but life has just been busy and I've been super LAZY-i'll have to admit. While working at KPMG over the past few (almost 4) years I put on quite a number of pounds, approximately 30 give or take. Truth is, I was so busy with work, work, work, occasional sleep and more work that I completely became unhealthy! KPMG would treat us to lunch and dinner most days, with snacks in between. I've been to almost every restaurant you can imagine, tried almost everything on multiple menus, and became a soda lover (which I have NEVER been)! Overtime I gradually stopped exercising and ended up looking like this...

Yikes! I hate looking at pictures of me while I worked at the firm... because they are horrid! all my clothes were snug, it became uncomfortable to sit, cross my legs, bend over, etc. For example, I eventually stopped shopping for clothes, because everytime I went I ended up in a bigger size. I went shopping for my birthday with my mom and grabbed some Lucky jeans I thought would fit. I took them back to the dressing room, and had to have my mom get me a bigger size twice! When she brought me the next size up and I realized it was a 12 I wanted to cry! I told her I didn't want to buy any jeans and we left the store.

Jared (this is prior to even dating) had started trying to work out and eat healthier. He too had realized that he was gaining weight working so much and eating poorly, he tried to encourage me, as a best friend would, to do the same. I actually hired a personal (overpriced) trainer at Gold's gym to help me, but alas that didn't work. I wasn't able to get to the gym on a consistent basis for it to make a difference. So I gave up.

When Jared and I began dating, I still didn't care about losing weight. However, when it came to thinking about getting married, I began to freak out. I didn't want to be a blimp in a white dress- it's every girls dream to look amazing on her wedding day. So I tried to think of everyway possible to lose those pounds before an engagement and wedding would come. I totally watched the "Insanity" informercials and succumbed to purchasing it. I would go to work at 8-8:30 and return home around 10:30. I then tried to do "Insanity" for the next hour. That only lasted about a week, because the getting no sleep and trying to push my body too hard too fast and I got really sick with tonsilitous and bronchitous. I thought I was doomed. Jared's family had gone to a nutritionist and taken a few courses on healthy eating and metabolism. He told me that they had learned more food, in smaller quantities throughout the day would boost a metabolism. By boosting your metabolism you could lose weight. I didn't believe it, I had always thought that exercise was the only key to weight loss. I eventually came around to the idea and began eating 5-6 meals a day. Smaller meals of course, but none-the-less multiple times a day. At first it was super annoying to have to eat every 3 hours and I felt like I was just going to gain more weight. Overtime however, everytime I stepped on the scale I was a few pounds lighter. Because I noticed a difference in my weight, I continued.

Eventually packing multiple meals with me everywhere I went became burdensome, so I started eating lean cuisines and granolas, string cheese and crackers amongst other things for my meals/snacks. I actually ate enough lean cuisines that I started receiving multiple "rewards prizes" at my house (lunch pails, napkin rings, etc.). I once bought $70 dollars of lean cuisines at one trip to the store. (I should mention that this was not my only time spending this much on lean cuisines!) I kept them all (about 40 boxes) out in my parents freezer and had one for every lunch and dinner for months! After busy season slowed down, we became engaged which just made life even busier. I STILL had no time to exercise. So needless to say, I lost 30 pounds in about 5-6 months without running more than a few miles. It was all in my diet change- crazy huh? I never never never in a million years would have thought that it could happen, but I guess I got lucky?!

So long story short I lost 30 pounds, about 6-7 inches on my waist, and went from about a size 12 to a size 2, thanks to the encouragement and help of my now husband and best friend Jared. I have to give a shout out to him too, because he lost 65 pounds himself! It feels great to be healthy again!

I couldn't find a good "after" picture to compare to the "before"... but this is me learning the hula in Hawaii on our Honeymoon in my size 2 shorts- that I have NEVER in my life owned. :)