When the year began all I knew was that I wanted to lose the weight from having two children. I knew it wouldn’t be easy because I hadn’t completely succeeded with the weight loss after having Payton. I suffered from severe post partum depression, I was unhappy with my job and I closed myself off from everyone including myself. I got pregnant again and was immediately worried about how I would regain a comfortable weight after giving birth to another child. I was more conscience during my second pregnancy, I walked more and had overcome my PPD. I wasn’t working due to pre-term labor and I began finding myself. We welcomed our baby boy to the world last October and I enjoyed the holidays. When the calender turned to 2012 I knew it was my year, my year to find the person I lost in early 2009. I began doing things that I enjoyed doing, I had people in my life that made me happy and reintroduced old friends back into my life because I finally left that old me behind. I’ve done a lot of soul searching this year and I am right where I want to be.

Back in January I started my journey here with the 17-Day Diet. I stuck to the diet and watched the pounds slip away. I was walking 5-10 miles a week and reintroduced spin into my routine logging over 60-hours within the first five months of the year. In May, I was introduced to The Dailey Method. I cut back on the spin classes and concentrated time in the studio. I had finally found an exercise that worked for me and that honestly made me feel whole. Now, let me tell you that if I felt like eating a cheeseburger, I did. If I had a craving for a Snickers I ate it. I have limited myself to one, yes, one iced latte or Starbucks double shot a week. Some weeks I might not have one but I have given myself a limit. I now drink iced unsweetened black or green tea. I have cut out 99.5% of soda or anything with carbonation. We do eat out but when I cook it’s usually minimally processed and whole. The Dailey Method and it’s values has taught me a lot. The last two months is where I really found myself. For the month of October I managed to tow both kids with me to the studio for twenty classes, while this was short of my goal I am still damn proud of myself. I have completed four 5k’s, I began doing these with girlfriends and honestly I had to sit back and reconsider why I was doing them. I have had a lot of support throughout my journey and doing activities for fun was my motivation. If you’re on a weight loss journey make sure that you have honest support from those around you, weight loss is not a competition, it’s about balance and finding what works best for you. Not all of my days have been easy and I hope that you understand that I mean this. I get burned out just like anyone else but as long as you stick to your goals, focus on your life and find something that works for you; you will get to your goal in no time!

In January, I had set two weight loss goals. The first was to weigh 140 by Brayden’s birthday, I am happy to report that with the help of The Dailey Method I lost ten pounds in two months bringing me one pound under my goal! It has never felt so good to see that number on the scale.

My second goal, which does not have a date, is to weigh 130. I am giving myself a few months into 2013 to achieve this as I am having foot surgery and will be out of commission for six weeks. This comes just in time to sit back and enjoy the holidays with my family. The celebration of finding the old me.

I have to thank everyone for the nice e-mails, texts and high fives as I have reached my goal of losing thirty pounds a healthy way!