How I Dropped Six Pounds

BY BUSTING MY ASS! I started two weeks ago with a personal trainer at the big YMCA in town. They have free childcare while I do my workouts, so it's a perfect fit.

Some lessons learned:
1) Cook your meals at home.
I have really loved this because it aligns with my other goals of cooking for pleasure and saving money. My new routine is to shop on Saturday or Sunday (sans husband, sans baby!) and buy everything we need for the week, emphasizing on veggies. I buy a 6 lb. chicken and roast that on Sunday or Monday night for dinner with veggies. I cut up the rest of the chicken and split it 3 ways: one for Bryan's lunches, one for my lunches and one for the next night's dinner.

2) Hurt now for later.
On the first day, my trainer asked me about the food I ate and my workouts before that day. Were they delicious? Was it fun to just relax and skip the gym? Oh yeah. Well, life is about balance. I've got to weigh out all the decisions I made to get me where I am right now. Now's the time: eat right and aim to hit the gym everyday.

3) Just do it.
It's silly that I bundle myself up and my toddler up just to go workout for 30-45 minutes. But if I didn't, I never would go to the gym. I need to take care of myself, my body, my family. I am taking charge of my weight and my fitness and my diet.

That being said, I've lost 6 pounds, an inch in my neck and three inches in my hips. My pants fit again! They're tight, but they actually button now. I have a jawline in pictures again (still a little bit of a double chin), and Bryan is really impressed with how I look now. 6 pounds! That's it! I think it's a lot, but it's also not that much.

We have two big trips coming up in March, and I want to look fantastic. Also, this is MY time. I'm home, I have the time and the ability, and I have youth on my side. I need this. I need to be myself again, and I haven't been feeling like myself where I'm at. I was unhealthy, unmotivated and had no self-control. Now, after only two weeks, I had one Dr. Pepper and haven't really missed it. The food isn't that hard and the workouts are really tough but when they're done, I feel so powerful, so strong. And nothing feels better than stepping on the scale and seeing another pound gone!

6 lbs out of 29 lbs. I can do this!