In May of this year – I decided it was time that I really kick it into high gear and work at being healthier.  I’ll be honest, it hasn’t been the easiest decision but it always makes it so much more of an accomplishment when you can see how far you have come.  Let’s be honest, I’m not going on a crash diet… my goals include really just trying to eat more (since I often times do not eat during the day) and incorporate exercise or at least walking into my routine.  I have been a bit behind on my walking over the last couple of weeks, but while I do enjoy my naughty foods, everything is in moderation.  I do not eat bad actually – don’t get me wrong, I’m not vegan… I love my meat and fish, but I consume in moderation.

I went through some old photos on Facebook that I had from before I was pregnant with the twins and came across these (below).  They say that a picture is worth a thousand words and while this is only photos of my face, that is the place I slim down first.  The photos to the left were taken in 2008 (before I had the twins).  While I had been fairly slim most of my life, after the birth of my eldest child (he’ll be 10 in January), I put on most of my weight after giving birth.  So I look at the photos and compare to those I took the other day (right) and you can certainly see a difference in my face.  My cheeks and hollows of my cheeks have definition and you can see my chin and neck separately.

In 2008 when I was working in Corporate America, I was approximately 268 lbs – 270lbs.  I was not happy though I tried to be positive but working 12-16 hour days didn’t allow me to really pay attention to what I looked like let alone how I felt about myself.  The photo taken just 2 days ago in 2013 – I weighed in at 245.5 lbs.

Hmmm… so some will argue that everyone loses weight in their face first so I decided I would try and find a photo of me full body taken previously in the last couple of years.  The photo above on the left was taken in 2011 when we went to Washington, DC.  I weighed about 258 – 260 lbs.  I wasn’t very happy with myself, but after giving birth to my twins, I really didn’t have much time to give it a second thought.  From postpartum depression to just being super busy – I never really took into consideration that I wasn’t really taking care of myself.  The photo on the right was taken last week, I weighed in at 245.5 lbs and you can significantly tell the difference.  While the scarf is covering up my belly and I do still have a belly – it is not hanging over my pants as bad as it was in 2011.  In general – I am feeling much more confident in myself.

Now – it’s always a work in progress.  I’m a busy mom, run my blog and YouTube channel and the house.  Like I mention in my weight loss journey updates on YouTube, my biggest challenge is finding time to eat.  This morning I had cereal and coconut milk, which is great – because I don’t normally find the time to eat anything but dinner.  Exercise is definitely something I need to add to my list of things to do consistently.  I enjoy walking with my boys and need to keep up with that as well.  But, I’m still proud of myself and the accomplishments I have made thus far.  My ideal is to get below 200 lbs.  It’s been years in the making but it’s my goal and I can do it.  It’s a journey – not a diet.  Stay tuned because I’ll continue to update my progress as much as I can.  Thanks for reading. 😉