Day Two

I had a great day yesterday!  I didn't have a coffee, and instead upped my water intake, as well I did an awesome workout, and got plenty of sleep last night. 

I'm feeling good today!  Even more so, because this morning my scale read 206.2!!  1.8 Pounds down so far!  Just by making a couple little changes :)  I'm only 7 pounds away from my first goal of breaking 200!!  I can do it!! 


I have a secret weapon.  A couple actually. 

The first is my Partner in Pretty, Melissa - who is on this journey with me!  We have been keeping each other in check, and making sure we do our workouts.  Last night when I got home from work, I was suffering from a stomach ache from being bloated as a result of the extra water, so I laid down for a bit and ended up falling asleep for a couple hours.  When I work up at 8:30pm, I had a text message saying "Wow.  Fit Test = Hard.  Did you do it yet?  I'm going to do round 2 now"  Just seeing that, and knowing that I wasn't alone in this, and that I had someone else busting their ass right along side me did wonders for my own motivation, and I strapped on my shoes and set my timer for my own workout. 

Speaking of Shoes...  I just bought a new pair last night.  I am now the proud owner of a pair of Komodo Sport Vibrams!!! 

I know - they look weird.  But I kind of love them!!  My biggest problem when I run is that my toes swell up and overlap each other, which means I get a blister every single time I run!  It's annoying, especially if you want to go out every day, but can't because you are waiting for a blister to heal!  I found out about Vibrams in the summer when I was running, and I have been wanting a pair ever since!  Luckily, I have amazing family, and Ben's parents bought me a GC for my birthday to go buy myself a pair!  I knew these shoes would be awesome for running in, but it didn't occur to me that they would probably be awesome to work out in too! 

Conventional running shoes are equipped with supports and shock absorbers to protect your foot, but unfortunately, as a result of this, feet are typically pretty weak.  I was made very aware of this in a Yoga class where I was trying to hold up my body weight on a single leg, and I was wiggling and wobbling all over the place.  My foot and ankle started to burn just because it was too weak to perform the task at hand!  I wanted a firm footing, but my feet had spent too many years allowing the shoe to do all the work for them, and they didn't develop any of their own muscles.  But Vibrams are designed to allow your foot to move the way nature intended, which in turn, strengthens the muscles, and improves balance and coordination! 

It's true.  I did the first fit test barefoot, and found my feet were hurting by the end, but yesterday when I did the fit test again, this time wearing my Vibrams, I felt like I had a more secure footing, and jumping and landing was way easier. 

I think this is the start to a beautiful love affair with my shoes, and I'm hoping that come running season, my usual blisters and shin splints are a thing of the past! 

But anyway, shoe tanget aside, I didn't tell you about my other secret weapon yet!! 

The other weapon is Ben. 

Ben is my amazing husband, who is my #1 fan, and biggest cheer leader.  If I tell him "I'm not going to eat gluten this week" he just nods and says "okay", if I tell him that I want to try Hot Yoga, he's right there on the mat next to me.  If I tell him that I'm giving up meat, he supports me (even though he jokingly refers to vegetarians as hippies).  Ben backs me 110% in whatever I choose to do, and he would never question my decision unless he saw it as being harmful to me.  I'll be the first to admit, I have tried my hand at a LOT of diet and exercises trends, and I'm sure I've driven Ben crazy with my quest to be thin, but having grown up struggling with his own weight problems, he gets it.  And he's there for me, no matter what. 

Which is really all that I could ask for.  Ben is the best friend that I rant to about my weight loss struggles, and he's also at times an accomplice in diet sabotage too - but of course, not without my own permission given.  He's by my side through this whole journey, and I'm so thankful that I have him in my life. 

I once dated a man that didn't eat vegetables.  In fact he didn't really eat anything that didn't come out of a box in the freezer and have some sort of breading on it.  I gained weight with that man - naturally.  But it was impossible to lose the weight with him in my life.  He would turn his nose up at anything slightly healthy, and constantly brought home pepperoni pizza several nights a week.  He was well versed in healthy eating sabotage, and I found my frustrations grow along with my waist line.  I know all too well the difficulties of trying to make a life change when your partner isn't there along side you, which is why it means so much to me to have Ben be my rock during this journey. 

Ben and I eat very cleanly - no desserts in our house, rarely is there any pop, no junk food or pre-packaged meals.  Nothing in our fridge has ingredients that we can't spell, and we make all our meals from scratch using real ingredients.  So then, why am I fat you may be asking as you are reading this?  I have a problem with portion control.  A healthy stir fry is awesome for you, unless you eat 4 cups worth.  I'm working on it - and Ben is helping me, and I'm so very thankful for him in every way. 


So there you have it - Ben and Melissa,... and my Vibrams.  BY YOUR POWERS COMBINED... I WILL BE THIN!!


And here's a little Motivation: