I did it!

Last year on my 26th birthday, I made a goal.  I remember thinking "Another birthday has come and I look and feel about the same that I did last year.  Next year for my birthday, I want to give myself a new body."

Now, I'd had these same thoughts on about every birthday since I was 19.  But this time I was really determined to do something about it.  Maybe it was the fact that I was now closer to 30 than 20 and I'd started to feel like life was going to pass me by unless I took charge somehow (I know, my 70 year old self will laugh at that).  But one way or another I decided that this was going to be the year, by golly.  I was really going to do it.

Just to be clear, I do not believe that our worth is not determined by a number on a scale or that any of us should become obsessed with obtaining the "perfect" body.  I just wanted to lose the weight I had gained from birth control and practice some healthier habits of eating and exercising.  It was just a personal thing.

So I started tracking my food and making sure I wasn't eating any more than 1,500 calories a day (that's a number calculated specifically for my gender, age, height, etc.).  Did I do perfect?  No way.  But I kept on trying.  I also made exercise a regular part of my routine.  Usually I didn't exercise for more than a 1/2 hour or 40 min max, and it wasn't anything fancy.  But I kept on trying.  Persistence and patience was the key (starting to sound cliche, but it's true!).

Well, this past Monday was my 27th birthday. And I'm happy to say - I did it!!  Over the past year I lost around 20 pounds, and I got just a little more fit.  And it feels really good to be looking and feeling like my old self again. :)