Time to Celebrate: Before/After Weight Loss

You're not going to believe this...maybe you will...when I get pregnant I pretty much blow up like a balloon.  I have no idea why & it's not really fair or fun...and trust me, no one on this planet is more acutely aware of how much weight I'm gaining than I am...when I had Tyson, at delivery I was 50 pounds heavier than before I was pregnant, and my goal with Emmett was to gain less than 50 pounds.  Well...that didn't happen...after the most difficult pregnancy I've ever experienced, I was a whopping 67 pounds heavier than before I got pregnant...that's a lot of weight for just 9 months.  A full 20 pounds of that was pure swelling that fell off within a week of having Emmett, but I was still left with a devestaing 47 pounds to lose.  I knew that since I lost my baby weight with Tyson, that I could do it again.  But let me tell you, it hasn't been easy.

 This is my before picture--Christmas Trees 2009...I didn't zoom in more, because I personally LOVE Stetson's face in this picture. LOL, and I didn't want you to get TOO close of a view of muah.



A year and 3 months later...  WOOT! 

Good-bye Baby weight!!!!

After blood (yes, blood--it happened hiking once),

MUCH sweat,

and yes...there have been tears along this path...

...here is my weight loss award acceptance speech:

I would like personally thank my husband, Mitchell, for being so supportive and watching the children at any hour of the day or night that I wanted/needed to exercize (and thanks to my mom for also helping with the kids & inspiring me to celebrate this milestone now instead of waiting a few more months until I lose x more pounds, because this has been a big accomplishment for me).  After many prayers for help, I believe that Heavenly Father answered my prayers in the form of the following motivating people with similar health goals:  my running partners including my DAD, and brothers Taylor and Heber, my "coach" & friend Ashley, and my friend Rachel, my Slim in 6 group: Kari, Pam, Carol, Ashley, Anjuli, my weight loss e-mail diatribe that included people already listed and Cherryl, too, all my friends from any of the Beach Body series--P90X & Insanity--I love you (wish I owned the DVD's, but thanks to Kari for sharing and motivating!).  I should also give a shout out to The Biggest Loser Workout Video, the fitness channel, the Spark People website, my sister's health blog, the gazelle machine given to me by my friend Meghan, Sue's treadmill, the most recent 10K race I participated in, and the heart rate monitor on loan from Ash.  And I mustn't forget to mention the website Operation Beautiful that helped me with my self-esteem along the way, Jodi's surplus of make-up that helps me feel pretty, and I need to thank the YW program for helping me to remember what true beauty really is. 
Seriously, you guys ARE THE BEST! 

*No thanks to the gym that fraudulently sold my membership to another company and cost me a lot of time and money fixing it...especially because it's the SAME gym whose child care center (in ONLY 1 VISIT, mind you) gave my children pink eye and the worst case of croupe that I've ever seen resulting in the depletion of our Emergency Fund at an ER visit to stop my baby's chest from convulsing and having spasms every breath he tried to take.   Also, no thanks for the 8 Weeks to a Better You program, in which I miserably lost my $20 and motivation, resulting in a few steps backwards (it was a nice idea, but it just didn't work for me).