I was never a fat kid growing up. However…

I always kind of felt like a sickly child growing up. I caught strep throat at least twice a year. I had a hole in the ear drum which led to many ear infections. I had surgery to repair it when I was twelve. I had major allergies to just about everything – anything that had fur or feathers, all kinds of trees and plants and even dust. (If man is made of dust am I allergic to myself? – Just a thought). My allergy medication made me feel like a zombie most of the time.

Feeling sick a lot was probably why, as a kid, I hated physical activity. I was probably the most uncoordinated person on the face of this earth. (I tripped UP the stairs at my wedding) I was always the last kid to arrive back to the school when they made us run cross country in middle school. I hated running. It made me wheeze. I didn’t get diagnosed with asthma until I was 20 years of age.

I did like being active and doing things though – I could’ve been on the basketball team in high school, but it interfered with church activities, so I wasn’t allowed. I didn’t know how to swim. I couldn’t even play dodgeball very well, without getting a ball kicked right into my stomach and knocking the wind out of me. I remember hearing someone say once, when I was participating in some kind of physical activity at an Awanas group, “Well, she may suck at sports but her book work is sure good.” Yeah me. That kind of knocked the confidence out of me.

I got married right after I turned 18 and moved to Alaska with my Army husband. One of the first things he did for me was buy me a bicycle. Did I say it was Alaska? In January? Yeah – enough said. The bicycle collected dust. I was 125 pounds when I got married. 6 months later I was 160 pounds.

my wedding day

And that was the end of the beginning for me. Before you knew it I was pregnant and up to 200 pounds. In my mid-thirties, I caught pneumacoccal meningitis, (which is another story for another time). By the time I started my fitness and weight loss journey in 2011 – I was pushing 300 pounds. Is it because I ate bad? Partly. I loved fast food and processed food. Or was I lazy? No one with three kids under the age of 5 should ever be considered lazy. No! But my body metabolism had changed over the years and certain foods and lack of exercise made for one very unhealthy and overweight me. Which is why three and a half years ago, I made the choice to change. Really change. Not just diet and maybe shed 40 to 50 pounds but to begin an exercise program and make some new healthy habits.

Luckily the gym I chose didn’t let me slide through the cracks but they supported me all the way.

Thursday I was asked to do a photo shoot for a lady who is writing a book – A Portrait A Day. I cannot show the pictures she took yet, since I don’t know which one she is using for the book. But here is a selfie of me getting ready – 115 pounds down.

Getting ready for a photo shoot. I feel pretty. Oh so pretty.

10 minutes of feeling pretty for a photo shoot and an hour later I took another selfie.

On the StairMaster during a fitness training session. My least favorite cardio machine.

Feeling determined. I don’t ever want to be unhealthy anymore – ever.