100 Pounds Lost

It's been a long journey, something which I should have been journaling for a while, but thanks to some urging from friends (you know who you are...lol, btw, thank you), I am now attempting to chronicle (blogging) the next phase of my journey. It is, after all, the 21st Century. Sooooo, here we go!

It's finally happened! I've lost 100 pounds! Sure, it took me six years to do it, but it's done! Even if today's the only day the scale hits this number, 178, it's a great day!

My journey to weightloss started in 2005, when i finally recognized how big (fat) I was. My journey to transformation is a novel that will never be finished, but let's start in 2001, after my car accident. That's when I was forced to leave my job and my life in Myrtle Beach, move back in with the folks here in Nebraska (thanks for taking care of me), and starting 2 1/2 years of physical therapy for a broken left collarbone and a broken right ankle.
Mom's cooking and being unable to get around kinda packs on the pounds. When I left Myrtle Beach, I was in the 230's. Four years later, I was up to 278, and up to a size 28 jean.

It's disheartening when you can wear the same size clothing as your dad, but when I saw my 2005 college graduation picture, I knew something had to change. I finished school, went back to work, and SLOWLY started getting my act in gear.

Sure it's been a long haul. You see Biggest Loser contestants losing 100lbs in 6 weeks on the ranch and think "ugh, this is taking 6 years," but after 6 years of working, no more pop(soda), finding a workout I LOVE,(ZUMBA, BABY!), running, and having the BEST SUPPORT SYSTEM IN THE UNIVERSE, I'm now down to a size 16 jean, have more energy, can do my job better, and am about to run a half marathon...13.1 miles for those of you who weren't sure.

I'd be remiss if I didn't talk about the FITNESS JOURNEY! This part started in January of 2010 after a series of events...A), hitting the big 4-0, B), loss of a childhood friend, C), getting over a guy, stuff like that. Particularly, though, I was having MAJOR cramps in my hamstrings, and could barely function. At this point I'm down to 238. My doc suggested physical therapy again, but I really wasn't for that. I had some Jillian Michaels dvd's that were collecting 3 years of dust, and finally put one in my dvd player. Jillian doesn't mess around, but her ability to MAKE YOU WANT TO DO BETTER is what's really key. Shortly after, I saw a Zumba demonstration at the mall. I had to cover the event for work(tv news photographer), but all I wanted to do was join in instead (sorry co-workers). A month later, in February, I started going to Zumba classes, and was HOOKED!  You don't know how much fun it is to do unless you do it. And hey, guess what, it helps you lose weight, too! I also started running, because my first pt told me not to, that I couldn't (shouldn't). I started walking in fall of 2010, but gradually I made it to running(ok, plodding, jogging...PENGUIN STYLE). Evidently, slow runners are called Penguins...lol

So it took me 6 years to lose 100 lbs, but the best part that I'm MOST PSYCHED about, is the fact that I've lost 50 of that since January, 2010. It is June 2, 2011, and have hit both milestones...all at once! 100 lbs in six years, AND, 50 of that in 1 1/2 years! I'm not done though, not by a longshot.

This is funny, I didn't think I had anything to write about!

Connie (ZUMBARUNNER)