Goal... successful!

Before:
This past year I have really struggled with my weight. In high school I played softball and was just always really active doing this and that. Weight was never an issue for me. If anyone has ever struggled with their weight I'm sure you've had similar feelings and thoughts I have had this past year. Getting "dolled" up never felt the same as before because I never felt like I was living up to who I knew I was and could be. It was just so hard for me to except the fact that I had let myself gain all this weight. I was in denial about it for the longest time, I would think to myself "oh..I haven't gained 'that' much weight..but soon enough I did realize the reality of and I was sick of crying DAILY to Garett telling him that I hate the way I look and feel and I'm sick of it being a chore whenever I needed to put pants on or wearing a sweater to cover up my stomach. The feeling of just being uncomfortable. And not to mention the mental/emotional part of it... it got to the point where that was all I was thinking about, my weight and comparing myself to others that were skinny and just looked comfortable in their clothes and with themselves. After a year of feeling this way I decided that something HAD to be done and fast if I ever wanted to be healthy and fit again.I knew HAD to be committed or I would be unsuccessful. I'm not going to sit here and tell you that losing 20 POUNDS has been easy or I've enjoyed it because that would be a lie. with the support and friends and family though it has helped a lot! Thanks Ky and Kels for doing that BBQ, It was so sweet and something that I really needed at time. I loved the poster and the flowers!
I'm still working on my weight but I'm a lot closer and feel so much better than i did 4 weeks ago! I'm thankful to Have Gar to keep encouraging me!
Before I had fully decided and was committed to lose weight I had read this thought that really was something that helped me during this process. It's called "Discouraged"


Discouraged

Whenever someone confronts you and cuttingly asks, "What's your
problem?" don't get discouraged. Instead you should look at this
abrupt inquiry as a very positive, stimulating experience and use it
to your best advantage. For in this single question lies a series of
solutions to life's ups and downs. Let me show you what I mean.

First solution: You need to recognize that you create your own
challenges just as I create my own challenges. Therefore, accept
yourself for who you are, realize that you're unique and special, and
get excited about what you can eventually become. Be yourself. You can
only offer what you have. You will make a lousy somebody else.

Second solution: There are no problems, only challenges. Problems
sound negative and get us down. Challenges sound solvable and
exciting to conquer. Playing basketball is a challenge. So are the
five guys on the other team trying to stop you. In football it's no
fun to just run across an empty field. Anybody can do that. The
excitement comes when you overcome the challenge of eleven other guys
on the opposite team trying to tackle you.

Third solution: As you work toward your goals, remember that there
is opposition in all things. Therefore, you win some and you lose
some. Even if you seem to be failing or losing more than most,
realize that the universal law of averages guarantees that if you
continue to seek success, eventually you will win your share of the
time. Think about it - if you are not failing a few times, it means
you are not pushing yourself hard enough. And you're not a failure if
you don't win, you're a failure if you don't try. You're not a failure
if you get knocked down, you're only a failure if you stay down.

Thomas Edison started as a newsboy on trains and "failed" his way to
success by becoming the greatest inventor in history. He conducted
more failed experiments than anyone else, but it's his successes, not
his failures, that made history.

Henry Ford built an auto empire by starting out making $2.50 a week.
Sir Isaac Newton discovered many important things, including the law
of gravity. But he was a poor farm boy whose father died before he
was born and whose mother had to raise him on an income equivalent to
about $400 a year. He had plenty of excuses but used none of them.
Some of our greatest and most famous athletes started out as
physically challenged and became world champions. So let us not lean
on excuses but rather balance on effort!

Fourth solution. Don't be locked in, tied down, or so habit-bound
that you can't see any possibilities for betterment. Don't think
there is only one way of doing something. Remember, the longer you
stay stubborn, refuse to accept change, and stop seeking new ways to
grow, the longer you'll stay average and fail in life. The person who
has stopped growing has just plain stopped.

At an exhibit in a county fair was a pumpkin grown in the exact
shape of a gallon jug. The farmer explained, "When this pumpkin was
no bigger than my finger, I put it into the jug and let it grow. When
it filled the jug, it stopped growing." Our closed minds do to us what
the walls of the jug did to the pumpkin.

sorry about the cheesy after picture!