Operation Get Skinny: 40//30

 This post is a long time coming. For those of you that have been around here for awhile, you may have noticed teeny me getting not-so-teeny. 112 pound, size 0 me started to disappear when Nate was deployed from April 2009-May 2010. Due to several factors that all deserve a post of their own, including depression, medications, lack of exercise and "eating to cope", and simply being in survival mode, I lost Skinny Minnie and ended up over 200 pounds. 

 August 2009

(Four months into deployment, before I started gaining.)

I was aware, pretty much from the start, that I had a problem. But, when I gained the first ten pounds I told myself that I was just doing what I had to do to make it through deployment. And so it continued with each ten pound gain after that. 

May 2012

At my heaviest

 I felt horrible and looked awful, but for a long time I had zero motivation to do anything about it. I was stuck. And then came a series of "When are you due?"s which not only made me feel worse about myself and how I had clearly "let myself go," but it made me realize that I couldn't hide my extra weight anymore. It was obvious, especially to people who had known Skinny Minnie, but even to new acquaintances, that I was significantly overweight.

June 2012

That's when the pity party got out of control. A lot of tears and hugs from Hubs convinced me that I didn't have to be stuck at this weight forever. My main motivation to start Operation Get Skinny, as I have come to refer to it, was our talk of wanting to start a family (no, we're not pregnant...and no, we're not trying) led me to join Weight Watchers in July. Whenever we do decide to start a family, I want to go into a pregnancy being as healthy as I can be. I want to be able to work out during pregnancy, but the recommendation is not to do anything more strenuous than you were doing prior to getting pregnant. And, up until July, that was absolutely nothing. I wanted to be a healthy, safe place to grow a little human, and being 200+ pounds and grossly out of shape was not going to cut it. Something had to change.

July 2012

So, in July, I signed up for Weight Watchers and also began working out five days a week. I do a combination of pilates and the elliptical and try my best to stick to WW points. I have been SO happy with the results and plan on using the basic idea behind their program even after I have reached my goal weight.

Three months into Weight Watchers and 20 pounds down!

{While I'm not trying to get back down to 112, I am trying to get down to a healthy weight for my 5' 8" self, which is between 130-140.}

And, on New Year's Eve 2012,
40 pounds lighter...

30 more to go!