Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Finding The New Me Inside

Looking through pictures of myself on Facebook is an interesting experience. I start off looking pretty fine (if I do say so myself) as a high school graduate, but slowly a change starts to creep up on me.
Here I am as a hot little 17 year old.
I gained the Freshman 15.
Except in my case it turned into the College 50.
Swayzie and I lived in the same building together for a year once before we started dating, and we don't have a single memory of each other during that time. I suspect it was because I was overweight and unhappy and lacking in confidence. It wasn't until after I had pneuomonia and moved home for 9 months that I finally made a change. I was almost at the 200 lb mark, and I didn't want to be jumping over that line.

I had participated in lots of fad diets with my Mom in high school, Atkins, etc, and after taking nutrition 101 in college I realized that I didn't want to be harming myself anymore. I decided I wanted to make a lifestyle change. I would be more active, and revolutionize my eating habits.

I started using a calorie tracking program called Fitday, attempting to measure every single calorie that went into my body. My parents live out in the middle of nowhere and so it wasn't hard to avoid eating out. Since the photo above was taken I have lost almost 40 lbs (using Fitday on and off). It has taken over 2 years to do it, but I enjoy doing it the right way. I feel happier, healthier, and have so much more confidence.

Now that my wedding is approaching, I want to hit this weight loss even harder. I would like to get down to the weight I was at when I graduated from high school, which is currently 25 lbs away. I not only want to look thinner, I want to feel stronger.

There are other brides out there doing this same thing, and I would like to join there little network of brides blogging about their fitness and nutrition regime. Now that finals are over and school is out I have time to focus on counting calories once again, and I can't wait to share some of the tips and tricks I have learned along the way. I will be posting about what I do to stay active, the nutrient dense foods I have discovered, etc.

If you have any requests feel free to comment. Or if you yourself have found something that works well for you, please contact me and maybe we can set up a guest post. I would love to feature others who have found succesful ways to get healthy!

10 comments:

Muncher Cruncher said...

Jenna, way to go! I LOVE this post. I'm also in LOVE with Fit Day as you know. Keep up the good work!

Veronica said...

Go Jenna! I'll be cheering you on!

"Apes" said...

Keep it up girl! =D

I'm actually getting married in the Los Angeles/Orange County area.

I found our limo service through The Knot.

Cate Subrosa said...

Sounds great. I have never heard of Fit Day. I'm looking forward to reading about this :)

Naturally Blessed said...

you go gurl!!!

i lost 30 lbs last year and really want to continue the losing trend....but i've gone backwards and regained a little.

if i could have it my way, i'd walk down the aisle the same weight i was when me and my FI met....but i'm currently 30+ lbs away from that....and with 6 months to go, its possible, but its been sooo difficult for me lately.

I'd especially love to hear from the stress eaters out there. how do you deal with the stress of wedding planning and not eat to keep from going crazy???

i just dont seem to know how to do this.

jennifer said...

Good job and keep it up! I blog about my attempts at weight loss...its not easy, but you've made a huge commitment...40lbs! Great job!

Jenna said...

Megan-Thanks for being my favorite inspiration!

bride in the making-Thanks! I'll need lots of encouragement.

Guilty Secret-Fitday is free online if you would like to try it out.

Lady T-You've inspired me to post on "stress eating" and how I deal with it. I'll be posting it soon!

Jennifer-Good luck with your continuing efforts!

Naturally Blessed said...

i could definitely use the support. Thanks!!!

can't wait to read the stress eating post.

(typed after demolishing a really large hershey's almond bar)

Unknown said...

Congratulations, Jenna! There's no doubt that you'll be able to make it.

I"ve never heard of Fit Day. I've been using sparkpeople, fitsugar, and various magazines like Glamour and Shape.

It's gradually working.

Jenna said...

botticelli-Isn't gradually the key word? Being patient is so hard!