In the beginning....

Sometimes I feel like I might be fighting a losing battle... I don't have "lucky genes" like my husband and his skinny family! I will admit, I am a bit jealous of his sisters and their skinny little legs! My legs are anything but skinny! When I get on the topic of my legs I usually find myself grabbing a big handful of thigh saying, "Yep,,, I'm a beefcake!!" And who wants to be a "beefcake??"
My metabolism was only helpful in high school and it's been all down hill after my first year of college. I was a happy size 1 or 3 and a minimal 112-116 pounds all through high school, but I gave the "Freshman 15" a new name.... "Freshman 35!" Yeah, apparently the bagels with CheezWiz and wine coolers messed up my unrealistic dream of being a size 3 forever. Actually I didn't even know that I had gotten so big, or I didn't care until I went to try on wedding dresses in the Fall of 1998. They ordered me a size 16 but said I was probably a size 14~ oh my gosh! (I need to borrow a scanner and show you those scary pictures!)
So, I went to Weight Watchers and lost 39.5 pounds in a little less than 6 months! I hit my goal weight of 120 the week before our wedding! I did awesome! Just after our July 1999 wedding I got down to 112 pounds but maintained around 118! THEN,,, two little boys came along and changed my body FOREVER!!! But again weight watchers came to the rescue after both of them! I kept off the weight and staying around 125 for several years.
Now jump ahead to the summer of 2009, I was pretty happy with my 127 pound body before I got pregnant with my daughter (in July 2009). I actually took measurements and pictures and prayed I could "at least" get back to that after having her! I gained over 60 pounds with her pregnancy and it wasn't easy getting it off. It took OVER a year!!! I started working out, walking and a little cardio when she was only 2 weeks old. Which at this point I weighed 160 pounds but mentally felt about 200 pounds, (Either way, that's a lot of weight on a 5ft. 2in. frame!) When Tenley was 8 weeks old, my friend Tina, drug my 150 pound butt to an intense workout class, called Barefoot Fitness. It was sooo hard at first and in front of the other people and the mirrors I often left in tears, feeling like a fatso and frustrated with being so heavy! However, I do believe it did something for my confidence, when I could see my substantial progress. For example, I started out doing assisted pull-ups with this HUGE gray band. I really felt embarrassed but it wasn't long and I was able to switch to the orange band that Tina used! Now, I look back on that and think "WHO CARES!, why did I care??!" HEY people,,, I was there busting my butt, trying,,, more than most people would do! I also learned a LOT from the trainer and even though I don't go to that class anymore (conflict of interest with the physco, bi-polar trainer) I still use a lot of their workouts, exercises and warm-ups to this day! So, thanks BFF!!! :)

I continued to workout all winter long in my garage and at the Rec Center! Now, let me just say that the extra weight came off very slowly, like only a 5 pound loss every two months. I tried to watch what I ate but I wasn't on any "plan" until the end of May (I weighed 133) when my friend Tina got me motivated to a whole new level! Also, I knew I was going to have to push myself with my workouts and eating if I was ever going to get back to my pre-Tenley weight and most importantly, back in my pre-Tenley cloths!! I wanted to get in my old cloths pretty bad! I mean, I love shopping as much as the next girl, but I wasn't going to go buy the next size up just to have an excuse to by clothes! No, I just made due and I kept telling myself, "Stace, can reward yourself with new cloths when you are back in "your Size!"
to be continued....