An exciting 2015

A new year calls for new... or renewed... goals.  I personally have a few. 

1.) Get back down to my lowest weight. (Haven't weighed in lately to know how many lbs I have to lose to do that....after the holidays I'm sure it's around 10 lbs though!)

2.) Run a sub-2:05 half marathon (current PR is 2:10:21).

3.) Run a sub-26:00 5k (current PR is 26:11).

4.) Drink more water daily

2015 already looks good, and I'm really looking forward to it. My husband and I will both be finishing our Master's degrees mid-year . That alone will provide some instant stress relief!! I will continue working and making the best decisions I can regarding my career direction. My husband has been excelling at his company, and will surely continue to see great success in his new IT management position.  My kids continue to thrive and are getting so grown up...I'm so proud of them! On top of that, I can feel a great health and fitness breakthrough coming on. I'm going to MAKE it happen!! I'm feeling very blessed and thankful at the start of this 2015. There have been some recent struggles, including overwhelms schedules and some family health things, but overall we are quite lucky. 

One more thing happening in 2015 is that I will be used in Life time Fitness weight loss program marketing. Life time Fitness is an awesome company and I'm so excited to be a part of this! We had a photoshoot (super cool experience) this past fall and I'm just now able to share a photo, as the campaign officially launched January 1st. More photos will come but below is the first that is being used. This will be used on signs in Life time Cafe's nationwide, on their website soon, and my story will be in their "Experience Life" magazine in March. 

This is just one more reason for my renewed sense of determination. My story is going to be, hopefully, inspiring a lot of people throughout this Lifetime Weight Loss program push. 

So. I lost 90 lbs, and I do consider myself as having maintained despite having gained a handful back from my low weight. But I felt my best at that low weight, and I want to get there again. And I know I can get there again. If I'm going to be a face of inspiration on such a large level, I need to put my money where my mouth is and be the best I can be. For myself... and for others who will be looking at me, wondering if it can truly be done. 

Guess what? It CAN be done! I want everyone to know that! When I started at 227 lbs I never imagined getting down to 137 (my lowest weight AND I was at my peak fitness level. not that lower weight is synonymous with the highest fitness, because that's not always the case. It just happened to be the case for me at that point in time).  Like, I literally felt deep inside that I was kidding myself. I also never imagined  that I could run a mile, let alone 13. I never imagined that I might consider a full marathon someday....26.2 miles...and that it would actually be a realistic goal. I never thought of myself as having the potential to be a "fit" or "strong" person. 

Make no mistake... it's not easy to get from point A to point B. It's no picnic. It's actually harder than hell.

But that's what makes it worth it!