Fat Girl to Thin

What started as a daily journal to document my weight loss and my workouts became so much more for me, and others as well.  I started my blog in 2007 when I moved back to my hometown and entered a weight loss contest at a local gym.  I didn’t tell anyone but my sisters about the blog (now they are regulars on there) and I kept all my weight loss to myself.  For about a year it was a pretty private thing.  I tested the waters and started announcing my post on Facebook and to my surprise my friends started reading and I started losing more weight!  I live in a small town so they would all know if I failed so I really didn’t have any other option but to be on my best behavior all the time cause I was going to be skinny.

In 2009 something changed.  I don’t know what happened, but there was a change in my brain.  I wanted to be an athlete.  I started to focus more on what I could accomplish physically instead of being concerned about being “skinny.”  Skinny is fine but healthy is so much better.   So that’s what I did.  I changed my focus.  I began to eat lots of organic foods (when available) and workout like I was a superstar.  I was willing to try anything and I really started to push myself physically.

This is about the time that I really started running!  Running made me feel like I was truly accomplishing something.  I could see times getting better and my body began to change in new ways.  I signed up for a my first half marathon, which soon became a second and third and forth half marathon and the commitment to run a full marathon.  What was I thinking!  But in my training I learned more about what my body could do.  At over 200 pounds I was able to run 26.2 miles.  I wanted to show people that even at a heavier weight you could still be in good shape and healthy.  I can do so many things a size 2 cannot do!

I made friends online and locally that helped me train.  Now not only was I accountable to my online crew but I also had girls that I met almost every morning to run with or every night to do an Insanity  or Jillian Michaels workout.  We were doing it together which made it more fun.   Some of my family has worked out with me over the years, one nieces runs races with me regularly.  My family is the best support system you could ask for, they don’t understand why I do some of the crazy experiments that I do but they are supportive every single time!  Nothing about my weight or my blog was private anymore!

I am not too controversial (I don’t think.)  I am NOT a supporter of Bariatric Surgery which led to a huge experiment.   I will try anything once, if you make a claim (10lbs in 2 weeks) you better be ready to back it up because I will give anything a try.

I try to share all my experiences good or bad and brutally honest!  Weight up or down.  I have had my fair share of setbacks with a death in my family and knee surgery but at the end of the day the day still goes on, and while maybe I didn’t handle those challenges as well as I could have I learned something from them that I would have never know without the hard times.

Now the focus remains health.  My weight is still and will always be a work in progress but my drive will never change.  I want to do more and be better.  I want to be a good example to those who think they cannot do “it” because they are heavy or in bad shape.  It’s one day at a time and every day!  You can follow along in my adventure at www.fatgirltothin.blogspot.com.