The ABCs of Me!

Found this on Gen's blog and thought it was cute.

(A) Age: 22
(B) Bed Size: King - yeah baby!
(C) Chore You Hate: Dusting (or doing the dishes!)
(D) Dogs? Nope
(E) Essential Start Your Day Item: Breakfast
(F) Favorite Color: Blue
(G) Gold or Silver? Silver
(H) Height: 5ft 5in
(I) Instruments You Play: Flute
(J) Job Title: Student, Teaching Assistant, Laboratory Intern
(K) Kids: None yet
(L) Live: Maine
(M) Mom's Name: Cherie
(N) Nicknames: I've never had one.
(O) Overnight Hospital Stays? Thankfully, none.
(P) Pet Peeve: Having my time wasted.
(Q) Quote from a Movie: "Happiness is only real when shared with others." ~Into The Wild
(R) Right or Left Handed? Right
(S) Siblings: 1 awesome younger brother
(T) Time You Wake Up? 8:00 (I'm a little spoiled right now)
(U) Underwear: Ummm...clean.
(V) Vegetable You Dislike:  mashed potatoes
(W) What Makes You Run Late:  Thinking I have more time than I do.
(X) X-Rays You've Had Done: Too many (spine, hand, ankle....Mom, help me out here!)
(Y) Yummy Food You Make: Everything I make, obviously!
(Z) Zoo, Favorite Animal: Penguins, Elephants

Body Image

I've been mulling over this post for awhile now.  I think it's an interesting topic, but I also don't want it to come out the wrong way.  So hopefully I get across the point I'm trying to make in a positive way.

As I have mentioned several times, I have rejoined Weight Watchers (I keep telling you so I can be accountable).  When I rejoined, I saw my highest weight ever.  Not the most amazing feeling, but I needed to accept it so I could move on.  I knew I was making doing the right thing by deciding to focus on being healthy.  This moment got me thinking about how my body image has changed over the years.

If you asked me if I think I struggled with my weight growing up, I would say yes.  I think my freshman year of high school was the point that I can recall feeling heavy and that I needed to do something about it.  I recognized that unlike many of my friends, I couldn't go to a birthday party and eat tons of chips and cake.  I knew that they weren't a healthy choice - which is something I am very grateful to learn about through the healthy choices my parents made.  However, my parent's struggle with weight was no secret so they made sure to teach my brother and I to make better choice than they did when they were young.  Here I am as a freshman in high school at about 150 pounds:

Retrospectively, I look pretty darn good!  But hindsight's 20/20 right?  Over the next few years, I started gaining weight.  I attribute some of this to the fact that my body was still changing and I wasn't quite done growing yet.  I continued to swim throughout high school, but swimming alone isn't the best way to keep weight off.  By the time I started college, I weighed around 175 pounds:

I knew college was dangerous for someone like me.  I tried hard to be conscious of what I was eating and I joined a sports club to try to stay in shape.  By the time I was a sophomore, I was up to about 190 pounds:

This is that point at which I decided I needed to buckle down and do something.  I joined Weight Watchers and set some goals.  My recent engagement and a goal to finish a triathlon motivated me to lose nearly 20 pounds, putting be back at the weight I started college at:

Even though I back to the same weight that I started college, I think I was in better shape than ever before.  My running was strong and I was happy with where I was.  I wish I had done a better job at maintaining that weight.  But my return to school in the fall was stressful.  Between my work load and planning a wedding, I lost focus of my health goals.  I was still doing ok until the wedding.  The wedding undeniably derailed me.  Sitting on the beach in Mexico at an all inclusive resort that week after the wedding didn't help things either.  I don't think I ever really recovered from that because the next thing you knew, my senior year was starting.  And it was the most stressful semester of my college career.  And now here I am:

I can't believe I'm even sharing this photo with you, but it's where I'm at right now.  When I recommitted, I weighed in at 207 pounds.  This is my effort at full disclosure.  I know I have a lot of work to do, but I know I'm on the right path.

I don't want my story to sound like excuses, because they aren't.  I let my health fall by the wayside, when it should have been my top priority.  But even though I'm heavier than before, I feel like I've come a long way in terms of my body image.  I think I felt a lot better about myself when I weighed 175 pounds for the second time.  Maybe it was because I worked so hard to get there or maybe it's just a case of your weight looks better going down than going up.

Sometimes I wish I hadn't been so hard on myself when I was so young.  I almost wonder how things would have been different if I hadn't put so much pressure on myself when I was young.  I was lucky in the sense that even though I didn't always feel great about my body, I was always confident and outgoing.  I never let my weight stop me from doing the things I wanted to do.  And I don't think that has changed.

It's hard to learn to love the skin you're in when you're not where you want to be.  But it's important to try because we are all worth it.  And this is especially worth it if you're on the right track and trying hard to make the right choices.

Lurkers Come Out of Lurkdom!

Hello to all my new friends and followers!  Welcome!  I'm so glad that you've all joined me.  Really, I do appreciate all of you who read and comment (or just read) regularly.  Knowing that other people, other than my mother, are reading is a really great feeling.  Blogging has been such a great outlet for me and has definitely helped to keep me on a healthy path.  I thought it might be good to share my story for those of you who are new (or for those that need a refresher).  And I have a small challenge for you at the end.

I began blogging almost two years ago (blog-iversary next week, celebration with giveaways to come!).  Soon after I started blogging I got engaged and began training for my first triathlon.  The start of triathlon training for me signified the beginning of my running regularly.  I was a swimmer in high school and desperately needed some consistent activity in my life after trying to help start a rowing team in college.  In August of 2009 I completed my first triathlon and I was hooked.  Through training I also lost about 20 pounds.

Returning to school that fall also began the return of the weight, although I continued to run.  In fact, I realized that running is something I really enjoy.  This was the first time I ever ran throughout the winter months.  In the summer of 2010, I completed triathlon #2 and #3.  I also got married (pictures HERE, HERE, & HERE)!  Unfortunately, I let my wedding and my honeymoon derail me from healthy living.  And honestly, I didn't get my act together until very recently.  I am now back at Weight Watchers and proud to say that I am exercising regularly.  I set some lofty goals for 2011, but I know I'll get there.  Especially with all the support I get from the blog world.

I am looking forward to graduating in May with a degree in chemistry and I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a full time position.  My husband, Patrick, and I are currently living in Maine while I finish school and are originally from New Hampshire.  Not only do I love running and training for triathlons, I also love to read, crochet, and scrapbook.

So for you newbies, welcome!  To those that have been around for awhile, thank you for returning.  I leave you with a small challenge/favor.  Would you all leave a comment and let me know you're here?  Tell me about yourself or ask me a question you'd like me to answer on the blog.  I know you're out there!