Do you remember when I did this series before?  It's been FOREVER.  My 30 days of blogging is the perfect time to share with you a few of my favorite things!  Let's start with MyFitnessPal.com!

I mentioned in my post a few days ago that I was using MFP as a way to track all my food and exercise.  I was turned onto this site by my pal Becky.  And thank goodness!  I love it!  It is such an easy way to track what you are doing.  The data base for food is so extensive it is very rare that I search for anything that I don't find.

My favorite feature about MFP is on your home page, right at the top it shows you exactly what your calories are.  What you have used and what is left.  I also really like the fact that it just adds my exercise calories right in so I can really see how many I should be eating for each day.  And the community is AMAZING.  When I first started I spent so much time on the community boards getting encouragement and questions answered.  I don't spent quite as much time there now but I still love to go and look at others success stories.

They also have features for printing out reports , figuring out your BMI and BMR and even allows you to create badges (take a gander right down there on the right!)  There are apps for Andriod, Iphone and Blackberry which for me makes keeping track of everything all the easier.

By far this has been a huge factor in helping me get on track and figure out what I need to do!  And it is ALL FREE.  I know.  I can't believe it either.  I would recommend this website and app to anyone who is trying to lose, gain or maintain their weight.  Since I have started using it I have turned at least 4 other people on to using it too!

I've talked about weight a few times on this blog.  It's something I have struggled with my entire life.  I have always had to work at keeping it in a healthy range.  I made a choice at the end of last year that I needed to make 2011 the year of Bree.  The time to work not only my physical self, but my emotional and mental self too.  And I've done it.  I've really focused on what I need to do for myself since January.

The biggest part of this has been the physical part.  I started in January with a Biggest Loser challenge.  It was 12 weeks long.  The first week I lost 6 pounds.  Which as exciting as that was just really showed me how truly crappy I was eating and how I wasn't moving at all!  It was a great way to start this off.  It really helped me get focused.  I began tracking all my food and exercise on MyFitnessPal (aka BEST website ever).  I also started with Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred.  When I started it I thought I might die.  It was so hard.  But by the end of that 30 days I was flying through the workouts, doing double workout days and ENJOYING it.  I lost 20 pounds in 12 weeks which brought me right through the month of March.

I lost an additional 6 pounds in April.  I was working out (30 Day Slimdown which uses Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred, Banish Fat Boost Metabolism and No More Trouble Zones-Yes, I'm a bit in love with her.) and still watching what I was eating.  I had all my MFP friends cheering me on and two of my best girlfriends working at it with me.  The support from my friends and family has been absolutely amazing.  I couldn't have even got started without them.  Especially Becky and Shari.  They kept me accountable and kept me going.

I don't know what has actually made it stick this time other than I was just really, really tired of me.  I was tired of being tired.  Tired of being uncomfortable in my own skin.  I hated the way I looked, hated the clothes I wore (and there were very, very few) and I never, ever looked in the mirror if I could avoid it.  I just felt like a big blog of yuck and I knew that I had to make a change.  I also knew that I wanted to keep up with the Boy and that kid has more energy than a barrel of monkeys.  I couldn't keep up with him in the state that I was.  I had to make a change.  So I did.

This hasn't been an easy journey but honestly it hasn't been as hard as I thought.  And I don't know if that is because I just haven't given myself any other options then to just do it or what.  Or maybe I was really ready for it.  But everyday I wake up and plan my day from the workout on.  And everything I eat is accounted for. And I feel good.  I feel GREAT.

I went to a family wedding 2 weeks ago.  Most of the family hadn't seen me since the beginning of March.  That weekend I felt like a rockstar.  Everyone had something sweet and encouraging to say.  I think nearly every single person said when they saw me, "You look amazing!"  I was flying high.  And I FELT amazing.  It was the first time since January that I took some pictures and just stepped back from them and really saw what I had done.

I still have a ways to go.  My journey isn't over.  But this is a lifestyle for me now.  I can't imagine being any other way.  Food is fuel and while I enjoy it I don't ever want to use it as a crutch again.  And moving my body and stretching it is a must.  I want to stay strong and youthful as long as I can and this is the way to do it!


I have some really embarrassing photos I'm taking along the way that I'm not quite ready to share with you but here is just a sneak peak of what 28 lighter looks like from the waist up (Forgive the crappy phone photos!)  Hello SINGLE chin!

Did any of you watch Kendra on Sunday night?  Yes, I know that is a weird question and she is annoying but she just had a baby as well and I find myself obssessed with any one else that just had a baby.  Anyway, I watched it.  And I cried the whole way through.  EVERYTHING she said, I felt.  Hello, insecurity, my old friend.

If you have had a kid you know what I'm talking about.  My body will never be the same.  Parts of my body changed that I didn't even SEE change while I was pregnant.  I realize I'm only 5 weeks post partum but insecurity sets in quick.  I look at myself now and I don't recognize who I am in so many ways.  My body is completely different.  And not that it was ever "slammin" to begin with but it was mine and I knew it.  My clothes don't even fit the same because things have shifted.  Nothing is where it used to be.  At least when you are pregnant you can get away with all that.  Now I'm stuck somewhere in between maternity clothes too big and regular clothes too small.  And you know what it's not even that they are too small!  They just don't FIT the same.  GRRRRRRR.

But let's keep going.  I'm a married woman who is attracted to her husband, but I've changed so much insecurity rears it's ugly head and makes me wonder, "Does he find the new me attractive?"  Can he look past the jiggly and the stretch marks?  Can you find me under the pjs and sweaty hair?  Am I still a good wife if I can't seem to find the time to clean the house like I used, make dinner like I used to and pay attention to him like I used to?  I'm a firm believer in keeping your marriage strong after kids.  I don't want Jackson to be the only center of our marriage.  Our relationship is so important and I know that unless we continue to care for it, it will suffer.  Now if I could only find the energy.

This is a hard transition for me.  My Type A personality is really taking a beating.  Learning to let go and realize that sometimes you just have to be satisfied with the best you can do is not an easy task.  But I  will keep plugging along, figuring this all out.  Doing my best to beat my old enemy down.

I have never met a woman that doesn't have issues with her weight. Ever. I have never met anyone that doesn't want to be thinner or more in shape or have smaller thighs or maybe a tinier bum (that's for you GM). It is a common thread in all our lives as women no matter our age, race or even our actually weight. My pal Michelle has sparked a conversation on this subject over at her blog Candy Jamamas. (Part I, Part II and Part III. There is more coming.) And by doing so she has hit chord with a lot of us. Girly Muse wrote about it, and I think there are quite a few other women that will be joining in on this conversation.