50 pounds in 60 days

Hello again!
If you read my last blog then you know that my goal was to loose 50 pounds in 60 days. The 60th day being my oh so epic 25th birthday, yikes I'm getting old, march 16 2012.
You might be wondering to yourself, WHY would you set such a high goal for yourself? The answer is simple really. I had to have a goal that would force me to push myself harder then I thought I could push myself. And boy did it work! I accomplished and did things I never thought I would do. I worked harder then I thought my body could work and I'm proud of myself. I can honestly say that I worked for every pound I lost!
Let's talk about how I lost the weight... Then I'll tell you the number.
So starting out I created a calendar with all the classes I wanted to take that my gym offered. Even if that meant doubling up on a day. The classes are an hour long and after I tried some of them out and decided I didn't like a few of them I was left with, Zumba, Hustle, and strength training. Then I surrounded myself as much as possible with people who depended on me going to the gym. This mostly consisted of late nights and 30 minutes of cardio! As you can see I mostly did cardio to loose the weight for my first 60 days.
I continued this style of working out and eating healthy during the week and allowed myself to go out and order what I wanted when I was out with my boyfriend on the weekends. My reason for this was not to reward myself but instead to be realistic. I was making a lifestyle change not going on a diet, so I thought realistically I will usually order what I want on the weekend when I go out so I might as well do it now also! Good decision I think!
Now let's get down to it. How much did I loose? I wish I could say I lost 50 pounds... But I didn't. I lost 35 pounds and like I said I worked for those 35 pounds and it was hard work. However, I read this quote with 2 weeks left in my 60 days that really made me think.
Up till the time I read this quote I had always said I would be happy no matter what I lost as long as I lost! With 2 weeks to go I had 20 pounds left to loose and I read this quote that said " when you know for sure you will not reach your goal don't change your goal change the steps you take to get there" and I knew that I needed to change up my work outs. I needed to add in some More weights and do things my body wasn't used too. I wanted to do it, I knew for me to be happy with the number I lost I had to do everything in my power to try to loose the 50 pounds, yet I still didn't do it. I got lazy and stuck to my normal workout. I didn't harness the will power to embrace the pain of a new workout.
Am I proud of those 35 pounds? You better believe I am, but I am not proud of those last 2 weeks. It reminded me of the old me. The me that lived in a comfort zone too scared to do something new. Too scared of what others may think or how bad I might be at something compared to others. The new me embraced the challenge of new things and found pride in accomplishing them even if she wasn't the best! The new me walked into rooms full of people and danced as a form of cardio. The new me insisted we go on walks and wasn't afraid of being out of breath, instead embraced it for the simple fact of working out! The new me went on a jog on a nice day! I love that me:) that me is more confident and more connected to Christ. Why do I feel closer to God in all of this? I'm not sure I can even give an answer. I believe part of the reason is because I'm starting to live as God created me to live. Confident and with out fear.
So I lost 35 pounds, more than a 1/2 pound a day. I went down 3 pant sizes. I'm proud of myself for what I accomplished and it may sound cheesy to you but thanks be to God because I KNOW I could not have done it with out him! I felt him with me every step of the way!
To hear more about what I'm doing now and my up coming goals and my ULTIMATE goal keep reading!
Thanks for the interest in my blog and I hope and pray I can inspire others who long to feel freedom from the fear of what others think!
Love always
Brittney