Milestones along the journey

May 4, 2010..."Started working out with Kenya. I am excited and scared at the same time.  Excited about the possibility of finally finding a way to get off these 100 plus pounds, but scared that some emotional trauma may come in and derail it; for you see I am an emotional eater. Food is my comforter and it makes me feel better...TODAY HAS TO BE THE FIRST DAY OF A NEW LIFE FOR ME!"

Hello all it is me again..those words you see above were written by me in my journal over a year ago. Along this journey I can admit that I have had some emotional traumas, which explains why I am still 25 pounds shy of my 100 pound mark; however, unlike past times, the food did not make me totally loose control and go into that really dark place.  I have learned along this journey that there will be bad days along with the good days. But I now know how to overcome them and NOT turn to the one thing that had kept me imprisoned in a body God had not designed for me...food.

So now to the good days along this journey...MY MILESTONES. If you are on a true and committed journey, you will and should have milestones that you can celebrate.  This blog is to share my milestones with you.  Now I am sure you are thinking well she hasn't hit the 100 mark yet...well guess what you don't have to wait until the end to celebrate...you can celebrate along the way.

May 4, 2010..I began at 272 pounds
May 8, 2010..lost my first 10 pounds
May 15, 2010..lost my first 15 pounds
May 22, 2010..lost my first 20 pounds
June 18, 2010..lost my first 25 pounds
June 24, 2010..lost my first 30 pounds
Between June and July I was able to run 2 full miles nonstop
August 15, 2010...lost my first 40 pounds
September 5, 2010..lost my first 50 pounds
Between September and January..taught myself how to maintain and adjust, very important step for me.
April 21, 2011..lost my first 60 pounds
April 30, 2011..lost my first 70 pounds
May 3, 2011..Shopped at New York and Company (one of the best days) and not Lane Bryant
May 21, 2011..lost my first 75 pounds (under 200 pounds for the first time since 1992)

Well of course there were other milestones in between that I did not write down, but are etched in my mind..the first time I ran 3 and 4 full miles nonstop, doing more than 10 straight sit ups, swimming 10 laps of the pool..needless to say when it comes to the workout milestones..I am getting those each week because Kenya Crooks has pushed us to a whole new level.

I hope that with this blog, it will get you thinking about the journey you are on or the one you are about to begin, and encourage you to journal and celebrate your milestones..trust me it will help you along the way.

Be blessed and inspire someone to be better than they were yesterday!

Who Inspires You On Your Journey

First let me say thanks to the many of you who have been following and supporting me on my WEIGHT LOSS journey! As we all know a journey is something that is neither short nor quick. I have been on this journey since May 2010 and I have come a long way on this journey. I have to admit that there is one special person that has inspired me along this journey. One thing about having to lose weight and a lot  of  it is that you can get discouraged, tired, weary, frustrated and a whole lot of other feelings. But God places people in our lives that are there to specifically INSPIRE us to keep going. Sometimes people don't set out to inspire others, they just do by sheer nature. As nature would have it, God placed my inspiration (Dr. Nicole Keith) in my life over 10 years ago. Neither of us knew just how much God knew we would need each other, but I am so glad God knew.

Nicole had started her weight loss journey before me. Because both of our schedules were so hectice, we went a year without seeing each other, but we always communicated with each other. Well Nicole had mentioned that she had been working out and loosing weight. I can't remember at the time just how much she said she had lost, but I was like wow. Finally, in May 2010 I started my weight loss journey. During my journey, Nicole would encourage me and cheer me on for my successes.  I still had not seen Nicole since she had started her journey. Finally, we set a date to get together because both of us agreed, it had been too long since we did a girls day out. So we met to go see For Colored Girls...OMG is all I was thinking. She looked awesome. I was so proud of her and how far she had come. Nicole started out at 344 lbs and when I saw her she was already down to about a 16. Well from that moment on she has inspired me more than she will ever know and continues to inspire me as she is now at slender size 6/8. She has lost over 170 pounds.

As I still strive to reach my ultimate goal, Nicole continues to inspire me to continue my journey when I get  discouraged or set backs occur. Through both of our weight loss journeys and bloggings we have come to learn that we have shared so many of the same experiences in our life time that led to both of us covering up all the pain with food. God knew we would need each other and thus our paths crossed.

So I say to you Nicole Keith thanks for being not just my friend but my INSPIRATION.   I love you my dear friend.

So to those of you that will read this,  I pose the question: Who inspires you on your journey?   

You can also follow Nicole blogs at http://www.myveryactivecoach.blogspot.com/