Hello World!

I am starting this record because I am two things: 1) inspired to get my life back on track. I want to be healthy, happy and fit. I want to live with the highest quality of life for as long as possible and I want to make sure that when I get to the older years of my life I am not a burden on the people around me; 2) motivated by some of the most amazing people I have ever met. Between the men and women I've met on MyFitnessPal, Runkeeper and all the websites I use since I adopted a vegan lifestyle I have found that I want to strive to be a better person.

I considered adding my background here, where I am came from and how I ended up here-- but I've told that story. So I'm just going to gloss over the highlights.

From age five through high school I was an amazing athlete. I played soccer, ice hockey, ran cross country, down hill skiing, weight lifting and everything in between. I was constantly active and I ate like a true athlete. Not only was I young but my BMR was elevated and I burned every calorie that went through me. At 5'3" I weighed 140 pounds and it was pure muscle.

Then I graduated high school and left for college. I quit working out. I started drinking. I had no money to grocery shop, no kitchen to cook in and a part time Italian restaurant job that gave me a discount on (deep fried) food. I ballooned up to a massive 245 pounds in about eighteen months. I was clinically obese, with a BMI of 43.5. I have photos, and I keep them to remind me where I was. I've lost every pound of that plus some.

But that was four years ago. I need to let go of that. Now I live a new life in a 130 pound body and I need to take care of it or I'll suffer the same fate I did before. Food is my addiction. I love to eat and I love to gorge. That's never going to change. So I need to find ways to negate my intake.

I need to start working out again.

So here I am. Writing to keep track of where I started and to keep a full record of how this path is going. Hopefully to find new friends in the same, or similar situations, that want to swap stories.

A week ago my boyfriend and I started a weight lifting program and have been pretty diligent about sticking to it. I plan to post each day I work out with a photo, description of the work out and quick "how I felt" blurb. My hope is too look back in a year (or even longer) and to see how far I've come.

I look forward to sharing this journey and cannot wait to see just how far I'll go!