Well 2009 is days away and this Monday was the final check in day for the Looking Fine by 2009 challenge hosted by Jen @ Daily Mish Mash. When I started this challenge I was 223 pounds and really had no idea what I was doing, how I was going to lose weight, or how long it would take me – all I really knew was that I was tired of this – tired of looking like this and doing absolutely nothing about it. I knew I wanted something to change.

It was a long road, and I can’t say that I’ve lost a ton of weight and look incredible – this morning I weighed in at 216, up half a pound from last week actually – but at 7 pounds lighter, I can say that the journey has been worth it, because I do have a plan now – I do know what I’m doing more or less and I can see the future in sight. There will be stumbles, I’m sure, especially because at the tail end of November I found out I was pregnant (hurray!) and a couple weeks ago I was advised by my doctor to start taking in an extra 300 calories.

The name of my game for losing weight has become calorie counting and I was eating 1750 calories a day and for a few weeks I was losing weight easily and it was awesome and I was pumped. But I really did need the extra calories to keep me going so I can’t complain. Apart from this past week I still continued to lose weight – and really this past weekend I kind of briefly threw in the towel to enjoy the holidays and relax – so only gaining half a pound is pretty impressive I think. Now Christmas is over and I’m getting back on track and while I don’t think I’ll do better than losing half a pound a week, I can accept that because, dude, I’m having a baby.

Just before my first trimester symptoms really started to sink in I even found a work out that I really love – Leslie Sansone’s Walk Away The Pounds DVD proved to be incredible in my eyes – which is really saying something because I tried and hated a lot of dvds before finding this one. Now the fatigue has set in and the slightly brisk pace of Sansone’s system is really a bit much for me – but I know that when this fatigue lets up that I’ll be eagerly looking forward to getting back to walking at home when the weather is too frightful to walk outside – and thanks to my bestie Ange @ Red Knows How – I can do that ASAP because she bought me one of the DVDs for my birthday! Thanks bestie!

Come 2009 I may not be looking as fine as I’d hoped, but I will be feeling fine because I have a plan and I have the patience to wait for it while I wait for my baby also. I will be seven pounds lighter and my conscience will be lighter because I know I’m trying to make a change – and really that’s all that matters. 2009 isn’t the end of this journey for me – if anything, it is only the beginning and I’m looking forward to that journey with all my heart.

So I’d like to thank Jen @ Daily Mish Mash for inspiring me with this challenge. I’d like to thank my bestie Ange @ Red Knows How for turning me onto the Walk Away The Pounds exercise DVDs. I’d like to thank my husband for encouraging me on this diet and for talking me into trying this calorie counting thing – sometimes it’s a pain in the butt – but it’s undeniably worth it. Lastly, I’d like to thank you – all my readers who have been cheering me on from the beginning, even when I maybe didn’t deserve it yet – this community is an inspiring way of finding the motivation to be the persons we want to be and I’m not sure I could have done it without you. Thank you.