I just had to share and hope it might be of some inspiration to others.  My husband and I both set goals in April to lose 10 pounds for his sister's wedding in July.  Well, we both met that goal and I continued with a final goal of 28 pounds (I know it is a strange amount).  Well, I hit that goal last week!!!  It is my early Christmas present to myself.  

I have been asked what I did.  If I was on a "program".  My answer is "You now I am frugal, I am not paying to lose weight :)"  Here is what I did:

*Eat 1200 calories a day
*Exercise at least 30 minutes 4-5 times a week

When I was younger I could just eat less and lose weight.  But with age comes a slower metabolism and thus the need to exercise.  Have I mentioned, I HATED EXERCISING?  Yep, disliked it more than almost anything.  I started out just walking about a mile and a half.  I also have an eliptical machine in my bedroom that I  use for 30 minutes at a time. Our family then signed up for our first 5K and I realized I needed to start running.  The first time out I ran for 2 minutes and thought "I can never do this".  My body was not tired but I hard trouble breathing and my throat was really dry.  I Googled about  this and some people suggested chewing gum while running.  I tried it and it works great!  We finished the 5K in November and I almost ran the entire thing.  We have our next race on December 27th, and my goal is to run the entire thing without stopping.  It is also the first timed race for us.  

I know lots of people drop weight really fast, but I often see then gain it back because it was a quick fix diet and not a life style change.  I hope that what I have done will keep the weight off and help me to live a healthier life. 

When I started, I picked a weight that sounded good, but now that I am here I can see there is a little more work needed.  So, I have added another 5 pounds to my goal, but I wanted to share with you that I made the original goal in hopes that it will help you too.  Especially with the holidays here.  

If you have lost weight I would love to hear about it!  Feel free to e-mail me or leave a comment here by clicking on the title of this post.  Before and after pics would be great too.  I will share mine once my final 5 pounds is gone.