What is the reason behind it?

One of my most asked questions that I get whenever I run into someone I haven't seen in a while is, "Where did you find your motivation?"  "What made you want to lose weight?" or "Why". I guess its hard for people to understand why or my reasoning behind my weight loss, but its a question I get regularly. What is my answer? It's kinda long but I haven't really found the "short" answer to it.

Growing up I was always skinny, skin and bones for the most part. It wasn't until the end of my senior year that there was more meat on my bones, but even then I was still skinny. Toping the scale the summer after graduation at 124 lbs. It wasn't until after that first year after high school that I slowly started to gain weight. I probably hit about 145-150 before I got pregnant with Charleigh. After Rylee was born I took a back seat, here I had a newborn and a 16 mo. old. Last fall/winter I hit a rough patch, I think I went through a little bit of depression, and just quit caring about myself. I ate everything in front of me and hit a whopping 189 lbs. One day I was shopping for an outfit and I had a breakdown and cried in a dressing room, the size 16 pants were getting tight, and the XL shirts were barley fitting me. I couldn't believe how far I had let myself go. I sat crying in that dressing room for about 10 minutes. Left the clothes and vowed to NEVER go shopping again!

About a week later I stumbled across a blog post, Glamour Glory, This exact post. Here was a girl, about the same age as me, with a child the same age as Charleigh, She had lost 51 lbs. and looked amazing, and she was local! I started to follow her blog and by the end of the month I had realized that I too could do the same.  I decided that I was done with being sad about how I looked, tired of not looking the way I wanted and was done with the excuses. I found myself hiding from people I knew in stores, hiding from camera's, and not really leaving the house. I wanted to be my old skinny self again and have confidence in myself instead of hiding from myself. I was just sick of myself. I think that it was necessary for me to hit my low point to really want my transformation. Reyna kept me motivated with her blog and video's, my own weight loss throughout has kept me motivated and my followers, friends and family have kept me motivated. I am 1 pound from my goal that I started on 1/1/11, but I feel amazing, I love being in my own skin, I love the way I look and I have confidence again.

I am always getting messages and emails from people asking for my help and advice to get started, I tell them some great workouts, supplements, and diet advice, most understand that part but the one piece of advice that is most important always seems to be overlooked.....You have to be ready to NOT accept excuses from yourself. You have to want it more than anything, you have to MAKE yourself go out and workout or eat right. NO MORE EXCUSES!!!! You have to be hard on yourself and have willpower. If you can't do this then its not worth anyone's time or money to start. It's tough advice but it's the truth!

Now 8 months later I love to try clothes on, am obsessed with taking pictures of me, and can't wait to see someone I haven't seen in a while! Its amazing what a little willpower and motivation to be healthy can do!