Picture Post :)

Hi all,

Hope you are all having a great day and hopefully the weather is as nice where you are as it is here :) We've been experience lovely temperatures in the mid-high teens and am LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVING it :) Yesterday after work I decided to go for a 5km power walk with Brady. It was a lot of fun and felt so good to get out there and enjoy the weather. I took some pics along the way :)

Here's brady about 1/4 of the way through our walk. I can't believe he actually looked at the camera! lol

Me and my boogie <3

Leading the way

It was suuuuuuuuuuuuch a nice evening. This is about 7pm EST. The bridge is our 1/2 way point.

Snow has melted so fast and the river is sooo high!

officially 1/2 way!

Brady likes to look over the bridge. What a cutie

Another shot of the river.

Now to the other side lol

He's so happy.. but now its time to keep going!

about 3/4 of the way. Sweaty and tired but pushing my way through! This was after going up the big hill!

AND STILL LOVING IT!!

Me and Brady finishing up our power walk.

It was so fun! I'm hoping to be able to do this a lot this summer as I really enjoy the walk and its very rare that someone will drive by. I think maybe 4 cars drove by within the 45-50 minutes we were walking.

Anyways.. Things are going well on my end. I had my weigh in day and I'm finally down 1.5 lbs! It feels good and is nice to see the loss on the scale. I've been feeling progress in my clothes and feel a lot more toned in certain areas than I did a month ago. It's a food feeling :)!

Anyways I must go!

Have a lovely day.

Steph

Update: Before/After Pics

Hi all,

I posted on 11/11/11 my before after pics. Found here: http://thechallenge2change.blogspot.com/2011/11/my-beforeafter-pictures.html

I said I would post an update so here you go!

A few before pics (october-december 2010)

March 2012

I actually hate mirror shots but figured this was a decent way for a body shot. Please excuse the mess in my second picture. I did actually clean AFTER that.. plus I didn't think I would be posting this to my blog lol. I posted that second shirt as it used to be SKIN TIGHT. Look at it now! It hung off my body :). I gave it away!

Makes me feel GOOOOOOD!

Have a Happy Hump Day!

Toodles,

Steph

Day 3!

Today I am SOOOOOOOOOOO sore. OUCH! My thighs burn so much.. but at the same time it feels SOOOOOOO GOOD!!

The pain doesn't bug me as much as I went to see my massage therapist today.. perfect timing! haha and she made me feel soo good. The way she dug her thumbs into my upper thighs!! OH YA!! Anyways my muscles feel much, much looser.

For my workout tonight I decided to do something different. I did a 30 minute workout on my exercise ball.

I brought my gear up to my room which included a yoga mat, my exercise ball and an 8 lb dumbbell. I turned some dance music on my iPhone, found a link and started doing it.

This is the link I used: http://exercise.about.com/cs/abs/l/bl_core.htm

I did two sets of the back extensions, ball balance, butt lift, hip extension and ball rotation. Now that I see it I'm kind of surprised I did that in 30 minutes as it doesnt seem like much.. but it is reallly, REALLY hard to perfect the moves!! After almost falling off the ball multiple times I finally was able to do the moves and was even able to do them a second time :).

It felt good.. except for the feeling afterwards of wanting to be sick.

I'll definitely do this again and maybe next time I will work out a different area of my body :)!

Have a great day!

Happiness List

So I got this idea from a blog I follow.. to create a happiness list :)! As most of you know I am a very happy person so this list could be pretty long! Here goes...

The best thing that happened to me over the past year was finally getting together with Pete! Most of my friend know that I had liked him for a very, very long time so for me it was basically the best thing that could have ever happened! I've never been happier with anyone else in my ENTIRE life! Being with him feels so natural and right. He's like my best friend and my boyfriend all wrapped into one. He makes me soo happy!

My Parents :) - I've always had a good relationship with my parents (mainly in my adult years). I am especially close with my mom as we can talk about anything and everything :) It's great! She's one of my best friends.

Jenn- She is the one who makes me the happiest out of everything in this entire universe. She is the most incredible person I know and without her in my life I would be very unhappy. This September will be our 10 year friendiversary.. Yes .. we have a friendiversary. She understands me like no one else ever has and we can even have a full on conversation with just our eyes. We can sit on the couch for 3 hours straight and say 10 words and still have the greatest time ever. Without my best friend I would not be the person I am today. She is giving and she is smart and beautiful and is the most amazing person I've ever known. Thank you Jenn for being such an excellent friend and person :) The world is a better place because of you!

Ahhh, my Steelers. In General football makes me very happy. Every Sunday I sit on the couch like a lazy bum for hours and watch football. I love it. Watching my Steelers play is awesome.. I get so into it and scream at my TV with joy (and sometimes disappointment). Next year will be our year! We made it into the playoffs with 1/2 our team injured.. I am very impressed!

My beautiful dog Brady. whom I named after the best looking football player in the NFL. He makes me smile every day and when I'm sad and crying this guy snuggles up to me and it almost seems like he gets it. I love my boo!

Music in general makes me very happy. As you know I am part of a band and that is also a big part of my happiness. One thing I really love is Mashups. When you love two songs and they are mixed together it is rad!

Sunsets- They are just so gorgeous. This is my place in the winter :)

Yes I enjoy Jersday. To be honest I'm getting a bit sick of the show but every "Jersday" I get together with my bestie Jenn and we have dinner, watch our shows, do our nails, have girl chats and relax! My favourite day of the week!

When there is NOTHING else in the world that can make me smile.. THIS movie cheers me up.. It has worked so many times and I love it. I grew up watching this movie with my grandparents and now I know almost every word :)

"MAGGGGGGGNAAA!" I'll never forget the first time I had this drink lol. Saysha kept saying "MAGNA" in her awesome south african accent. Its hard for me to call it MagnERS now and when I get too drunk sometimes I call it Magna.. *SMH* This is a treat for me and it is so tasty!

Cofffffeeeeeee! No need to explain!!! I LOVE ME SOME COFFEEE!!

With that said.. There is my list for today! There are many things that make me happy but in reality.. I don't have all day to talk about them or enough room!

I must go.

Toodles!

Steph

Who's that girl?

Hey guys!

One of my coworkers Georgina (pictured below) had suggested I post pictures from this years holiday party compared to last years holiday party. I thought that would be a great idea! Though the pictures don't look that drastic it still makes me feel great.. and I've lost about 8 lbs since the party! Whoot!!! :)

Here they are!

Holiday Party 2010

Me & Georgina

Still don't know what I was thinking with that lipstick *SMH*

Feeling a bit hungry.. maybe I will snack on this microphone!!

Deciding on the next song

Holiday Party 2011

Me talking to the band

Me and one of my closest work friends, Gus

Me and my man.. he LOVES getting pictures taken :)

Talking to my Primates

Bog Ferret!!!

Me :)

I really like showing you these pictures because it encourages me to do better.. soon these "after" pictures will be included in the before pictures! Sometimes I look at pictures of what I used to look like and I don't even recognize myself. I think to myself "How could I ever let myself get that bad?? How did I let this happen?" Change is a beautiful thing :) I feel so much better about myself and love it!!

I can't wait to see where this journey takes me!

Have a happy hump day!

Stephie

Changes of 2011

I really can't believe it when I think of all the changes that occured for me in 2011. There are so many and I can honestly say that I am SO, SO proud of myself.

I have completely changed my life around and am EXACTLY where I want to be :)

Some of the things that changed in 2011

• I lost 40 lbs!!- Yes I finally hit my 40 lb mark and am sooo happy!! It's been quite the journey but I think losing 40 lbs in one year is remarkable :) I posted some pics below to show me last Christmas and then pictures from this Christmas.
  
  
• I rediscovered myself- This time last year I was lost. I was broken. I had just gotten out of a 4.5 year abusive relationship(in every single way.. mostly emotional) and I honestly thought I would never be happy again. I didn't think I'd be able to move on or be able to REALLY smile again. I got so used to putting up a front around people that they never thought I was hurting inside. I guess it was a way of protecting myself. In 2011 I started out the year keeping myself busy and making sure I was surrounded by people who loved me. I started losing weight and eventually found my confidence again. I realized that I am a good person and that I am loveable. I found my sense of humour.. didn't worry about what other people thought of me and started being myself again. I am a giving, kind hearted person and that person will NEVER, EVER go away.
  
  
• I got a promotion!- I started working at Primal in September 2009 part time. I instantly loved my job and knew that I wanted to stay there for awhile. I was only getting about 25 hours a week and needed more money to pay the bills so I was working another part time job. This didn't really bother me as I LOVE working :) In January I started full time and was able to quit my part time job! I couldn't be happier.. its like a have a work family :)
  
  
• Fell in love- This one is the most important one to me :) I had been into Pete for a very long time. Pretty much since we started hanging out during our lunch breaks (we met at Primal). I was instantly attracted to his sense of humour, his smile and his kind eyes :). We talked every single day at work over MSN. He'd send me songs and we had pretty much the same music taste.. I loved that! He quickly became one of my closest friends and I was terrified to tell him I liked him because A) we worked together.. could become awkward, B)Fear of rejection and C) I didn't want to lose the friendship if he didn't feel the same way. He quit in June of this year and we still talked every single day over FB chat :) I finally decided to tell him and it was the best thing I've ever done!! It took a few days for him to come around and admit it too but we hung out one night and watched True Blood and Breaking bad and have been inseparable ever since. I've never felt something like this and really hope this lasts forever!!! Jan 5th will be 5 months for us :). I finally found someone who I can be myself with in every single way.. and he makes me feel beautiful everyday.. even when I look like a bum and am wearing no makeup :) SOOO HAPPY <3<3<3
  
  
• Dumped shitty friends- I decided that if being a good friend was a priority for me.. I deserved the same! I had many people treat me like shit in 2010 and wasn't going to let that happen in 2011. When the red flags started showing.. I kicked them to the curb. No need for that!
  
  
• Became closer to my closest friends- One in particular. My best friend Jenn. She is my one and only and gets me better than anybody ever has. We can talk about ANYTHING and EVERYTHING and I think we could gross out most guys by our conversations. haha. She is the best person I've ever met and we've been best friends for 9 years now! She truly gets me and would do anything to fix any problem I have. I love her so much.
  I've also become a lot closer to some of my other friends including Amber who has been amazing. I've known her since I was in grade 10 and we're closer than we've ever been. She's one of my closest friends and I'd do anything for her! Another friend is Stef :) She is amazing and so beautiful inside and out. We have gone through a lot of the same struggles so it's nice having a buddy to go through it with. I know you'll be the first one to read this.. love you soooo much girl!!! Another friend I've become close to is Sam. We met when she was a co-op at Primal last year and she quickly became my go to coworker for everything.. she has been an amazing friend and always offered me the best advice and was always there to listen to me when I was down and needed to be lifted up. :) She is one of the most amazing people I have EVER met.
  
  
• Bought a brand new car! - Got my new car! My lovely madza3 that I love soooooo much!
  
  
• Stopped drinking pop- I love pop.. maybe a little bit too much. It was really hard to give up at first but I knew it was one thing I needed to kick to have a healthier lifestyle. In 2010 I drank 3-4 cans of pop a DAY and no water.. no joke. I was a Canada Dry addict!! mmm gingerale. This year I kicked the habit and now only drink water (and coffee.. a bit of an addict on that one though)
  
  
• Discovered my love of snowmobiling- One thing I quickly became addicted to in early 2011 was going snowmobiling with my dad. I usually hate winter but this year that has changed! It became one of my favourite past times and cannot wait for there to be a heavier snowfall so we can go out and hit the trails!
  
  
• I started volunteering at a homeless youth drop in centre- This one makes me feel great. In May I started Volunteering at a place called ROOF. This place has seriously changed my life. Seeing the progress in some of the youth and the bonds I have developed with soo many of them is amazing. This has made me question my path in life and I'm seriously considering going back to school to go into this field.
  
  
• Joined a band- Many of my friends and family know that I LOVE to sing.. I feel like I am quite good at it. After filling in for the singer of the Primal band "Bog Ferret" it became a permanant thing in 2011 :). We meet every tuesday night and jam out at the office :) Love it so much and my band mates are awesome!!!
  
  
• Changed my view on working out- I used to HATE .. HATE working out. It was pretty much a chore for me and I never did it. This year I discovered that I actually love to be active and it has really helped me in this weight loss. I haven't been able to work out for the last month as I have mono but in 2012 it is going to be a HUGE thing for me. Gonna incorporate activity into my daily routine.

Here are the pictures I talked about earlier in this post.

Christmas 2010

Pictures from Christmas 2011

I feel like I even look happier! hehe

Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more posts in 2012!

xo

Stephie

My Before/After Pictures

As I said before.. I am posting some of my before/after pics. Most of the before pics are from around October-December 2010. WOW... To think I actually thought I looked good on those days :(. Boy what a change..

I want to thank you all for reading this blog.. it means soo much to me and your feedback seriously makes my day and motivates me to go so much further. Thank you SO much.

To give you a little background info .. I started weight watchers in March 2011 :) It changed my life and I'm so grateful that I have succeeded (and will continue to have more successes). Looking back now I'm so happy I made the leap to join and plan on becoming a lifetime member to never allow myself to go back to that awful place!

Before

After

March 2011

April 2011

May 2011

June 2011

July 2011

August 2011

September 2011

October 2011

Thank you for taking the time to look through my pics. I have to say I HATE taking full bodied pictures but really wanted to share my journey with you :) Any comments/feedback would be appreciated! I'd also like to mention that this isn't the end of the road for me. I'd like to lose an additional 30-40 lbs :)

I am going to go for a walk during my lunch break. :) Will post about that one later!

Hope you all have a lovely weekend!

Steph