:: making changes ::

it's been almost 4 years since i had my first little baby, brooklynn. i remember soon before i had her telling curtis that i was so excited that once i had her that i would be able to get to the gym and lose all of the weight that i gained while pregnant with her. of course, after she was born having a child of my own was nothing like i had planned (better of course) and way busy.. and i never did lose that weight. in fact, i gained weight only to get pregnant again with our second little babe, quinn. this pregnancy was so hard on my body with the extra weight. being 5'nothin i've got no where to go but out and it just killed my back and legs. i've told myself that cannot get pregnant again until i finally lose the weight so i can have a healthy pregnancy. so it's time. It's time to make the changes that i've needed to make for years. and i'm on my way.

the first step for me was giving up diet coke. i've given up drinking diet coke so many times before. i really needed this to be different. i always would say, "i'm going to stop drinking diet coke until...". it was never, "i'm quitting and i'm never going back". i always had it in my mind that i was going to start drinking it again, i was just quitting for a short period of time. this was getting me nowhere. i knew it had to be for good. so i did. i quit for good. it's been over two months now with not a single diet coke and i am so much better off because of it. i used to never drink water and now i drink water all day long and it has done wonders for not only my health but for my skin as well. it has also helped me eliminate eating at fast food restaurants all together. i was driving through fast food places getting diet cokes multiple times a day and if i was slightly hungry i would get food to go along with it. now that i'm not drinking diet coke i don't drive through to get them and i no longer eat fast food. simple as that.

my next step was and is no longer eating anything at all after dinner. we usually eat dinner around 6 and then it's just water after that. the first week of this was really hard for me and i even cheated once but the second week was much easier. i just got it in my head that i just don't eat after dinner and that's the rule. no exceptions and it's been fine. i don't need to be eating at night it does nothing for me. i would always eat so horribly at night and taking that away has helped a ton. i've also started making better food choices during the day as well, but this is what i need to work on the most now.

the third step is going to the gym every single day. and staying for an hour no matter what. no excuses. i give myself sunday off. but other than that. every. single. day. for one hour. no less. this has probably been the hardest for me to do. most days i absolutely do not want to go to the gym. like at all. but i go and then i'm so happy that i did. i never ever regret it. but i know would regret it if i didn't. so i show up and i work out and i can already feel my body changing. i've lost over 5 lbs in the last two weeks and i can feel my body and most importantly my mind changing. i know i can do this and i am doing it. i'm not quitting.