About me!

So...this is my blog about my progress in running and with any luck, my progress in weight loss!

I wasn't always over-weight. As a child/teen/youth I was actually pretty skinny:

1985 - 16 years of age - probably around 48kg (105.6 lbs)  - size 6 (size 0 US)

I did a lot of dancing (ballet, jazz, tap), but basically ate anything I wanted and didn't have to think about my weight at all.

Throughout university (where a lot of people put on weight), I stayed sub-50kg - I know this, because every time I went to donate blood, they couldn't take the full amount, because I was 49kg. I was swimming semi-regularly, but not much else in the form of regular exercise.

1991 - 21 years old - that's me on the right - man! I was hot!

I got married in 1995 - and as a lot of people do, worked hard at the gym to look my best and I actually ran/walked 14km in the 1995 City to Surf:

August 1995 - seriously regretted wearing a t-shirt that day (it was unseasonably warm!)

November 1995 - the Big Day

...and then slacked off as I enjoyed married life and my metabolism seemed to slack off too:

1997 - 28 years old

I had my son in 1999 and daughter in 2000 - in both pregnancies I suffered pre-eclampsia and they seemed to kick off an under-active thyroid:

2000 - 31 years old and very pregnant with my daughter!

I worked hard again at the gym after her birth, and some of the weight seemed to come off fairly easily that time:

2004 - 35 years old

But it's been a bit downhill from there...

2007 - aged 38 - size 14

2008 - aged 39 (me on the left)

2009 - aged 40

2012 - 42 years old - size 16 (size 10 US) - 77.3 kg (170 lbs)

Oh look, I know I'm not morbidly obese or anything, but my weight is affecting my health - I have high blood pressure, for which I take medication, my waist measurement is 102cm (just a bit over the recommended 80cm for women), my BMI is in the overweight range. The thing is, if I just keep on going this way, I'll be headed for an early grave. Plus, I won't be able to buy normal sized clothes.

I don't want to get back to 50kg (I think that would be a bit unrealistic as well as too skinny), but somewhere in the low to mid 60's would be ideal. And seems a long way off!

And so, in March 2011, I started Couch to 5K (for the first time). By September, I ran in the 9km Bridge Run as part of the Sydney Running Festival. 

And this is my Blog for being accountable to myself and for sharing my journey. It's not unique - lots of other people are going through exactly the same thing and battling exactly the same things. So, I'm going to keep putting one foot in front of the other (any way I can) and keep on working toward getting healthier. Glad you could join me!