"an excuse is a lie guarded" -29.8 lbs

"An excuse is worse and more terrible than a lie, for an excuse is a lie guarded." 

I read this on Twitter today and was able to reflect back on my life full of excuses. In fact, if it wasn't for an excuse at the beginning of my current weight loss journey being shut down, I don't know that I'd be where I am today. I say "my current weight loss journey" because, as someone who has been overweight their whole life, losing weight has always been a goal. But, as my parents used to say when I was younger, I wasn't truly ready. I am now.

In January 2011, my boyfriend and I stopped by Tiger Schulmann's Mixed Martial Arts (TSMMA). He wants to be an MMA fighter and was looking for the right school to train with. This was a convenient location for him and with the history of Tiger Schulmann's (first as a karate school and now as an MMA school), this one was intriguing to him. He joined and was hooked. In the year and a half since he's been there, he has had multiple belt promotions, won multiple grappling competitions and lost at least 60 pounds, now being in the best shape of his life. 

Throughout the nine months that I did not train, I would come and watch, in awe of what he was learning and scared out of my mind to join. I had excuse upon excuse for not joining: I was paying another gym membership for a cardio kickboxing gym that ended up being a 30 minute commute after moving in together in September; I was finishing up my Master's program, which kept me occupied until 8:30 every night; I was scared and unsure that my body could handle the work-out; and the list goes on.

On November 14th, 2011, the excuses ended. I was holding an event at my job where the Sensei of my TSMMA gym was teaching self defense at the university that I work for. He asked me why I hadn't started training and all of the above excuses came out. He said "I'll see you tomorrow." which was followed by the excuse, "I have a work function tomorrow night that I have to go to!" "...I'll see you tomorrow."

And it began. And pictures to prove it!

On May 23rd (three days after I graduated with my Masters) I got my first belt promotion. After 7 months of working out, participating in a 90 day fitness and nutrition challenge at the gym and challenging myself, I had lost 23 pounds. And more pictures to prove!

And my favorite before and after:

I still have a long way to go, but I love looking at this picture!

I intended to utilize the summer to go hard. Granted, I have only lost 6.8 pounds (which brings me to the 29.8 lbs in the subject line) in the 11 weeks since this picture was taken, the summer isn't over yet. Overall, my goal is to lose 100 pounds (well, actually 150, but one thing at a time) and to compete in grappling and kickboxing. You'll get to follow along!

Welcome to my journey :)