Maureen Week 1

Hello, everyone!

My name is Maureen and I am 31 years old, currently living in Washington, DC.  Growing up, I was always the small one. I never thought about my body one way or the other and ate whatever I wanted. I most definitely didn't appreciate what I had and took my super-sonic metabolism for granted. However, about 6 years ago things definitely started to change.  I went from a very physically demanding job (zookeeper) to an office job just as age began to slow the wheels of my metabolism down.  The double whammy caught me off guard, and before I knew it, just 4 months before my wedding, I was at an all time record high weight.

I can't say I didn't notice the weight gain, but it was small, and didn't bother me too much.  I still looked pretty good, but my pants were increasingly uncomfortable and I started hating how all of my clothes looked on me.  However, my real breaking point was when I went to my second dress fitting, and my wedding dress, the one that was previously a bit loose, wouldn't. even. zip.

That was in October.  Since then I've lost 10 lbs, though you wouldn't really know it to look at me.  I'm wearing the same size jeans (no wonder they were so uncomfortable before) and co-workers sure certainly aren't commenting on any progress.  But really, that's not what it's all about.  My pants are finally comfortable (no more muffin top!), my waist is firmer, and I'm finally seeing muscle definition. Overall, I just feel better.

While I'm on the right track, I'm not quite where I want to be yet.  I still have about 7 more pounds I'd like to see gone, but more important to me then a number on a scale, I'd like to see some serious muscle definition.  Since I'm trying to build muscle,  I can't be too concerned about reaching a specific weight, I had to come up with a different metric for my progress then just a scale.  Enter my "Progress Pants" (cheesy, I know).  I've been hanging on to an old pair of pants since college.  Not because they are particularly stylish (they aren't), but because I always hoped to fit into them again one day.

So each week, I'll be posting pics of me in the pants so that I be held accountable for this goal.  I'm already cringing at the thought, but I hope in doing this I'll actually follow through on my goal this time.

I set this goal having not tried these pants on in YEARS.  When I tried them on 2 weeks ago, I honestly wasn't sure that this was a feasible goal.  I mean, do you see how far away those buttons are from buttoning??! Truth be told, I'm still not sure that these pants will ever actually button again. But there is a lot of pulling going in the thigh area that I am positive I can work towards fixing.

So my goals? Get fit. Get strong. And maybe, one day, even button up these pants again.