Although I haven't properly introduced myself, The Plot involves (surprise!) me, so there will be a small bit of back story about me and how it lead to a journey that I've very much needed to take for a long time.
I just turned 29 this year, and I have struggled with my weight for as long as I can remember, although looking back on it, a lot of it was all in my head. My parents didn't exactly mean to, but caused a lot of it. I held a lot of resentment, but have moved on and realized that they were concerned about my well being, not about my appearance. They never called my ugly, they never even said I'd be better looking if I lost weight, just that I had extra weight. My mom was 5'4'' and all of 110lbs. She also didn't have a good grasp of healthy weights and that heavier did not equal unhealthy. From the ages of 13 to 17, I weighed in the range of 150lbs (and am 5'6''), which is a perfectly acceptable weight for that height, and led a very active life (Softball, cheer-leading and track. None of which I excelled at, but I still gave it my best). My dad (although I have only just now come to realize this) struggles with his weight. His siblings are all more heavy set than he is, and I now see this is not because he got the "good" genes, but rather, he works very hard to fight them, and so I think (as I take after him more than my mom), he was concerned about what could happen if I didn't develop a routine. Being a teenager, and combined with my mom's harping, I didn't take kindly to it.
After leaving High School, I went 1.5 hours away to college. There, I had a very active roommate, and I went with her on her workouts (she was a runner!), and lost 20lbs without trying. Take that, Freshman 15!
Unfortunately, the second I moved out and in with friends the next year, I gained it, and reinforcements, back. College went on, I gained weight each year, but I remained under 200lbs and was unconcerned.
I got a job right out of college, but it only lasted 6 months. It was a contract position, and although they told me it would go up to 2 years, it did not (they lied. It seems they don't keep anyone past 6 months). My boyfriend (now husband) helped me with bills, but I still ended up going into debt over the 1 year period of unemployment (minus 2 months of temp work for the Census). As the debt piled on, so did the pounds with it and by the time I got hired in at Red Cross (where I'll have been now for 4 years in November!) I weighed 250lbs.
I decided something needed to change, and joined a local weight loss center. It was by far the most extreme thing I've done, and although I quickly shed 50lbs, in time to be at 200lbs for my July 2010 wedding, I learned nothing from the experience, and did, I believe, lasting harm to my body. I started shedding hair very badly a month before the wedding, and as of now, it's barely started growing back.
While I was happy with the weight loss, I was mad that I resorted to basically starving myself, and I vowed to never crash diet again. From one extreme to the other, as I couldn't find the balance, and I quickly gained back lbs. "It's ok, I'm only at 206, that's hardly much more than my wedding weight." Each new lb was reasoned out thusly.
And so I got to 226lbs, and was on the nearer side (albeit, only by a pound) of my former 250. "Where will I let it go?" I asked. "This is what got me to 250 in the first place." I started trying to eat better, watching not just my calories, but trying to make the most of what I put in my body. We also wanted to start trying for a baby, and I was nervous about being so overweight and pregnant. I had lost 10lbs by the time we got pregnant, in Sept 2011. I worked very hard, and only gained 5lbs more than my Doctor recommended (and was very proud of that!), and lost all of the baby weight within a month.
Then started to gain it back, and pushed back up to 225 again.
My coworkers had gotten together to do a Biggest Loser competition, and it was the boost I needed to start. Using a Jillian Michaels DVD (30 Day Shred) and the Lose It! app, I started to find a happy medium of lifestyle change.
In all of this, though, I had another motivation, the ultimate Motivator. And so enters the plot.
I've been trying to find a way back to Disney since our honeymoon in 2010. Yes, I could just say "We're going to Disney!" and my Husband would go along with it, as long as we could afford it. But, I plotted, think of how much more he'll support it, if I have some large goal! But what kind of goal could that be?
I'd heard of the runs they do there and how big they are! And there it was! I would do a half marathon at Disney World!
And so my somewhat elaborate scheme (which would involve much prep, and a 16 minute mile or less, which seemed impossible when I started) was hatched.
I began working out in earnest, eating much better (I have spinach at least once a day now! Sometimes TWICE.) and reading all I could about running.
I don't know where it changed. Somewhere along the way, it stopped being about getting to Disney (I know!). Somewhere, it became about the running. I love it! I love going out on my runs, I love how I feel all day after a run. I love pushing myself to the absolute limits, to limits I never dreamed I was capable of, even back in HS when I was very active.
What started as an elaborate Plot to see the Mouse (and maybe lose a little weight) has morphed into a full blown journey into finding ME. I am now at 195lbs, as of this week, and I know I have a long way to go, but for once, I'm enjoying the ride, rather than racing to the end.
(I apologize for the length and lack of pictures. That will be remedied in the next few.
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(I love some of these smilies)
Seems a little silly to use fake names, when I'm posting pics, but I'm gonna anyway. 
) and together for about 5 years before that. He's not really a big Disney fan, but we still love him anyway. 
) and seems to be very proud of basically single handedly funding our vacation (I know I'm proud of him)!
