Reached my "target weight"; Now the real work begins!

Why Hello! :) I'm doing a very self-congratulatory post today, so sorry in advance! I want to re-cap my fitness journey so far, because Monday I reached an exciting milestone- my "goal weight". (Sound the trumpets!)

When I started this journey back in 2010, I weighed 145 lbs, which was my highest recorded weight. As a 5' 0" shortie, that's a fair amount of extra fat, or at least it was on me!

This is me in Dec of 2010, folks.

After 2 years of trying out different exercise programs, and slowly loosing and gaining back 8 lbs (through P90X, gym memberships, yoga videos, etc.), something finally clicked in my brain; in Sept of 2012 I was ready to ACTUALLY make a change. I joined my local Community College's gym this past September, got a fitness assessment, and started working out 5-6 days a week, for a total of 300-400 minutes per week, as well as truly monitoring my calories here on MPF, on a 1200/per day routine. I set some goals, both weight related and otherwise, and set to achieving them!

These past 5 months have been life changing! I've started doing heavier weight lifting, I lost 26.7 lbs, and my body fat percentage went from 31.4% to 20.2%! I started clean eating, I completed a Whole30 program, I've run 3 5ks, I'm now training for a half marathon. While the weight loss is awesome, and the new clothes are great, THE BEST result of all these changes is that fitness and healthy eating are my lifestyle now.

This lifestyle is easy(ish) to maintain because of YOU! My #runchat buddies, my fellow crazy runners doing 13 races in 2013, my friends at work, who have been really supportive as well and great gym buddies, my dad, who is a constant fitness inspiration, and my husband, who has made me feel great at whatever weight!

I know now that I'm not finished! Just because I reached some number on a scale does not mean that I get to quit eating healthy and stop going to the gym or that I don't have room for improvement, greater success, or to challenge myself!

My plans to keep myself motivated this year:

• I'm running 13 races in 2013, including 5 5ks, 3 10ks, a Mini-Tri and at least 1 Half Marathon!
• I'm working on building my strength by doing the Strong Lifts program- today for my workout I'll be able to squat 105 lbs and deadlift 110 lbs- my exact body weight now! 
• I'm hoping to get my 5k time down to under 26 minutes! My first 5k time in 2008 was 38 minutes, and this past Nov my time was 29:42. 
• Continuing to blog here about my fitness journey, so I can share with others, give back some of the support I've received and remind myself of how far I've come!

SO after rambling on- THANK YOU, friends and family, both IRL and virtual, for your support now and into the future! Also for those of you still struggling, know that it's possible to achieve your goals and redefine yourself! See you out there- at the gym, on the track, on the road :)