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Introduction Text I am a very busy full-time+ music teacher and athlete who ran her first marathon at 205 lbs. I spent my whole life "husky," "big-boned," and obese, until I got up to 219 in August 2011 when my body was aching and telling me that I had to try something new. I had been dreading counting calories because I thought it would make me obsess (which it did at the beginning, but now I understand much more about my nutrition). Between Jan. 2012 and March 2013, I had lost 75-80 lbs (my original goal was 50 lbs, which I achieved Oct. 2012.) In 2014, I went through an emotional divorce and regained 20 lbs. by spending the summer outdoors and social eating with my supportive friends. My weight went up and down in that 20-lb range throughout the year as I fought to keep mentally healthy with food and my emotions. I got frustrated around 165 lbs., my original 50-lb goal in 2012, but since I'd been around 145 for 8 months, I was frustrated and still emotionally eating. In May 2015, I let go of tracking and obsession in an effort to solve my binge and emotional eating habits. I gained another 20 lbs, around 180-185 lbs. Currently, I'm back to tracking to see if I can take a small deficit and lose without feeling obsessive, deprived, or like bingeing. Maybe 165 is my new maintenance weight, and I need to let go of where I was in 2013. I need to figure out where my body would like to rest and maintain while finding a balance between exercise, food, social time, and relaxing. I love intense exercise, and would like to get back to long-distance running for stress relief rather than calorie burn. The journey has been exciting, and I can't thank SparkPeople enough! I also spend a lot of time on Half Size Me community. I'm so grateful to have places to get support from others that are just trying to be better than they were yesterday!

My goal is to find where my body is happiest between exercise, two 'off' meals a week, sleep, and leisure time.

I track my food daily, but I go over if I truly am hungry and have checked my water/fiber/protein/fruit/ sleep/veggie/stress/emotion levels for the day. I have one "off" meal a week to keep the monster away. I lift weights three/four times a week, one or two bootcamps, and two-three days of HIIT or steady state cardio. I currently am shooting for 1900-2100 calories with a mix of 40%protein, 30%carbs, and 30%fat.

I'm a Montana girl who lives in Oregon. Go, GRIZ!!

My "best friends" in my journey are: 1. Sparkpeople teaching me how to budget my food 2. My heart rate monitor to track calories-burn estimates 3. My family and friends helping me make my journey public 5. Did I mention Sparkpeople?!? 6. My food scale and other measuring tools. 7. Since January 2015, the Half-Size Me Community.

Add a Link Just keep swimming... Better, not bitter. Consistency is required. Motivation is optional. Some dreamers never work, and some workers never dream.
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