Past, present, future

Hi, blog world.  Call me B.

I’ve blogged before in various capacities and on various sites, but I’ve never had my very own actual blog, so here I am.

First of all: why I’m here.  I want to blog about getting, and staying, in shape and being healthy.  I want to talk about my wedding, which I think is going to be pretty neat.  That’s about it for now.

A little bit about me: I’m in my mid-twenties and live in the Midwest.  In May of 2007 I met, and started dating, my fiance, T.  I was so madly in love I stopped working out and ate out far more than was advisable.  I gained about 30 pounds, putting my already overweight frame at an even 200 pounds on June 6, 2008.  Shocked, I immediately started losing weight by simply cutting calories and working out (mostly cardio exercise, like running).

By December 2008, I was down to 150 pounds.  Since I’m 5’6″, it looked pretty good on me.  However, I wanted to get stronger and more in shape, so I began lifting weights.  I bought the book “The New Rules of Lifting for Women” and did the program religiously from December to May 2009, when I graduated from law school and moved to a totally new state with my fiance.  (I was almost finished, but didn’t quite get there.)  While weightlifting, I added about 5 pounds of pure muscle and was 155 pounds, lean and mean, and really happy with my body.

From May 2009 to now, I’ve been dealing with living in a new, unfamiliar town with no friends, studying for the bar exam, and unemployment.  Oh, and planning a wedding.   All the stress made me put on about 7 pounds (and not good muscle ones)!  I took about 4 weeks off the gym at the end of July/beginning of August to study for the bar, take the bar, and go on a vacation.  I’m about 162ish pounds right now, and my jeans are a little snug for my liking.

Now I’m back in the gym, and determined to get in the best shape of my life thus far for my wedding day.  I’m not quite sure how I’ll do it, but I will.  (I suspect the solution will involve a healthy combination of cardio I enjoy, heavy weightlifting, and eating lots of healthy food.)

For the record, I don’t believe in low-calorie diets.  I eat 1800 calories a day, minimum, and much more if I’m working out hard.  My philosophy is that my body is a machine, and it needs good fuel to run well.  I’m not perfect–I usually eat at least one really indulgent meal a week.  I try to avoid high fructose corn syrup and trans fats, but I’m not going to panic over a little white pasta now and then.  I work out hard and I’m not afraid of gigantic barbells and the weight room.

Wedding-wise, we’re planning a 200 person wedding in the Chicago area in May of next spring.   We’re going for a very spring-y feel, with our main color scheme being pinks, aqua blue, and champagne gold.  I’ll have several posts getting you up to speed on everything we’ve planned so far!

I’ll hopefully have a good mix of wedding-related and fitness-related posts, with a little bit of random stuff here and there.  I don’t plan to post pictures of my food every single day, because I eat the same breakfast pretty much every day and will often eat the same lunch several days in a row, too.  But if there’s anything worthwhile, I’ll let you know!

So, anyway, welcome.  Nice to meet you!