C25K Week 1, Day 1

 A friend encouraged me to blog about my weight loss journey, and I think I will be thankful in the future if I do this.....{I am stepping out of my comfort zone, but I need to be honest} :/  :)
 Just a real brief history for all of you that don't know me. .....
 I have been overweight all my life. I don't remember what I weighed on my wedding day, but it was into the low 200's. When I got pregnant with our first child I was 230.....and during that pregnancy, I gained 40 lbs. making me a whopping 270! Of course, after our son was born, I lost some of that, but not much. I think I dropped to around 250. Then I got pregnant a second time a little less than 2 years later. This time, I only gained 15 lbs., but that put me up to 265 again. After our daughter was born, I lost a few lbs, but over the next few years, I got back up to 270. The highest # I remember seeing on the scale was 274.
 I KNEW I couldn't keep living like this. Thankfully I was healthy otherwise! Well....as healthy as you can be at that weight! :P

 In the Fall of 2008, I visited an Endocrinology/Infertility Specialist to see if we could get some answers to some issues I was having, the biggest being secondary infertility. The first thing the Dr. wanted to do, was have me lose weight! So I was put on a low carb diet.......that was the beginning to my journey of weight loss and healthy{ier} eating. There were ups and down's along the way, but I am back to my pre-pregnancy weight and have a long term goal of getting to 180 (50 more lbs.!!) I'd love to be there by the time I turn 40 (5 more years), but I don't want to do it so fast that I am prone to gaining it back! I also want to keep changing my eating habits to make this a lifestyle, not just a weight loss program I follow for a few days, weeks or years.

 Last fall, after encouragement from a friend at church, Dan and I started the Couch to 5K program. It is a 9 week program that gets anyone from being a couch potato to running a 5K. I made it successfully through the program, but never attempted to run a 5K. We got done with the program in January or Feb. of this year. I ran a few times after that, but with it getting hotter outside, I decided to just stop for the "summer". Then in April, I started having numerous heart palpitations every day......{this was a whole journey in itself} After two months of having them nearly all day, every day, they seem to have quit on their own. I have only been having a few right after lunch the last 3 days. There seems to be no explanation....I've had so many tests done on my heart as well as checking my thyroid, and many, MANY other things!!
 Since the palps have stopped, I am SO ready to run again...and I don't care if it's hot! This time my goal IS to be able to run a 5K! I am starting the program over...with Day 1. Tonight was my first night.
 It was neat to see how much farther I got this time than the first run back in the Fall!! :) Yeh, my legs feel weak and shaky all over again, but it feels good. I am hoping that the running, combined with watching carbs, will give me the oomph to get some more weight off. I've lost 23 lbs. since Dec 30, 2011, so I am not complaining! :)

 I'd love to hear your input....have you ever tried C25K?? Do you have a weight loss story?
 Encouragement would also be welcomed!! :)

I am going to try to blog often, at least once a week....and maybe even add some pictures along the way. :)
 ~Later~