Oh! Hi Confidence! Where have you been hiding?

It is amazing what dropping 13lbs can do to you. I still have a long way to go, but with just 13lbs, I have noticed changes in my body. Mostly in my face.

I have a very round face, so I have never really noticed if a gained or lost any weight there. When my sister (who has a much more oval shaped face) started dropping her weight, within a week she looked like a different person.
Then recently I noticed that it was a little harder to stretch my neck out for photos. I could see and extra layer hiding behind my chin. But it was the first to go when I started losing weight. I look in the mirror in the morning and once again, I see me. That in addition to the little bit of a tan I got in Puerto Rico, has put a bounce back in my step. Yes, I am still self conscious of how my legs look in the dress I am wearing, but it sort of doesn't seem to matter anymore. I'm working toward something better. A better Erin.

More than anything, this new found confidence is great motivation to keep going. I was commenting to my swim instructor that I am not seeing the weight fall off as quickly as I want and the look on her face was priceless. "Do you know how many laps you swam today, Erin? 20. You swam 20 laps. Could you have done that the first time we met?" No, I couldn't. I could barely swim one lap. I was clinging to that kick board for dear life the first time we met. I never thought I could do as much as I have.

The next step is to start running again. This scares me more than anything. I miss running, but I am so afraid to get out there knowing that my first mile is going to take me far longer than the last mile I ran. I keep telling myself that I just need to get up and do it, but sometimes the voice in my head that tells me it's not worth the disappointment is so much louder than the voice telling me to go for it. Luckily for me, I have a ton of other voices in my life. Loud ones too (I'm looking at you Meghan and Steva) that will drown out that nagging disappointment voice. So keep yelling friends (in a nice way!) and keep reminding me that I have spent a lifetime surrounding myself with beautiful people who are they for me when I need them. I couldn't do it without you.