Kickoff: The 90 Day Challenge

This week marked the start of the 90 Day Low Carb Challenge, sponsored by Lynn at Traveling Low Carb. The rules of the challenge are pretty simple. Participants are encouraged to track their food and log it into a journal. The main goal is to stay under 20 net carbs each day, throwing the body into ketosis and prompting weight loss. Even though I’ve been following the low carb/high fat way of eating for nearly six months, I thought this would be a great way to recommit to my goals.

I have rarely tracked anything I’ve eaten in the months since I changed my way of life. Once, during a stall, I tracked my food for a few days, but I quickly figured out what I was doing wrong and remedied it. Committing to logging every bit of food that goes into my mouth seems a bit daunting, but I’m excited about sharing even more of my journey.

For the purpose of the challenge, I am tracking my food through MyFitnessPal. My food diary is public, so if you’re interested in this way of life or just curious about what I actually eat (it’s not all bacon and cheese!), please feel free to give it a look. I have my good days and my bad days. I don’t always make the best choices, but I’m learning as I go and am happy to share the knowledge I have acquired so far.

At a current weight loss of 43 pounds, I’ve almost reached the first goal I set for myself, which was to lose 50 pounds. This challenge has sparked something inside me and made me want to examine how far I’ve come and how far I still need to go. With this new start, I decided to do something I was too scared to do before I started losing weight—take the dreaded before photos.

The photos above were taken on Christmas Eve, 2014. Looking at them makes me a little emotional. I know that I’m still overweight and am a work in progress, but I don’t feel like that person anymore. I was so uncomfortable at that weight, paranoid that people were judging me based on my size. I tried to make sure my shirts were long and loose, attempting to cover the weight I carried in my middle. I wore only a wardrobe of monochrome, filled with blacks and shades of gray. My goal in life seemed to be to just blend into the background and hide as much of myself as possible. I was wearing a size 22/24 top and a size 24 jeans at this weight.

These photos were taken on Monday after a long and exhausting day of work. I felt terrible and tried to make a thousand excuses as to why I didn’t need to take these pictures, but I wanted them to document my progress. Initially, I was just going to keep them to myself. The more I considered it, however, the more I realized that I needed to publish them. I was completely uncomfortable taking these, which is evident in my facial expressions, but a visual reminder is a powerful tool. I am currently in a size 20 jeans and an 18/20 top (finally!).

My goal for this challenge is to make it to 75 pounds lost. That seems like such a huge number, but I know I can achieve it. This process is about making goals and taking things one day at a time, one pound at a time.

I’m confident that I’ve got this. Game on.