Surprise!

July 2011

So, this is one of my best friends in the entire world - Brittany. She and I have been besties since Kindergarten.

School zoning separated us, and we went to rival middle and high schools, but we managed to stay best friends despite the distance (we knew we had something special!). We reunited in college, and I even helped her boyfriend (now husband) with his proposal scheme. We were right back to being those friends who were there for everything, and I was lucky enough to walk down the aisle as her maid of honor and watch her marry the love of her life!

5th grade day! 2000

Some time in the 90s, ha!

4th grade? Maybe.

(This was when I told her she threw her bouquet right at me.)

However, almost immediately after her wedding, I hopped in my car and headed to MEMPHIS, where I am attending dental school. So now, we are separated basically by the entire state of Tennessee. No problem, though, because we always find ways to talk - especially about our favorite (or least favorite?) subject, weight.

We have both struggled with weight for a long time - and we've both had our successes and our struggles.

I've been 5'7" and fluctuating between 180-200 pounds since puberty (a little over a decade). Living on my own for the first time in fall 2011, I found myself at 204, my highest weight ever. However, through friends, steady tracking on the myfitnesspal app, and finding healthy recipes on the internet (one of my favorite hobbies), I have slowly lowered that number (and gotten back on the wagon every time I was tempted to hop off).  Now that it's January of 2013, I have finally gotten out of the 190s for the last time, hopefully. It's a constant struggle to keep my life in a "two steps forward, one step back" pattern, rather than the reverse. 

And in my conversations with Brittany, it's easy to see she has the same struggles I do. Being a wife, having to consider someone else's food needs and cravings, and running a household on a budget can't be easy (not to mention having a stressful job on the side). I know she does an amazing job just because I know her and how capable she is, but sometimes weight-loss can fall to the wayside when you are just working to build a life.

 So, occasionally we strive to inspire one another and keep on track with feeling healthy and good about ourselves. I followed her blog last year, we are friends on myfitnesspal and have made our diets public so we can keep each other accountable. And last week, after trying a youtube pilates workout, I messaged her with the challenge to complete the same workout in the next seven days. And after, I mentioned giving each other weekly challenges as a way to make sure we stay in touch and stay honest about our efforts. So, Brit, this blog is your surprise! I will make you an author on this blog, and you and I will attempt to post our challenges and whatever else our heart desires! I will do my best to post on fridays with whatever the challenge may be, and the status of the previous challenges. We may make this a public blog or a private one, who knows!