As cliche as the title may be, I have decided to do a new blog series called the 'Journey to Health'. Yesterday we got some professional photos done for our family for Christmas, and I was sent a sneak peek at a couple of the images. I cried. And when I say cried, I mean I was curled up in a ball in bed sobbing into my doona. The person in the images does not reflect the person I feel I am. It was the kick in the butt I needed to push me to the edge, so that I can start this new journey, and bloody stick to it!

The person I saw in the images is not me. She does not reflect who I feel I am inside. I know I am overweight, but I don't see myself as this obese fat person inside. The photo's just simply don't match up to how I feel. It made me realise that whenever the time comes for me to get married, I don't want to look back at my wedding photos and feel ashamed, and sad. I read a story yesterday about a beautiful girl in America, who saw her engagement photos, and decided then and there that she would NOT be that weight by the time she gets married. She lost around 50 kilos I believe if I can remember it correctly! Now I am not engaged (yet...come on man ;) ) but I do know that I do not want to be this weight by the time that day comes. Some people have holidays, or competitions that are their motivation to lose weight. Mine is my not-yet-planned wedding.

So what am I going to do this time around that will make it different to all the other times I tried and gave up? I am going to incorporate the following things into my first phase of this long journey ahead, so keep reading if you are looking for some guidance/inspiration:

• Cut out unnecessary food/drinks. I have already started this process by eliminating energy drinks out of my diet. Next step is to reduce the amount of soft drink I consume, and increase my water intake (probably the hardest step to overcome for me personally).
  
• Start working out a minimum of three times a week. Don't go too hard too fast. This burns you out, and is the number 1 reason I have never been able to stick to my fitness journey. I plan to take walks after work (perfect for this time of year, as the sun is going down later, and is much cooler than in the heat of day), hitting the gym, and doing some home workouts with my man.
  
• Make it fun! My partner has decided he really wants to take the extra step to get healthy as well, so we are going to buy some free weights and create our own at-home gym. This means we will be working out together, which not only gives us more time together as a couple, but motivates us even further than if we were doing this alone.