Open Letter to Michelle

Round 4, 2012 (my first round) draws to a close and the results have far exceeded my expectations.  Below is an open letter I posted on the forums to Michelle 12wbt.

Round 1 starts Monday, bring it on baby!!!!  I'm going to the finale this time!!!!

Tomorrow, I'm looking forward to a 5km run/walk, The Color Run.  Very excited to have picked up our packs and some merchandise - will post pics tomorrow :)

Here is the letter;

Dear Michelle,

I joined round 4 the Sunday before the program got under way, deciding I needed to do something for me. Geez, I'd tried a few program's so what was one more. I'm a firm believer that there is never a perfect time, life always seems to get in the way. It's important that we make it the right time. I knew by signing up over Xmas/new year it was going to be tough, but as a teacher I had 6 weeks to exercise with no work. My goal was 10kgs and not much else because I didn't know much about the program.

I've had an amazing 12 weeks, enjoyed Xmas, new year and a few dinners and lunches out. This 12 weeks has far exceeded my expectations. Yes, I've come to the conclusion I like the structure of this program.

I have lost 15.2kgs and 71cms and I'm so so close to double figures. Obverse the 12 weeks so much has changed. I have come to enjoy the exercise, even to the extent of getting edgy on a wet Monday and going for a run/walk. I started this program struggling to run 30 sec, I can now run 5 mins at a time and for the last km time trial ran twice around the cricket oval.

The benefits have been numerous:

No more heart burn
Feeling of overall wellness
Clothes fitting better, going down comfortably in size
Saving money, yes even when paying $200, I no longer have junk food pit stops or take away meals
Able to run nearly 800m
Lots of nice compliments from husband and friends

Yes, I'll be signing up for round 1, still got at least another 20kgs to go, but I now believe I can do it. And for anyone else thinking about it ......JFDI.

Here's a before and after photo - it's taken me a lot of courage to post them. I was too embarrassed in the before photo to get down to my undies even with my husband taking the photo.

Some little visible signs - face is not so big, more definition around shoulders and chest, some shape (nearly definition) around stomach/waist.

Looking forward to next round and more great results