VICTORY!!! :) Starting a new chapter...

It's hard to believe that it is over! The MUSC Healthy Charleston Challenge had our official final weigh in tonight and I so incredibly awed and pleased to announce that I WON overall for females for top % of weight loss and was also incredibly blessed to be a part of the TOTAL APPROACH/Anderson Insurance who took first place! 

I have been through and experienced many amazing things in my life... but I think this, by far, has been the most life changing. I am so thankful for the things I learned during the Healthy Charleston Challenge and for all of the people I met. Katie St Clair is the best trainer possible and Julie Puchetti (my mentor and one of my best friends) is the most amazing, encouraging and inspiring woman. I could not PRAISE GOD enough for his goodness and for these amazing people. I am completely thankful for Janis Newton and the program that she started at MUSC. If anyone is in the area and looking FOR REAL for a way to lose weight- not any gimmics or easy fix its but rather a real life style change- please look into the Healthy Charleston Challenge at MUSC. 

As I weighed in tonight and worked out all week- I was praying for a 5 lb week so I could stand a chance at winning. I actually started eating a lot more this week. I bumped my calories up to 1300 to 1400 a day since my metabolism was speeding up. Obviously, it was successful this week! I mainly though think it was a great God who helped with my tremendous weight loss this week. This week I killed my 5 pound goal by losing 9.2 pounds this week alone! That leaves me with a final total of 44.2 pounds during the healthy charleston challenge!! What an amazing victory! 44.2 pounds!! In TEN weeks!! I am so excited about my new life and making a healthy start for me and for my future family! I am a much better person because of this new direction I am taking in my life. I can now glorify God better, love others and myself more fully and really just be thankful for who I am. 

Thank you to all of you who have read this and encouraged me... whether it was through prayers, encouragement or some of you even financially. There were times when I needed things, even money for healthy groceries, and the Lord provided. I am so thankful for  Try Sports and their staff in Mount Pleasant. They provided my shoes, socks and even more (I am eternally grateful!!!)  There are still many needs that I have but unlike before the challenge, I no longer doubt the Lords provision. I know he is going to provide my bike for me that I need to begin training for triathlons as well as the money for a gym membership so I can continue on towards my goal. I hit and surpassed my goal of 40 pounds for the Healthy Charleston Challenge but my overall goal is 150 pounds and I have quite a long journey left to travel.

I am so thankful for this 10 week journey but it is not over yet. I feel a bit empty that it is over and I think it is going to be a struggle transitioning to being in a team and structured program to being on my own. But I know that I am very blessed to have been a part of an amazing team with a phenomenal trainer-- I will not be alone. I will need your encouragement now in the near future more than ever before!!

I know some of you are curious what I won and were asking... 

for my team winning, we all received a massage, a gold pass to all the county parks for a year and one hundred dollars.

for me winning top female, I won 50 dollars, some training sessions with my trainer, and then there were two prizes for the tip top of the two winners (male and female). One was a bike and one was a signed NFL football by Joe Namath. For those of you who have been keeping up with the blog and talking with me, I really really really wanted to win the bike. The male had a higher % than me so he got to pick first-- he picked the bike. I was so sad!! I don't even know who Joe Namath is (haha- and everyone there thought it was a crime that I did not) but apparently it's worth TONS of money so hopefully I can get some good money out of it on e-bay or something so I can buy my bike, maybe help get my membership for a year and hopefully some to help bless a team member of mine too who is really on my heart.

I am so excited and thankful. For everything! Praise God is the only thing that has reigned over in my mind again and again and again. :) His steadfast love endures forever!