I’ve lost about 10 pounds and I’m very excited. Some of my old clothes are starting to fit again–yay. I’m familiar with this feeling, fortunately and unfortunately, as I have been gaining and losing the same 30 pounds my whole life. But something is definitely different this time. This time, my body shape is transforming–it’s different. My hips are getting narrower and my legs more muscular….I don’t feel flabby still–I actually feel fit. My body is stronger and I’m firmer–even though I still have about 20 pounds to lose. There is no mystery here…it’s the exercise that is doing it!

I have had a pear shaped body my whole life with a strong emphasis on the lower pear. With the increased exercise in tandem with the diet, I’m starting to become more proportional. Yes, I’m losing it in the same areas first as before (my waist, bust)…but my hips are not necessarily going to be the last ones to the party this time…I’m seeing results earlier and my clothes are fitting in a better way. I’m one of those girls who has always had to buy pants 2 sizes too big in the waist to account for the disproportionate area in the hips (sisters unite on this one…I know there are a ton of us out there who do this)…but I *think* and *hope* that maybe I will be changing this scenario going forward with my new body…maybe I’ll only have to go up one size. I can’t change my bone structure, but I can help mitigate disproportion by building muscle. We’re not talking body building here…please! But by building muscle in my legs, they will get smaller–burning the fat away and looking like they should look, vs. how they have looked.

Oh, how I wish I had incorporated this amount of exercise in my life much much earlier on…maybe I would not have had to lose this weight…or at least so much of it. I can’t shout to the hills loud enough how exercise has propelled the Best Life Diet into action–you cannot have one without the other and see results. Even in Phase III which focuses on maintenance…the activity doesn’t go away.

One thing Bob Greene told me last week was to not start any exercise that I wasn’t prepared to continue for the rest of my life…so truly, find what works for you and don’t be scared off if you are not physically agile. It doesn’t have to be an hour–20 hard minutes of any activity (stairs, treadmill, jumprope) is a great way to begin.