I'm still letting this sink in kind of...

This was me at my absolute heaviest back in December 2012- at the conclusion of the busiest, stressful year of my life:

Gross right? Anyway looking at photos from last year and the years before that make me feel so weird. I was ridiculously pudgy, I looked gross and in some weird ironic way, I thought I was happy with myself. But there was always that underlying disappointment with my appearance and my weight and size. It's been an ongoing thing since I was a kid, and not to mention I was bullied for my looks on several occasions.

Considering I did little to no exercise last year, spending time in my room, eating because I was stressed or bored, I was on the verge of being obese for my height. I had a sort of epiphany in late December, at the turn of the new year that something needed to be done. As soon as January the 1st came about, I went for my first run in a long time, and I went running almost every single day for a month. Not to mention, I picked up taekwondo again and I do it at least twice a week for two hours a session. After my birthday, I went vegetarian (okay I can't eat fish because it makes me really sick, and i'm honestly not a fan of red meat and pork and the like)and while it was a very very short stint, it sort of made me eat so much more healthier. I cut out almost all the crap in my diet, watched when I ate and what I ate. I didn't even notice myself doing it, or the effects it had on me until I tried on this dress and took this photo: 

I look completely ridiculous I know, but I took this photo at the end of April/start of May and yes it's me wearing a dress, but this isn't any dress-this is my year 11 formal dress, which I've only worn twice in my life and even still, the two occasions I wore it I was quite pudgy, even considering I was wearing some sort of slim-wear slip underneath it. I slipped it on-minus the slim-wear, and it fit me like a glove. It wasn't tight in the slightest. I tried on this dress, along with many others and I cried.

Since that day in December when the first photo was taken, I have lost 8 kilos. EIGHT! I feel so much better about myself, how I look, what I wear and how I wear it, I don't feel so self conscious about the littlest of things, like my friends trying to pick me up or volunteer to give me a piggy back. But all these little things are making me so much happier! 

My aim is to lose at least another 7 kilos and to start running during the winter, as well as definitely going to taekwondo twice a week. 

It's just a reminder that anything, no matter how hard it is, is actually possible. It was the biggest reality check and as long as it continues to make me happy, I'll continue to do it!