Healthy Mondays - "Game On" update...Round 3

I have a complicated faith (don't worry - this isn't a religious post - not brave enough to tread that path just yet).  It includes some traditional, Western beliefs...but also includes a lot of very old, very holistic beliefs.  This planet and all that exists on it is the biggest miracle to me.  I believe that we are healthiest and strongest when we are taking advantage of the gifts that are available to us naturally every day and resort to Western medicine in cases of emergency.  Lest you think I've gone off the deep end - I owe the lives of two very important people in my life to advances in Western, Cancer fighting medicine, so I DO recognize the value that can be found in surgeries, pills and injections!  But I think that our general health can be greatly improved by a holistic, every day approach to taking care of ourselves.

Case in point - I've written about the "Game On" challenge...it has done some really amazing things for me.  For example:

• I am regularly drinking 100 oz of water per day
• I am rarely drinking alcohol
• I have cut soda out of my diet
• I have rarely consumed refined sugar in 2012
• I am naturally focusing on consumption of proteins and raw fruits & vegetables
• I am exercising 20 - 60 minutes per day.  6 days per week

And yes - I definitely started this challenge looking to give my weight loss a jump start.  But I'm sticking with the challenge (I'm in the 3rd month at this point) because I love how great I feel overall!  I honestly believe that at the ripe old age of 35, I'm in nearly the best shape of my life.

Here's the numbers for you...

We are 4 weeks into a 6 week round of "Game On".  This is my third round (we took one week off between round 1 & 2 and the first two rounds were 4 weeks each) so I've been living this healthy lifestyle for 13 weeks!  In that time, I have dropped from a Size 10 jean to a very comfortable size 6.  I have returned to a point where the 7.5 mile run that I did on Friday felt AWESOME and not AWFUL!  I am at a weight that I honestly haven't seen since before I spent a semester in Greece in college and ate way too much baklava.  And - I spent 3 days working with a big bunch of guys who were all flirting with me the whole time, so I MUST be looking better because I can't remember the last time that I turned anyone's head besides my husband's.  My weight when I started was 147.6 and yesterday I was down to 126.6 - 21 pounds lost and I am within a "healthy weight" category.  This is 4 pounds below what I thought was going to be my goal weight because I NEVER thought I'd see 125 again!  WOW!

Since I've cut soda out of my diet, I drink a LOT of water.  Which gets really old after a while.  So - I've started to drink quite a bit of tea.  Usually I go quick and easy with a tea bag but I'm also dabbling in loose leaf, "medicinal" teas as well (this brings this post back around to the holistic health that I talked about up top).  More on this fabulous topic soon!
Here's the pics:

wow - me at the start of "Round 1" - 147.6 pounds

Me today!  126.6 pounds

and showing off the Size 10 jeans...