<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"Well, dear Shape Up! readers, the time has come to say goodbye. After six months, several dozen high-fiber breakfast muffins, 12 weeks on the Body by Glamour plan, 20 or so cartons of Greek yogurt, a couple hundred miles logged hitting pavement, and probably six million bicep curls, (ok, ok, I&amp;amp;#8217;m exaggerating, but it certainly felt that way!) I am a changed woman. I know you&amp;#x27;re wondering exactly how changed, so here goes: In terms of weight loss...I&amp;#x27;m down 23 pounds! At the beginning of Body by Glamour, I weighed 173 lbs, and I currently weigh 150 lbs. I&amp;amp;#8217;ve shrunk in other ways too! Here are my measurements: Before: Biceps: 27 cm Chest: 101 cm Waist: 89 cm Hips: 104 Thigh: 62 cm Calf: 43 cm After: Biceps: 28.5 cm (I freaked out when I saw the increase, but apparently, it&amp;amp;#8217;s muscle!) Chest: 95 cm Waist: 82.5 cm Hips: 96 Thigh: 54.5 cm Calf: 40 cm At my heaviest, (four years before Body by Glamour) I weighed 212 lbs., which means I have now lost a total of 62 lbs. As you know, I&amp;#x27;ve never been super-concerned with numbers, but in this instance, I&amp;amp;#8217;m glad they count. Clearly I am still a thick chick, but a happier and a much healthier one! (My BMI went down from a somewhat dangerous 30 to a more moderate 26.) Here I am in 2007, with my best friend. And this morning, playing dress up at the park. To complete the series of changes I&amp;amp;#8217;ve been experimenting with (glasses, new wardrobe) I paid a visit to the hair geniuses at Bumble and Bumble yesterday to get a trim and my first dye job (I actually went a little darker) in about a year! Then this morning I went on a mini photo shoot. Here are a couple more before and after shots. This past April: Today: In April: Today: I&amp;amp;#8217;m sad that we must part ways, but I hope you have been inspired, dear readers. I know that I have been inspired by you; and I feel extremely blessed to have had you along for this incredible journey. In fact, I couldn&amp;amp;#8217;t have done it without your support! So what&amp;#x27;s next for me? I will continue to work out and make wise eating choices as often as I can. I know there will be slip ups, but I&amp;#x27;m not too scared because I plan on being healthy for life. Plus my personal trainer, Taj, and I will still be working together towards some new goals. (Triathlon, anyone??) I&amp;amp;#8217;ll check back in with glamour.com every now and then, but in the meantime, if you want to know more about my latest fitness adventures, you can read about them here. And remember, you can still get great tips on weight loss, workouts, body image, and more, from Sarah and Margarita over at Vitamin G! I want to leave you with final a thought. It&amp;amp;#8217;s the same one we began with six months ago: You are STRONGER than you think. Whether you are struggling with weight, training for your first athletic event ever, or just facing every day food temptation, remember that. If anyone has the power to change their life, it&amp;amp;#8217;s YOU. I know you&amp;amp;#8217;ve heard it before, but it&amp;#x27;s true: big change starts with tiny steps. Don&amp;amp;#8217;t be discouraged if you don&amp;amp;#8217;t see results at first, because those tiny steps DO add up! And if you mess up, it&amp;amp;#8217;s OK. Be kind to yourself and recognize that you&amp;amp;#8217;re human, but don&amp;amp;#8217;t stay there for too long. You really can do anything! xoxo, Karina Plus: Margarita&amp;#x27;s weight loss recipe The shocking &amp;quot;health tip&amp;quot; from one of the world&amp;#x27;s oldest people. 16 Ways I Learned to Love My Body More Ways to Get Glamour: You could win $50,000 just for registering or logging in to Glamour.com! Sign up for Glamour.com&amp;amp;#8217;s Style Tips of the Week and Beauty Tip of the Day newsletters. Add Glamour to your iGoogle homepage. Follow us on Twitter. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.glamour.com/health-fitness/blogs/shape-up/2009/09/farewell-shape-up-plus-how-muc>