5 years ago, when I left the Army, despite having had 2 children and having reached the ripe old age of 32 I was still in pretty good shape.

Sure, in my 11 years of service my weight had slowly crept up from the 132lbs to 140lbs, but it still sat decently on my 5′2″ frame.

Of course, I had NEEDED to stay in shape.  When you are a service member, you given a physical fitness test and have your height and weight taken at a minimum every 6 months.  Physical fitness was a daily requirement of my job until I reached the higher ranks-but even when I was not required to attend formal company sessions, I still had to make sure I kept my weight to certain standards or risk my job!

Then I left the service. . . became a stay at home mom. . . and began to gain weight. . .

And now, 5 years later I’m 15 lbs heavier.  Not only heavier, but FLABBIER! As we all know, muscles are more dense than fat, so those 15 lbs are taking up more space than you would expect.

I have always know what to do-it’s a matter of actually taking the time, putting myself first, and doing it.  I haven’t been doing any of that.

It was like providence when Kathryn from EA Sports Active contacted me about joining the 30 Day Challenge.  There it was–a sign!

This time I swear I’m going to stick with it. Unlike the exercise DVDs, the gym membership and my promise to myself that I’d get up early and run 3 days a week (yeah, right) I want to stick to this. Really stick to it.

So here I am , promising publicly, with PICTURES and everything, that I will take the 30 day challenge and stick with it.  On the 1st of July, you all will see a slimmer, more toned me! And to keep me honest, I’ve challenged* my good friend Lucretia as well.

Tune in to cheer us on and see how we do!

Coming soon-the starting measurements and starting workout.

*Note: Well ok, it was like a mutual challenge

Jenn Fowler blogs at Frugal Upstate where she encourages folks to “Use what you have, get creative and save.” She co-hosts the talk radio show “Frugal Coast2Coast” , is a FiLife contributor, one of the founding members of the Walmart Elevenmoms, and a Frugal Living Speaker. Jenn is addicted to twitter ( @jennfowler ).