The Monthly Report

In one month's time, I'll be celebrating the one year anniversary of the day I started living a healthy(er) life; the day I began working on the new me.  I may just be getting the hang of this.  

I celebrated a major milestone this week.  With my weigh in on Monday (238.8), I said goodbye to the 240s and crossed over the 150 lbs lost mark.  I've said this before.  I can't believe the progress I've made and this is my life.

I want to share a few of NSVs ( Non Scale Victories) from the last couple of weeks. 

1) Today, I bought a size LARGE tshirt.  Walmart has these inexpensive tees that I love cause the sleeves are short and I don't have to worry about them fitting my batwings.  I've noticed that the shirts that I have were a bit roomy through the middle (see this month's pic), so today when I ran by Wally World, I decided to try on a large for kicks and giggles and it fit.  I tried on a large dress that was on the clearance rack too.  It fit but when it comes to dresses other things come into play when it's time to make a purchase decision.  Namely the fact that I'm 6' tall and unless I wanted to show the world my business every time I took a breath, the large just wasn't going to work.

2) Yesterday at work we had a potluck/surprise baby shower.  Yes, I overate but I went prepared with my measuring cups and I made conscious decisions about everything that I ate.  My lunch was a whole lot of calories and like I said, I measured my food.  I don't even want to imagine what everybody else ate.  It helps that while preparing for the event, I took the stairs several times between the first and second floors.  It was almost instinctive to walk toward the staircase instead of the elevators.  My weigh in for today is actually 1 lb up from Monday but I think that's solely because of water retention from my sodium intake yesterday.

3) Monday, I was laying on my bed and realized I could feel my hip bones.  Do you know how many layers I had to get rid of to be able to do that?

4) Sunday, I went to see a movie and had to run to the restroom.  As I walked past the mirrors, placed directly under some of the brightest, most unforgiving, fluorescent lights ever, I actually had a little moment of vanity.  I noticed just how thin my face has gotten.  Now I'm not saying I haven't noticed before but under all that bright light, I think I really saw the new me for the first time.

5) Last weekend, while I supposed to be helping my friend Terri clean out her closet, I ended up scavenging a bit and walked away with some new to me shorts and capris, IN A SIZE 12!  I actually wore the capris to work today (again, see this month's pic, ignore the cell phone in my pocket).  When I first started losing weight, I'd set a size goal rather than a weight goal for myself.  I said if I could eventually get down to a size 12, I'd be satisfied.  Now, I know right now I'm not going to be able to walk into every store and buy a size 12 but I'm almost there.  When I get there, we'll see if that's where I decide to stay.

The Monthly Report

Just a quick check in.  The stats for the month are posted.  The good news?  I'm still losing....10 more lbs and 10 more inches.  The bad news?  I lost 2 more inches off my boobs.  :(  I'm so sad to see them go.  Go ahead laugh.  It's ok.  I've decided that once I've maintained my weight loss for at least a year and won the lottery cause that's probably the only way I'll be able to afford it), I'm going to have my batwings clipped and my boobs elevated. 

Thank You Kristin

Back in September, when I started on my weight loss journey, exercise and I were definitely not friends but I knew my diet alone wouldn’t be enough to get where I wanted to be.  We still don’t get along too well but at least we can coexist.

 My friend Kristin invited me come work out with her and the other “Fit Chicks” at the fitness class that she taught.  At 390 lbs, I knew there was no way I’d be able to manage, so Kristin, who was already teaching a pretty intense mixed cardio and strength class started coming to the gym an hour early every Sunday for a lower impact 1 on 1 class with me.  Her goal for me then was to be able to do the “regular” class by the end of October.  

By the Halloween class, I was able to make it through the workout with a few modifications.  After that, I continued with the 1 on 1 session but started staying and participating in more of the group class.  I don’t remember exactly when I graduated to only doing the regular class but I’ve been working out with the rest of the Fit Chicks for a while now.

Today was the last Fit Chicks in Jacksonville.  Kristin’s moving to Tuscaloosa where I’m sure she’ll whip some Bama butts into shape.  But before she leaves, she treated us to a 2 hour workout that I’m sure we’ll all be feeling for the rest of the week.  Back in September, a 2 hour workout would have been something that I wouldn’t even think about much less attempt.  I not only finished the class, I finished strong. 

 

So now I just want to say Thank You, Kristin. From the beginning you’ve been one of my biggest cheerleaders and I really don’t know where I would be now without all the love and support you’ve given me since I started on this path.  I’ll miss you and I love you.  Good Luck in Tuscaloosa and ROLL TIDE!

The difference a year makes.

One year ago today, I went to the doctor for my annual check up.  I went already anxious because I had serious suspicions that I might have diabetes.  So my anxiety level wasn't help at all when I stepped on the scale and saw that I weighed 390 lbs.  It really wasn't much more than the 375 that I thought I weighed, but for some reason that extra 15 lbs made all the difference.  For a few days, I waited for my blood work to come back, ready to start living life as a diabetic.  Fortunately, my results came back negative but I was worried enough, scared enough to finally make the decision to make some major life changes.

Today, I'm an entirely new person, physically and mentally.  Today, I stepped on a scale and saw this:

249.5.  I'd hoped for 250 but resigned myself to 251 or 252.  You can't even begin to imagine how it felt to have to slide that bottom weight over to 200.  I was so overwhelmed that I actually cried. In the last year, I've lost 140.5 lbs.  Sometimes it's hard for me to believe what I've managed to accomplished.

I don't know how to be this "skinny" person.  I remember shopping at plus size stores in 8th grade.  In my entire adult life, I've never been this small.  It's practically ingrained in me to walk straight to the plus size section when I walk into a store.  I walk past a mirror and can't help but look and look again because it's still so hard to believe that this is actually me. 

Sometimes, I have to stop myself from focusing on what I see as the negatives; the fact that I have a LOT of loose skin that I may have to eventually have to have removed, that I still have more to lose, that my boobs have basically disappeared. I have to keep reminding myself that I've come so far and should be extremely proud of myself. 

The last month for me has been a major challenge.  I started a new job and my body is struggling to find balance with my new schedule.  I work, I come home and that's it.  I seem to have totally and completely lost my exercise mojo.  I've still managed to lose even with all the pot lucks, birthday cakes and afternoon ice cream breaks at the office, but I really need to refocus and get back to exercising, cause eventually I'm going to have one too many slices of cake.

But for now, it's time to focus on the positive.  12 months, 140.5 lbs and over 75 inches lost.  That definitely brings a smile to my face.

A Fit Chick & A Chihuahua

It's amazing what stress can do.  Last week I started a new job. Between stressing about learning to do something totally and completely new and trying to figure out how to make my last unemployment check stretch until I get my first "employment" check, my brain and I guess my body were on overload.  I actually managed to lose over 8 lbs last week.  Craziness!!!  With this loss, I now weigh 261 lbs.  Just one little lb away from having lost a 1/3 of my original body weight.

A couple of weeks ago, I was talking to my friend Kristin about how much weight I'd lost.  At the time I was right around 119 down.  I jokingly told her, "I've almost lost you" and an idea was formed, a twist on the then and now pic.  I decided we needed to take pictures when my loss equaled her weight.  With the crazy stressing last week, I kinda shot past the mark and we had to call in a stunt dog, ie. Beuno (thanks Deb).

Holding them up for the few minutes it took to take pictures was a bit of a strain (no offense Kristin but Bueno just pushed it over the top).  It's hard to imagine that I used to walk around everyday carrying that much weight.