One Year......

I really wanted to get on here Saturday and post for my one year "anniversary" of starting my weight loss journey. But, I was in the doctor's office and pretty much out of it all weekend. Turns out, I have a sinus infection and an ear infection in my right ear. BLAH!!! I was in absolute misery, to the point of tears. I haven't been this sick, to the point of needing to see a doctor and prescription to fix my illness since I was 9 months pregnant with my youngest...which was also for a sinus infection. Ironically, chances are, I got this crud from my initial visit to the doctor establishing myself as a patient almost two weeks ago. It's what I get for finally going to the doctor! HA!!! I also had my physical done late last week and am now awaiting lab results from my pap and full blood workup. I expect all will be well. :)

So.......as previously mentioned, I have had my one year anniversary since starting my weight loss journey. :) What an absolutely AMAZING year it's been!!!! I hit 133 pounds lost on Saturday, meaning only 7 pounds till I'm literally HALF the girl I used to be!!! CrAzInEsS!!!!!! I'm living this and still can hardly believe this is ME!!! :)

In other EXCITING news.....I was in the store the other day, for fun I decided to try on some size 6 capris just to see how close I was to having them fit and look good too. I was absolutely thrilled to find that they slid right on, buttoned up and looked good too! :) WOOHOOOOO!!!! So, of course, I had to buy them. ;) On the way home from the store, I started contemplating whether or not my wedding dress would fit me now. I had tried it on 2 or 3 times before and just couldn't quite get it zipped up all the way. So, I went and pulled it out of storage again. I put it on and had my 6 year old (only other person home at the time) zip me up....and it ZIPPED.....ALL THE WAY UP!!!!! :) I started screaming and jumping up and down and he was literally on my bed rolling in hysterical laughter at me. LOL A couple minutes later, Erik arrived home from Scouts with our other two boys and I went running down the back stairs squealing with excitement to show him. Yes, I'm sure I was quite a site to behold running bare foot out of my house in my wedding dress. LOL I took some pictures, but I'm not super thrilled with them......taken at 8:30 at night, hair and makeup looking like it's 8:30 at night. LOL So, I'm going to have Erik take some nice ones of me to post here when I'm fresh. :) Was going to do that Saturday, but then got so sick.
So, that's my update for now. Only SEVENTEEN pounds till goal!!!! :)

I can so ROCK this 35 year old thing. ;)

Turned 35 on Monday and it's been a really good week. Hit the -130 pounds on Sunday, then broke from being in the 150s into the 140s with my actual weight on Tuesday. :) Go me!!! :) On Wednesday, I went to the doctor for the first time in 6 1/2 years. Doctor is nice, that went well and now I have an appointment for next Thursday for a complete head to toe exam and blood work. I can hardly wait. ;) LOL Definitely not my idea of a good time, but I'm loooooooooonnnnnnnngggggggg overdue and it needs to be done.

I have been to the gym every day this week!! Go me!!!! :) I went last night because I couldn't go in the morning, when I usually go, because of going to the doctor. I was BEAT by the time I was done. Have to say that I much prefer going in the morning. Less crowded and I don't have almost and entire day's worth of energy spent by the time I'm there. I literally flopped myself onto my bed and laid there for a while trying to get the energy to change my clothes. LOL Then, though I still felt beat from last night, I went to Zumba this morning. I LOVE Zumba!!!! If you haven't gone to a Zumba class, you're missing out. It is so much fun and a great workout. :) Last year, I'd have laughed about going to the gym at all, much less every day. Now, I LOVE IT!!!!

So, I've decided that getting older isn't so bad. I feel better and look better than I have in years. So, I'm embracing it and totally going to ROCK IT!!!! :)

-130!!!!!

Woohoooo!!!! So, today I *finally* hit 130 pounds lost. Making my weight 150. I'm hoping within a couple of months that I can flip those two numbers with 150 lost, weighing 130.....which is GOAL!!!! Actually I'm toying with the idea of going for 5 more pounds and going for 125.....haven't quite decided. So, as for now, 130 is still the goal. Anything more will be the "cherry on top." :) Here's my 130 loss pix. Next stop.....-140. Exactly HALF of my starting weight!!!!! I can't believe I'm so close!!! :)

The difference a year makes......

Been doing some deep thinking this morning. ;) As I'm half way through the last week of being 34, heading like a bullet train into my (GULP!!!) mid-thirties AND as I'm quickly approaching my one year "anniversary" of starting my weight loss journey, I've been thinking about the huge changes I've made over the last year.

My life is so different, *I* am so different than I was just a year ago. The last two mornings, I've woken up just tired and sort of "blah" feeling. I've done my usual routine of getting the kids up, fed breakfast, ready for school, pack their lunches and sending them out the door, while my bed has been calling to me, "Jodi, come back!!!" And oh how I've wanted to. I think it's the weather. It's cold (again, ugh!), gray sky, rainy, foggy..... The kind of weather that just makes you wanna stay in your PJs all day and curl up under the blankets. But, every morning, I have forced myself past that feeling, pushed it to the side, gotten myself dressed and hauled my booty to the gym. A year ago, I'd have climbed right back into my bed. But, I have a different focus, a drive that I haven't had in so long. I'm doing things for myself that I know are good for me, make me feel better in the end and that are inching me closer and closer to goals I have set for myself. :)

My weight was a culmination of a lot of things going on with me, but I think I threw myself so much into doing things for other people.....mostly my husband and kids....that I neglected myself. I was too tired and exhausted to have anything left for me or really even to care about me. I really lost myself.

But, now, I'm getting glimpses of myself. My true self. The one that I'd forgotten about that was so light-hearted and silly and loved to laugh and make people laugh. The one who was outgoing and unafraid. The girl who felt like she fit in and had a place in this world. I'm not totally there yet, but I'm thrilled that I'm not actually this fuddy duddy person I'd become. :) I've started to think about what I want to do next with "Project Me" once I have reached my weight loss goals. I'm contemplating going back to school. But, I need to figure out what I want to be when I grow up. LOL A year ago, I'd never have thought of that either. :)

Oh and on another note. I haven't been to a doctor in a LONG time. Like since my 6 week post partum check up after having my youngest, who is now 6 1/2 (shameful confession). Yikes!!! Part of it was due to moving. Part of it due to not wanting to discuss my weight with the doctors. Part of it because my Mom got sick and I was afraid of hearing anything bad about myself. And part of it due to the fact my Mom, through her illness had a few things happen to her because of doctor screw ups and ultimately her death caused by medical malpractice. So, I've avoided going to the doctor for myself like the plague. ;) But, I called the practice my boys go to and set myself up an appointment for next week, so I can thoroughly take care of me! :)
When my Mom got sick, she begged me to take care of myself, to lose weight and take control of the things that I have control over. I know she's in Heaven looking down on me and so proud of me. Okay, the end. I've gone and made myself cry. ;)

Water.......the diet wonder

Just thought I'd put a little plug in here for drinking water. Before I started this plan, I was *not* a water drinker. This was, and still is to some point, something I have to be very deliberate about doing. Plain water is not my preferred choice of beverage, but it is soooooooo important. Just to be healthy and keep your body running as it should, a person should consume at least 64 oz of water every single day. But, really, 64 oz isn't a lot and is pretty easy to consume. Something I have tried to do since being on plan and that I recommend to others is to consume *at least* 100 oz every day. When I'm being good, I actually do about double that. I mentioned in my previous blog entry that I was sort of stuck. Well, don't want to jinx anything but the scale is moving again. :) The only thing I have really changed is to up my water consumption and stay on top of it. I have absolutely noticed that when I drink more, I lose more. So, anyone trying to lose weight, no matter what plan if any you are using.....pound the water. You really cannot hurt yourself drinking a lot of water as long as you space it out and give your kidneys time to process it. So, don't go all crazy and drink a gallon in a sitting. But, a gallon or even a little more over a day is okay.

While I'm at it......going to make a little plug for something else. While being conscious of your body and trying to take care of it, remember to take care of our planet and be kind to it. I'm no crazy environmentalist.....but I've noticed in the gym sooooo many people using the kind of water bottles you buy by the case. If you're trying to drink a lot of water, that's a whole lot of waste even if you recycle. Buy a reusable water bottle and refill it. Many refrigerators come with filtered water dispensers and even if you don't have one, you can buy filter attachments for your faucet or buy a filtered pitcher to keep in your fridge. I actually have a favorite water bottle that I like so much I went out and bought a couple more of the same kind. I use one bottle all day long and then wash it. Much more environmentally friendly. :) Also, because I know how many ounces it is....I fill it *at least* once for every meal and am easily able to keep track that way of how much I consume for the day. :)

My favorite water bottle. It's like $4 at Walmart. :)

Patience is a virtue. Patience is a virtue. PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE.

This is what I keep telling myself any way...and I believe it. But, I'm having a hard time being patient. And I know it's ridiculous. What am I being impatient about? Losing this last darn 25 pounds that at this point are feeling eternally glued to my body. ;) I *know* that this is how it goes. The less you have to lose, the slower it comes off. It's the truth that I tell to my clients. Especially those looking to lose less weight than I started with needing to lose. The more you have to lose, the faster it comes off. The less you have to lose, the slower. I mean, I lost 125 pounds in 11 months. That is UNFREAKINGBELIEVABLY AMAZING!!! I *know* that. But, this last 25 isn't coming off anywhere near as fast as that first 25. Ugh. However, I am thrilled to be at this end of my journey. :)
A friend that I have made through Facebook who is on this plan too, hit her goal on Sunday. I am ECSTATIC for her as I have watched her journey since I started my own. She made a video of her journey that had me in such happy tears last night as I watched it. I related so much to her journey and it made me so excited that there really IS a light at the end of the tunnel for me. She had about the same amount to lose as I did and it took her 58 weeks. So, a little over a year and I'm quickly approaching my "anniversary" too.....so hopefully that's somewhere near the time frame I have to look at as well. So, if your reading, another shout out of CONGRATULATIONS!!!! to Margene!!!! You're awesome, girl!!! :)
So, I will keep putting one foot in front of the other, keep doing what I'm doing and reminding myself that PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE!!! :)

A couple of visuals......

Since it hit 80* here today, I decided that I needed some new "springy" things to wear on my bottom half. ;) So, I went shopping today and bought me a couple pairs of capris. I was hanging the new items up in my closet and my "big" pants folded and sitting in the top of my closet caught my eye. So, I pulled them down and laid my new capris atop my old pants. The old pants are a size 20. The biggest size bottom I ever bought. They were tight and truthfully, I could have fit nicely in *at least* a 22, if not a 24. The capris are size 8 and fit me perfectly. :) I can still hardly wrap my mind around the idea that I actually fit into a size EIGHT!!! :) I hold them up and they seem so small and I doubt they will fit me, but then they do. My mind has just not caught up to my body yet. It's really kind of funny. :)

The old and the new.......



My youngest, Connor, and I goofing off IN my "big" pants. He is my youngest and smallest...but, I have lost MORE than my 5'6" 12 year old (tomorrow!) weighs. :)
Oh and pardon how scary I look, it's the end of the day and I'd already undressed for the day and am in my lounge wear (under neath the pants). ;)