A long past due update.

Its been a long summer.  Lots of changes.  Lots of stress.  Lots of trying to adjust.
First we bought a house.  The house is perfect for our needs, and its a huge upgrade from the rental we were living in.  The landlord let his house go, and refused to do proper maintenance which i guess is quite common out here.  Anyway, that whole situation has been a disaster.  But with moving, and dealing with him.. and having 3 house guests come to live with us.  There have been alot of changes and things to adjust to.  I guess because of this, is why I struggled with my weight loss program all summer.  Well that, and it was summer.  I spent too many days out doing stuff, living life, and grabbing food on the go.  Spent more time doing chores, and spending time with the kids, and not so much focusing on myself.  Because if this I gained a little weight.  Now mind you, in the past I would have packed on some serious poundage.  There is a reason I got up to 334 lbs.  And even though I cheated alot, and didnt work out as much.. I only gained 8 lbs all summer.  Most of that weight being gained in the last 3 weeks.  Birthday dinner, and cake, and anniversary meal, and just not watching anything I ate.  Well. I will take it as a short fall, in the huge game that I will be victorious in.

My dad who has been my biggest supporter in this (and who is a muscle man himself) said this "give yourself permission to take the summer as a break, dont beat yourself up about it.  but when school starts get back to business)  Great advice.  Its not giving myself permission to scarf down whatever I want, and not do anything.  It was permission to make mistakes and not beat myself up over it.  It was giving myself permission to say its ok that I messed up some.  Because in the past i would have said, well i already gained weight, i might as well just quit now.

August 2013  -55lbs

January 2013                                             April 2013

Ya know I started this journey 6 months ago.  At first I thought it was just a diet, temporary.  This has become my life.  This is who I am now.  I dont want chips all the time, I dont crave red meat every day.  I LOVE my veggies at every meal.  I CRAVE my workout time.  I feel SOOO GOOD when I work out.  And I have made huge successes in my life.  Alot of non scale victories (NSV) were achieved these past 6 months.  Yeah I messed up a little, but I have not quit, and I have not given up on myself.  Every day that i wake up, I try.


NON SCALE VICTORIES
   some of these things an average person takes for granted.  As an obese person, I revel in my small victories.  

I can touch my toes.
I can do full sit ups.
I can run up stairs (102 up and down yesterday)
I can bike 15 miles
I can sit with my legs crossed (this was huge for me, its been a very long time since I could cross my legs)
I can lift weights (had no upper body strength)
I can dance without being out of breath
My cholesterol, blood pressure, and sugar are all normal and healthy!
My heart no long keeps me up all night long with its irregular pounding
I hiked a pretty tough course and say a magnificent waterfall. (would have been impossible last year)

this is just to name a few.  HUGE accomplishments in my life.  Things that let me know I am on the right path.  I am stronger, I am healthier, I am happier, I am a better me!