What a difference a year makes........

Yesterday, I went to TKD class, it kicked my butt as usual, then home to swim laps. I stayed on plan for the day and that's my plan today as well. Today I am taking a well deserved day off, just for me. No kids, no husband, no work. A year ago that would have meant, going out for a huge breakfast, shopping and treating myself to a nice lunch. Today it means, I'll start my day at the gym and I'm taking my food with me. I'll do some shopping NOT at Lane Bryant and  maybe catch a movie. What a difference a year makes!

This is the one year anniversary of me finding blogland and starting this blog. I regard it as an important milestone in my life now. I am sure had I not stumbled onto this wonderful tool I might not have made it this far in my journey. I was on the verge of quitting having gained a pound or two as we are all prone to do at some point. And then I saw a facebook post from LoseIt by a blogger. I read his blog and this led to other blogs and so on until I realized there were so many others trying to lose weight or who were maintaining their loss and I was inspired. Truly inspired. And here I am a year later. Over the last year I've lost and gained a LOT of things. Here's some of them.


Loss:  Pounds, 60 of them. I've lost 60 pounds since starting this blog a year ago. (84 from my highest weight) Sometimes I feel like it should have been more, but I'm proud of that number. I've never lost that much before.

Gain: I now know what a burpee is.  And P90X, Insanity, bench press, butterflies, chest presses, lat pull downs, v-ups and a whole bunch more. I feel like I'm in the "in" fit crowd cause I know the terminology of fitness now.

Loss: Inches. I've lost a total of 53 inches since starting this blog. (66 from my highest weight)

Gain:  A green belt. Since starting TKD I've learned that I CAN exercise HARD and I CAN exercise in public and I CAN break a board and I CAN spar with someone faster and stronger than me and survive.

Loss: BMI: I've gone from 47 to 36.  Only 6 more points until I'm no longer obese!

Loss:Waist circumference: I've gone from a 49 inch waist to a 36. That's one inch from considered "lower risk" for cardiovascular disease and high abdominal fat content.

Loss:The belief that I was genetically programmed or "destined to be fat: This one was such BS I used to justify my unhealthy choices. I really believed it, too. I honestly just thought I'd always be fat and that losing weight was just impossible for me. WRONG!

Loss:Fear of seat belts: This includes all modes of transportation, cars, airplanes, roller coasters. I know that that no matter what I'm trying to do or where I'm trying to go, I will fit now.


Loss:A closet full of Lane Bryant clothes:  Literally I shopped at Lane Bryant nearly exclusively for all my adult life. Last night I cleaned out MORE from my closet, 3 big bags. Got rid of the 18 and up stuff. It was hard to do some of it. I remember when I could finally get into an 18.  It seemed so small back then and I still can't believe that I wear a smaller size than that.


Loss:Temperature homeostasis:  This is one thing I kinda miss. I'm cold all the time. All. The. Time. It's gotten to where I have trouble wearing sandals at work because my toes get so cold. I have a heater under my desk for when I'm sitting and doing paperwork so my feet won't freeze. It is so weird for someone who was always hot and never wore a coat. I'm hoping my body readjusts my temperature setting so I don't have to keep blankets and sweatshirts for just in case, even in the summer! It's like 100 degrees outside and I feel relief when I go outside now. SO strange. I used to think skinny girls who were cold were weird or just wanted attention. No. Apparently they were cold.


Loss:Butt padding:  Whenever I went to meetings or lectures, people would complain about those metal folding chairs hurting their butts. I never got it. I never had butt pain from hard surfaces. I loved sitting on the ground, even hard surfaces like concrete or tile. NOW, OUCH. It's wonderful because I now FIT into chairs, no matter how small. But.....my butt actually aches after awhile.

Gain: Confidence and credibility:  In my line of work the topics of weight, exercise and healthy diet are constantly part of the dialogue. There were times where I felt like a hypocrite, and rightly so, counseling a patient on healthy lifestyle issues. NO MORE. I may not be at goal, but I'm practicing what I've always preached. It felt so good the other day when a thin, but unfit non-exerciser told me she "just didn't have time" to exercise and that it was "hard". Really? Hard? I explained to her that you can't start a program and go crazy with exercise. She thought that because she was thin she could just go running or lifting weights when she hadn't in years. I told her that if I can do an hour on the elliptical that she could, too, BUT she needed to work up to it. "AN HOUR!" she said. "Holy crap I can only do a few minutes." Score one for the fat chick. Being fit is not just about how much you weigh.


Gain: A whole new life:  This may seem silly, but I feel like a different person. My priorities are so different. I think of things differently now. My life doesn't revolve around food. I don't use food as punctuation for every emotion. I'm teaching my kids how to live a healthy active life. I have no qualms about going on a vacation. If I want to hike, I'll hike. If I want to rent a bike, I can. If I want to swim, I don't mind putting on a swim suit. If I want to do......well....pretty much anything, I can. It's amazing. A-MAZ-ING. And while I'm not done yet, I'm far enough into this thing to know that I want to finish if for no other reason than to see what amazing things I can experience next.


Gain: All of you:  This blog and my blog-friends have truly been so important. To be accountable, supported and just knowing that all of you out there have the same struggles that I do. That has truly been the biggest help to me.  I am still astounded that I have people in my life I regard as true friends that I've never even met. I am astounded that people read this everyday and care what I have to say and sometimes are possibly touched by what I am writing. So thank you, all of you. Can't WAIT to see what this next year brings.