Days #288 - #313: 1 Year Ago...

Helloooo!!

(No worries- I haven't died and I didn't "fall off" the wagon- I simply have been livin' life!)

I can hardly believe that 1 year ago today I began this journey of healthy living and weight loss.

On November 8th, 2009 I stood on the scale and saw a # that horried and disgusted me: 352.

On November 8th, 2010 I stood on the scale and saw a very different #- one I'm proud of: 289.

I'm 63lbs down in a year and couldn't be happier :)

Right now I'm still trucking along toward reaching my goal of losing 75lbs by December 21st (the day I fly home for Christmas and see my family who remember me at 352lbs) and I'm only 12lbs away!!!

ANNNNDDD because I'm down another 20lbs it's time for me to post my next progress pic which will happen later this week.

During this last month that I've been MIA I've done a lot of rethinking and have made some major changes which I hope to be sharing with ya'll (along withe progress pic) very soon!

There is also no way that I could conclude this post without saying a BIG thank you to all of the bloggers who have been there through the thick and thin(ner) me :)

What Losing 180lbs Looks Like (New Progress Pictures!)

I'm excited to being sharing the next installment of progress pictures with ya'll today!  

They are actually a bit overdue as I try to post every time I lose 20lbs, but this time there is 32lbs in between today's pics and the previous ones. So without further adieu...

Photo on the Left: 204lbs & Photo on the Right: 172lbs

If you are interested in checking out every progress picture I've taken since the beginning of my weight loss journey (in 20lb increments), you can do so at my "My Progress" page. 

I always do like to compare the first pictures I ever took (which still were of me after I had already lost about 20lbs) with my current ones. So, here's what losing 180lbs looks like: 

When I look at these pictures I still have a hard time believing I actually ever looked like that. I mean, I was so big my body wouldn't even fit into the frame of the photo! However, I don't look at the girl in  my before photos and hate her- she was loved by many (most importantly by God) and had many people in her life that she loved. She was doing her best with what she had and the situations that life had handed her. More than anything I just feel sad when I look at her. Sad that she had allowed herself to become a victim of her circumstances, sad that she wasn't living in the freedom and victory that were available to her, and sad that she didn't seem to know what she was really capable of and deserved. 

But I know now.

 3 years later, I know that there is nothing I can't do through Christ's strength and grace. I know that nothing can dictate my present and future other than my own choices and God's sovereignty. I know that I am worth fighting for and that nothing is out of my reach. I know that I have nothing to fear in this journey except the power I have to chose to settle for less than my best, which means I have nothing to fear because I am hell-bent on finishing this race even stronger than I began. 

Question #1: What have you proven to yourself during your weight loss journey that you didn't know before you began? 

Question #2: This is a little random, but has anyone tried PB2? I read about it on a blog recently but wanted to get some more opinions- has anyone else tried this? 

Our Healthy Halloween Fun!

So, remember how it was just last week that D and I had the honest & frank conversation about how I needed him to support me in regards to healthy eating? 

Well, apparently old dogs can learn new tricks because when I got home from work last Wednesday, I arrived to find that he had planned & prepared a mini-Halloween party for the two of us that was composed of all HEALTHY Halloween treats! 

I mean, besides the fact that he's also Captain America, I'm pretty sure I have the greatest husband ever :) 

He started off our healthy Halloween dinner with these: 

Monster mouth caramel apples! (The teeth are made from sliced almonds!) 

Followed by the main course: 

Mummified Flatbread Pizza & Brussel Sprouts (btw- it's official, brussel sprouts are not for me and I promise it's not how they were prepared- I didn't hate them but the fact is they just have too much of a vegetable taste for me- bleck!)

And finally, dessert!

Frozen "carved" clementine shell filled with frozen greek yogurt and reduced sugar/fat chocolate sauce! 

I've gotta say, for not knowing all that much about healthy eating (except for what I've taught him) and not really caring about what he eats for himself at all, I was super duper impressed with his take on a healthy Halloween dinner but more importantly that he obviously had taken to heart our conversation the week before. I'm a blessed girl. 

Weigh In: 

• Previous Weigh In: 176lbs
• This Weeks Weigh In: 172lbs 
• Result: Loss of 4lbs! 

My goal this week is to continue to lose another 2lbs per week and I'll be glad to take more than that a week as I know I have some tough weeks ahead (the Holidays but we are also traveling to Spain in two weeks) but nothing is going to stop me from reaching my goal of 160lbs by Christmas! 

Question: Anyone have any good Holiday eating survival strategies to share?