A couple days ago we hiked A Mountain in Tempe and when I downloaded I found a full-length picture of me that will work as a progress picture. Here it is, look you can actually see muscle in my calves!

A Very Merry Birthday

Today is my birthday. I'm 27 years old today. It feels pretty good. I'm giving myself lots of birthday presents this year. The gift of loving myself as much as I love others. The gift of thinking about me once and a while. The gift of letting go of the guilt. The gift of enjoying my children more than I ever have before. The gift of being happy with what I've accomplished and not disappointed that I haven't done more.

I haven't weighed myself this morning but I've been pretty stable all week long. I don't think I lost weight but that's not surprising after the big loss last week. I'm sorry I haven't got a new picture of me up yet. I never remember when David is here and it's kind of hard to take it by myself. I'll work on that this week.

Love you all! Have a great week.

Dr. Appt

I had my third appointment with my weight loss specialist this week. And the official weigh in was 189.

Woo-hoo! 180's on my scale. At least for one day, then I got sick and couldn't stomach my shakes or exercise for 3 days. So I put a couple of those pounds back on. But they're mostly water weight which should come off today now that I'm back on my program. The fact is the last time I weighed 190 was when I got pregnant with Emma, nearly 7 years ago. So that's 36 lbs lost and we're cruising up on 40 lbs! What a nice birthday present that would be. Yep, that's right my birthday is a week from today and I will be 27. My birthday present to myself is not having to spend another birthday over 200 lbs. Have a great week everyone and I promise I'll post a new picture this week.

And finally...

GO CARDINALS! Superbowl here we come! My dad told me that if you had bet $20 at the beginning of the season that the Cardinals would be in the Superbowl you would be collection $200,000 today. Crazy, huh?

I'm Back....Finally!

Hey everyone, I'm back! Sorry about the long silence but I was enjoying my Christmas break without much thought ot losing weight. Which was a very nice break. But now it's a new year, the season of weight loss goals. For one month I'm not the only person obsessed with weight loss, I'm one of millions! Are you one of them? Let me tell you a couple things I've learned.

Losing weight is a decision you make in your mind. It's a series of small choices that add up. It's one part science and one part perseverance. It's one of the slowest things I've ever done in my life! It's a lifestyle not a temporary fix. If you start a diet thinking "I'll do this until I lose 10 lbs and then I'll stop." You will be losing those 10 lbs over and over again for the rest of your life, and watching your weight slowly go up. (Or not so slowly). Being healthy is a lifetime commitment. A lifetime of playing with your kids, or grandkids, of taking long walks with your special someone, a lifetime of time to do what you want. Healthy is something different for all of us, many of us (me included) are dealing with medical issues that prevent us from being as healthy as we want to be. Sometimes it's hard to look down the road and see a lifetime painted with doctor's appointments, medications, and symptoms that won't go away. I've learned to enjoy the small things about my body and not focus on what it won't do. I appreciate legs that are strong enough to walk, and arms that can pick up my children. This is the only life I'm going to get and I don't want to spend it angry at the hand I've been dealt.

Enough psycho-babble! I'm down to 193! Yea! I've lost 32 lbs thus far and am hoping to see 189 on my scale in the near future. I weight 190 when I got pregnant with Emma almost 7 years ago! I see my doctor on Thursday so I'm eager to see what my body fat percentage is this month. I've been weight lifting on a regular basis and using my Wii Fit at night for some aerobic exercise. And just one more thing before I go....

GO CARDINALS! YOU CAN BEAT THOSE EAGLES!