7/27/2016: Almost There!

Weight:  150.8

I have two days to go and I have made it to 150.something!  Barely!  Yes, it feels good to be so close to goal!!

Check out the chart!  Almost there!!

7/27/2016: 12 Week Challenge, Operation Re-Start Chart.  Two days and 8/10ths of a pound to go!

I might not make it to the very corner of the chart before Friday morning, but I am so close.  Lauren will be here tomorrow morning which is when we will do the final fit test and measurements.  My final weigh in will be Friday morning before we leave on vacation.  I am very pleased.  This 12 Week Challenge has been a huge success.  I am going to continue to be super disciplined this last two days. I'm not going to not cross that horizontal axis for lack of trying!

Speaking of vacation, look at those spikes on the graph.  There were three little trips in the last 5 weeks and they have wrecked havoc on my chart.  It is very difficult for me to stay on track when I am not cooking my own food.  What am I going to do about this vacation that is coming up?  I am committed to staying at 150 pounds for life.  I do not want to get to goal just to immediately gain 4 pounds while I am on vacation.

First, we are driving and we are camping, therefore, I will be packing food and cooking a least some, if not most, of our meals.  That will help a lot.  Step 1:  As often as I can, I will eat food that I have prepared.  Step 2:  I will be careful with portions.  We are camping with the grand kids.  There will be times that the meals we are eating will be off program.  I'm not going to fret about that, but I am going to be very careful about my portions.  If we have pizza one night for dinner, I'll have one piece, not three.  If we go into town for ice cream I'll have a single scoop in a dish, not a double scoop in a waffle cone.  I will keep my portions small.

Second, this will be an active trip.  Come on, think about it:  we're camping with five children from the ages of three to twelve.  Who is going to have time to eat?  Ha ha!!  I'm sure they will keep me hopping, particularly with Jackie in a cast.  Seriously, we'll be hiking and going on an adventure of some sort every day.  We're going to stay so active that as long as I keep all my portions small, I should be able to maintain my weight on this trip.  That will be my goal.  I'm going to come home and step on the scale and see 150.something.  Yes, I am!!

I've worked hard over the last four years to no longer be a fat person.  I've fought this battle most of my adult life.  For the first time I feel like I've actually gotten over the hill.  It started with losing 78 pounds in 2012, and then keeping most of it off until last year.  I gained a little back (about 25 pounds) and said, "No!" and lost it again in the spring of 2015.  That is when I finally decided to have the surgery done to remove the extra skin at my belly and breasts.  All of the sagging skin was so depressing.  It made it hard for me to stay motivated in my battle.  Last winter I had the "Mommy Makeover" surgery to fix the things I could not fix with diet and exercise:  a tummy tuck, a breast lift, and, not incidentally, liposuction to remove the saddle bags on my thighs.  Recovery was rough and it was long, longer and harder than I thought it would be.  I did well on my diet, at first.  But as the months went by and I could not work out, the pounds and the fat started to accumulate until I was at 163.8 pounds by April of 2016.  That's when I decided to do the 12 Week Challenge and prove to myself and to the world what I could accomplish with 12 weeks of dietary discipline and hard work in my weight room and running shoes.

I wanted photographic evidence of the power of exercise, particularly strength training.  I can't wait to add my final photos to the above chart.  Now, whenever I think I don't want to exercise, all I have to do is look at these photos and say, "Really?  And why don't you want to exercise today?"

I like being the size that I am right now.  It feels right.  I feel like I fit in my skin.  I don't feel too big and I don't feel too small.  I feel just right!  Even more importantly, I like being strong.  I like seeing and feeling the muscle definition in my arms, shoulders, legs, abdomen, and back.  I like being able to lift the things I want to lift.  I like being fit.  I like being able to go on a 12 mile hike or a long bike ride.  I like being able to do whatever I want to do and I like it when my body can take me to the places I want to go.  This makes me happy.  I am grateful that I am healthy and strong and that I am finally in a place in my life where I can keep it this way.  All the pieces seem to be in place for me to maintain this level of fitness for the rest of my life.  When I first lost this weight in 2012 I felt desperate as the weight loss part of the program was coming to an end.  I had no idea how I was going to maintain my weight once the goal was not longer to lose weight each week.  I don't feel that way anymore.  I feel confident and sure of myself.  What a great feeling!

Two more days!!  I'll be posting final results very soon!!

Have a good one out there!!  I hope you enjoy a lovely summer day.