Weight Loss Revelations

I started my journey toward a healthy weight in October. I walked into a Weight Watchers meeting not knowing what to expect. I had already spent tons of money over the years on gym memberships, diet books, other weight loss programs and tons of different foods. So, when I made the decision to go to Weight Watchers I didn't have a whole lot of confidence that it would work. I told myself that I would give it a few weeks and that no matter what I would follow the program. If after that time I didn't see any results, I vowed that I wouldn't waste the money and quit. I fully expected to quit, but since that first day I've lost 41.8 pounds.

The past two weeks have been a struggle though. I've gained a small amount and then had a small loss. It was starting to get frustrating, but I know that's just a part of this process now and that I have to find new ways to motivate myself and keep pursuing my goal. Yesterday I had a pretty awesome realization about my new body that made me want to keep going more than ever. Once a year the boys and I go to a local water park courtesy of our life insurance company. It's a lot of fun, but it also requires a great deal of energy. We went to the park yesterday and did all of the things we normally do there. They have this great lazy river where you get into tubes and float around. Last year when I was doing this I would try to jump up through the center of the tube and pull my legs up to get into the position that I wanted to be in. Every time I tried it it was really difficult and one time I flipped myself completely over in the water during an attempt. But this year I was doing the same thing and had no trouble at all. After the second time I did it, I thought "Did they change these tubes?". Then it dawned on me, I've lost 40 pounds!!! They didn't change, I did! It was awesome feeling! Not long after that the boys wanted to go down the large tube slides. This requires climbing up a steep flight of stairs carrying an awkward two seater tube. Last year when I did this I was so out of breath by the time I was barely able to enjoy going down the slide. This time, I was a little winded (I think you'd have to be an athlete not to be) but it wasn't near as bad and so much more fun!

So, while I may not be at my goal yet, and I still have a setbacks, it's moments like these that make it so worth the effort and make me want to keep going.

Tuesday Randomness

Lots of stuff has been going on so this is just going to be a lot of rambling.

My oldest is at camp for the whole week :( We dropped him off on Sunday evening and won't be picking him up until Friday evening. We're taking the youngest to a mini camp tomorrow evening and picking him up Friday as well. I miss them like crazy while they're gone so this is a hard week. It's been weird only having one kid at home too. I'm used to them entertaining (or trying to kill each other) and now I'm the one who has to do the entertaining. There's a lot less drama here with only one though that's for sure. It will be nice to have them both back though.

I've gained a pound back over the last two weeks but I'm not stressing about that. Yesterday I had someone tell me that someone who had just met me didn't believe I'd ever been heavy. It was nice to hear. I dug up some pictures of myself at my biggest and it was a real shocker. I was amazed at how large I really was and how I thought I looked. I honestly didn't think I looked as big as I was. I also didn't think I'd changed that much, but clearly I have. So, I'm happy even with the slight gain.

There has been a lot of other stuff going on in my life that I don't feel too comfortable sharing on here at this point. However, I will say that they have been an interesting test of the power of positive thinking (or negative, whichever the case may be). Based on how so many things have played out recently I realize that the only course of action is to maintain a positive attitude and focus on the outcomes I desire. The hows of all of those things will take care of themselves.

Last Week of School!

So tomorrow is the beginning of the last week of school for the boys and I can't wait! Oh sure, I'm ready for them to go back when the time comes, but I also love it when they are out of school and we can worry less about bedtime and homework and such. It's great to just be able to go out in the evenings and do things we want without having to constantly think about what has to get done.

I'm taking a break for the summer myself. After seriously overdoing my schedule last semester and ending up with my first "F" ever :( I decided I couldn't cram it all in like I was trying and do a good job. So, now I won't graduate until May and I'm fine with that. I'm also fine with the "F". I didn't do the work plain and simple. It would have broken my heart when I was in high school, but now it's just a sign that I need to slow it down.

After my last Weight Watchers meeting (where I gained 2/10 boo) I realized that I'm only 17 pounds from goal!!!! Holy crap! I still want to lose 10 more after goal to be in the middle of the healthy weight range for my height, but once I hit goal I'm going to be so freaking happy!! If you had told me in October that I'd be at this point now I would have told you that you were crazy. Sure, others have lost it faster, but I never thought I'd lose the weight. Now, I have all of these things I want to do and ways I want to test my body and that's something I never thought I'd feel. It's amazing and I owe it all to WW!!

Hope your week is great!