Spring has sprung!

Spring as sprung in Alaska!  Yesterday was one of the most beautiful days this spring.  We brought out the deck chairs, bikes and side walk chalk!  In the morning I went for a run with a friend and in the evening I went for a walk with Julia.  Now I face a challenge I have never had before.

I need to STOP loosing weight!  About 4 pounds ago I was perfectly happy with my weight.  My face was thin but not too thin, my arms look a little skeletal but not too bad.  I had been the same weight for about a month or so.  Now with the warmer weather and an increase in activity I am starting to lose weight again.

I look in the mirror and I don't look healthy.  I talked to my Dr. and she said to really pack in the protein.  Easier said than done. Protein fills you up and most of the high protein products are very sweet and gummy bars.  I can choke down about 1/2 of one but that's it.  So if you see me offer me a piece of steak or chicken! LOL!!

I know to some of you this might feel like I'm rubbing it in that I'm having this problem. That's not what I'm trying to do.  I'm just trying to relay my entire journey.  I meet lots of women that ask me about my journey because they are interested in having the surgery and I want them to know everything I've gone through.

See....I think I look a little skeletal. 

Anyway...that's all for now.  Thank you to friends and family that support me no matter what. Thank you to my friends that help keep me motivated to stay healthy and stay active!

Cruzin' right along!!

So we are 3 months into 2012 and I am 10 months post op!!  Wow where did time go???  I've already ran 2 5K races this year!  I've got at least one race a month planned until late Aug. and a Triathlon in June.  I still need to learn how to swim but its a beginner race.  I know enough to get up and down the lane.  It just won't be pretty.

I've past my goal of 100 pounds lost (about 102 lost) now I just want to get fit!  My friend Stephanie and I bought the 6 week boot camp pass for a local fitness club and my next goal is to get a flat belly and no muffin top!!

My next big adventure is a trip to Seattle to run a fun run called The Color Run!  My good friend Heather Rockom and I are heading down to Seattle for a girls weekend of shopping, relaxing and getting splattered with color!!  The Color Run is a 5k run where you start the race with a white shirt and at every kilometer they throw non-toxic paint on you!  At the end of the race you have this crazy shirt and you are covered in paint!  I'm hoping to work with The Color Run company to bring this race to Alaska!
The Color Run Seattle

Thank you to all my friends who have been supporting me with my journey and head out with me to run!  I could have never met my goals without you!

Almost made it!!!

About a year ago I looked at this picture of myself and thought "Wow! That's IT! Its time to do something about my weight!" And so I started my journey to get myself healthy and happy!  Today is 360 days since that picture was taken and I've lost 99 pounds. Now after my weight loss surgery on June 7th, 2011 I set a goal for myself to loose 100 pounds.  Then I booked our family on a trip to Hawaii in Oct. 2011 to travel in Feb. 2012 and I thought that it would be no problem to loose the 100 pounds by then. (In Oct. I think I was down about 55-60 pounds)

So here I am....the morning of our trip. 360 days since I made a commitment to get in shape and get healthy for me and my family.  And I am short of my goal ONE POUND!!!  GRRRR!!!  But never fear. As most of you that know me you know that I am a glass 1/2 full kind of girl so while I would have LOVED for the scale to said I had met my goal here are a few other achievements I have made that blow that one pound out of the water!

1. I can run 3 miles!!!  3 Miles!! If you had asked me when I was 19 to run 3 miles I would have laughed!!  I think I ran a mile in about 13 minutes in Basic Training.  I can run a mile in 9 minutes now! 

2. I am a size 8!  In my entire adult life I have NEVER been a size 8.  My best guess is that I might have been a Jr. size 7 sometime in 8th or 9th grade.

3. 17 inches from my waist-7 1/2 inches from just one thigh-11 inches off my chest (my husband would say this is NOT a good thing) 10 inches off my hips.  So I am 45 inches smaller than I used to be!!

4. This is the best goal so far......I feel amazing!!! I want to exercises. I want to eat well.  I want to be active!

So to that last pound that is hanging out on my thighs......watch out...I'm coming for ya!!!  Maybe not today but soon...very soon.

Thank you to my great friends that have motivated me to walk, run and ski!!!  I look forward to achieving some new goals this year like completing a triathlon!! 

Hitting the road! Or rubber..or whatever that stuff on the track is

I might of said this before but I just don't get it.  I am the kind of person I used to hate.  I love to run!  But I don't know WHY I like to run now post-op.  Why did having my stomach made smaller and my insides re-routed make me LOVE to run.  I swear when I hit that track and my favorite song played loudly in my ears I just about burst with excitement.  Really weird. 

I'm about 25 days away from hitting the beaches of Hawaii with my family and I'm about 6 pounds away from hitting my 100 lbs. lost mark.  That was my goal, to loose 100 pound before we went to Hawaii.  I'll be cutting it close but I think I can do it since I'll be exercising more.  I think my goal weight will be around 150 lb. (Gasp! She said how much she wants to weigh!!) But at 5'9" I think that will be a good weight for me.  Right now I'm wearing a size 8 or 10 and I really like the jeans I have in those sizes (A pair of Lucky Jeans, Rock & Republic and a pair of Silver Jeans that I could wear 24/7 if I could all bought for $6.50 from a Thrift Store)

Anyway...that's about it for now.  As always I want to thank my friends and family for supporting me in my journey.  Without them my success would not be possible.  I love you guys!

Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year to all my friends and family!  2011 was an AMAZING year and I can't imagine what 2012 has in store for me! 

This morning I woke up and was reading through Facebook updates where people were asking what your New Year's Resolutions were and had a revelation.  This is the first year where I'm not staring down the barrel of "dieting and loosing weight".  I almost started to cry!  The pressure to diet and loose weight every year and failing and trying again and again every year was so unbelievable!  Even as I write this my heart flutters a little at the thought that I'm not standing at the bottom of a hole looking up and wondering how the heck I'm going to get out of it. (that's how I used to feel when I knew I had 100 pounds to loose.)

Don't get me wrong.  At the top of my list is to continue to eat right and keep up the exercises but that is so much easier to do now then it was before.  Now I enjoy it!  I'm one of those people I used to hate!!

I just jumped on the scale this morning after a night of grazing on veggies, chips & dip expecting a little gain and was pleasantly surprised to find I had hit another mini-milestone.  90 pounds lost.  1 month, 1 week & 4 days to loose 10 pounds before Hawaii.  (My goal was to loose 100 pounds before our trip.)

So now that I am finally happy with my body what do I do for New Year's Resolutions?? 
1. Keep up eating right
2. Keep up exercises
3. Read all the books assigned for book club
4. Try not to be an "over-poster" on Facebook

Thank you again to Dr. Todd and his staff for giving me the tools to meet my goals.  Thank you friends and family for your continued support!  Happy New Year to everyone!!