:)

I haven't felt like posting about my weight lately because it keeps going up and down. I'll see a low number, then I'll have my free day and my weight goes up 2, 3, 4 pounds. It's crazy-making. I know, it seems obvious, stop having free days! :) I'm working on it.

Anyway, this morning my weight was 188. I'm really happy with that number. Now if I can just keep it there, that'll be great.

I might go to the pool with my family this afternoon. Me in a swimsuit is an interesting thing. I'm not as embarrassed as I used to be, but there's still a lot of stuff I'd rather hide under clothing--baggy skin and cellulite on the legs, waggly arms, etc. But I try to just forget about it and enjoy a smaller, lighter body, even if I'm no swimsuit model.

Brad on a temple trip

Brad took an SUV load of branch members to the temple yesterday. He was gone pretty much all day long. It was a pretty big deal for our little branch. I think we had ten members there, though some drove themselves. Brad's vehicle had 6, I think.

It's been a good day.

(Oops, this was meant to be a post on my private journal blog. No reason to delete it, but just so you know! :) )

Ending a good week

I'm back from vacation and doing pretty good with my eating and exercising. I have had perfect points so far on my health challenge this week. It's much easier to do when you're back in your own world.

I have started adding protein shakes back into my diet. I used them a lot at first and tapered off, but I have felt like I need some more protein. My weight is down a couple of pounds today, so we'll see if that's why!

I also tried something new this week. I did interval training for my run. That entailed walking for three minutes, sprinting for one minute, walking one, sprinting one, until I couldn't do any more. It ended up being about 1.5 miles. The funny thing is, even though the amount of time I actually ran was much less than I usually do, my legs were very sore the following day. I also was extremely fatigued after the run. It felt good. It would be interesting to do that outside with a stopwatch. This was on the treadmill.

More reflections

I spent a little time this evening in my old neighborhood where I lived three years ago. It was very interesting to be there where I spent a lot of time gaining weight and being depressed. I am in such a different place now, and feel so much better.

I also met up with a couple of ladies from a lapband support message board. We all had surgery the same month. We're all at different places in our journey, but overwhelmingly I think we are all happy with our progress and happy with our bands.

37

I turned 37 today. I am so grateful for my life and my family. I am so loved and blessed. I am so grateful to have had my surgery and had so many changes in my life. I couldn't ask for anything more.

Going back

A friend once told me that you don't realize how much you've changed and grown until you go back home, or back to where you came from.

Yesterday we went to the St. Louis Arch for the fireworks display. This isn't the first time we've made that trek. It's usually about a 1/2 to 1 mile walk from wherever we have parked to get to the Arch. Doing that at over 300 pounds was really hard. It was usually very hot and humid and I dreaded that part of our adventure every year.

Well, yesterday was so amazing. We walked it and I don't even think I broke a sweat. It was almost effortless. I had run a 5 K that morning, shaving 4 minutes off my time from last fall. I just felt so amazing. I told my husband that I was so happy I wanted to cry. Things start to feel normal and then you do something like this and really realize how far you've come. I'm so blessed to be where I am right now.

Volleyball

We played volleyball tonight with my sister and her husband and some of their friends. It was very fun. I loved the freedom of being able to play without my body slowing me down. Well, my back did bug me a bit, but basically it was really great.

We ran three miles this morning as well. It was hard because there were hills and I'm not used to that, being from Kansas. It feels great to get so much physical activity in.

Beautiful evening walk

Tonight I went for a very nice walk in my sister's neighborhood. The weather was perfect. Not hot or cold. There were fireflies (aka lightening bugs) and bunnies hopping, and birds in the trees. It was just really pleasant. I walked over to the park where softball games were happening and made a loop around the fields. It's so nice to be able to be physically active. Every day I do some activity that I am very aware is much easier because I have less body mass. I am so grateful to be where I am.