Reflection...

Today I decided to sit down and re-read my blog from the beginning.  I wanted to remember where I started and what I went through.  I've mentioned in several of my blog entries how I sometimes have a hard time seeing how far I've come..and reading all those entries helped me to see it in more ways than one.

                        September 2010                                      Present Day
Weight                       330                                                     238
BMI                           48%                                                   34%
Diet                    HCG/no exercise                  5-6 days in the gym/eating 1400 cals a day
Mile time         Uh..20 mins walking                     13:30 and I can jog the whole thing
Clothing size                28                                                    18/20
Shoe size                     11                                        10 1/2 (even my feet lost weight!)
Favorite meal      Big Mac/Fries/anything Italian         Zupas soup and salad
Favorite Drink      Mountain Dew/Diet Coke      Water!!! (I only drink soda maybe once a month)

There's probably more, but these are a pretty good way for me to see just how far I have come.  I haven't just lost weight, I've become a completely different person.  I wish I had done it all sooner, but I'm just grateful that that switch inside of me finally flipped and I'm no longer dieting.  I just live differently.  I'm healthier, I'm happier and I'm more excited about the future.

I've had quite a few people in my zumba class come up to me this past week to comment on my weight loss and ask me what diet I'm doing.  It's always fun to watch their face drop when I tell them that it's just eating right and exercising.  One lady and I got to talking and HCG came up and she said she was about to try it.  I told her that I really wouldn't recommend it to ANYONE and that it was miserable for me.  I had to laugh today reading back over my blog about my experience with HCG.  I had people telling me it was a bad idea and unhealthy and I shouldn't do it but I was stubborn and determined and I lost 40+ lbs on it!!  But just as most people had predicted...I gained almost all of it back.  It was a quick fix.  It was a "diet".  It wasn't sustainable.  It was painful and stressful and I'm 99% certain it caused my kidney stone.  But I think in a messed up way, it also showed me that losing weight wasn't impossible.  That I didn't HAVE to weigh 330 lbs my entire life.  I had a choice.

That choice has saved my life...and it just keeps getting better.