Time for an update.... soon!

I am teaching my Grade 10 computer class how to blog.  Today they are setting up their blogs with cool templates, backgrounds, and all sorts of modifications.  I figured it was time to update my own personal blog as well, so I added a new picture and am thinking that next class I will write an update on a bunch of awesome things.  It's about time!

Spammity spam spam!

I am getting tons of spam comments on the post below so I thought I'd bury it a bit with this new one in the hopes of cutting down on the number of comments.

Happy Thursday!

Weight loss goal = surpassed!

Ok, again with the huge lapse in blogging.... anyway, here I am again with another update, and again it's about my weight loss journey.  I have reached my goal and am still going!  I've taken up jogging which has proven to be a challenge, but I am improving day by day.  I'm aiming to run a 5k in September, and maybe one in June too if I decide to sign up (I probably will).  I've done 2 practice runs so far, and I've clocked in at 36:48 for the first 5k attempt, and just today I did the same thing in 34:34.  I'm definitely not super fast, but I'm still very proud of the progress!

When I started my weight loss journey I weighed 174.3 pounds (June 2012).  This morning I weighed 138.8 pounds, which is a total loss of 35.5 pounds.  Crazy!  I'll be very curious to weigh myself on the exact date that I started, one year later, and see where I land.

So, now some photos.  Remember these pants?  They started fitting quite loose after I had lost about 15 pounds.  35 pounds gone now and they are RIDICULOUS.  Actually "laugh out loud" funny.  I can't imagine these being tight at all, but I certainly remember the feeling.

Will be glad to ditch these pants for good!

I also remember trying on a pair of very cute yellow shorts in LA last March.  A teacher friend who was shopping with me (we were there for an education conference) encouraged me to try them on, and also to buy them.... I didn't.  I told her that I'd never be comfortable wearing them in public, even though she thought they looked good.  I knew what I WANTED them to look like on me, but I wasn't seeing it in the mirror.  Regardless, I took a picture.  Now, fast forward a year, and I've actually just purchased FOUR pairs of shorts.  This is crazy for me.  I finally feel good wearing them, and can walk around without being self-conscious (except for when they do that weird riding-up-in-the-crotch thing... this has to happen to other people too, right?).  Anyway, I am so very happy to finally be able to wear shorts and feel good!

Love my new shorts... $19 and fun, funky patterns/colours!

I take pictures of my scale when I weigh myself in the mornings so that I can track my weight over time.  The picture on the left was taken in January, which was after 9 pounds of weight loss - remember that I did reach 174.3 last June, and 175 was the highest weight I ever saw on the scale (although I may have actually been heavier than that in the picture with the yellow shorts).  Part of me wishes that I would have taken more pictures at my heaviest weight, and yet I understand why I didn't want to... I didn't like the way I looked, and I certainly didn't want to admit the number on the scale.  Either way, here's a noticeable difference of 26.5 pounds on my scale over the span of 4 months.

When Jeff and I went to Mexico in 2011, I had a stranger take the picture on the left.  We were at Xel-Ha for a day, and I had been snorkelling.  I wanted to record that memory, and it's one of the only shots of me in a bathing suit from that entire trip.  The picture on the right was taken about a week before we left for our Mexico 2013 trip.  I've lost almost another 10 pounds since that photo, although I'm not sure if it has made a significant change in the shape or size of my body, as I still think I look very similar to the photo on the right. (PS - I can't believe I'm posting this photo... but it's a good reminder for me of how far I've come!)

Mexico 2011 vs. Mexico 2013

And here's what I look like today - 138.8 pounds and feeling fantastic in my new clothes!

Weight loss journey @ mid-point

Despite my best attempts to publish these photos in order, Blogger had another idea and jumbled them up a bit.  Oh well!

I have been trying to lose weight for quite a while, and until now I haven't really had a great deal of success.  I've been using the MyFitnessPal app on my iPhone, where I track everything that I eat and drink throughout the day as well as any exercise I've done.  It allows me to log my calories and track how much I'm consuming, including what percentages of daily value I'm consuming for major nutrient groups (carbs, sugar, iron, protein, Vitamins A and C, etc.).  I know how much I need to eat to reach my goals, and I have gotten fairly good at finding the foods that I can and can't eat to feel satisfied (ie. Greek yogurt for 100 calories is an awesome source of protein for breakfast and keeps me fuelled until lunch).  I was working out at the gym in the mornings before work until about a month ago when I strained a ligament in my knee.  I was on crutches for a few days and although it is mostly healed now, I am still recovering from it a bit (I iced it today after taking Jennie for a walk).  I have continued to lose weight though, just by watching my caloric intake each day.  It's working!

A couple weeks ago (February 1st) I hit 15 lbs weight loss, and took pictures of the pants I wore to work that day.  Those pants had formerly been too tight to wear on most days - I remember needing to figure out my teaching schedule for the day before I chose to wear the pants, because if I was teaching classes that I'd be sitting down in, they would be too tight and cut into my stomach.  I'd only wear them if I was standing up teaching band all day.  Anyway, I made a collage of what those pants looked like on me that day, then another collage of the (size medium!) yoga pants I bought on my way home from work that same day.

Yoga pants from One Tooth - Size Medium

Dress pants - Formerly too small, currently too big (yay!)

Then I put on the yellow t-shirt I bought this past summer a few days later, and I couldn't get over how big it was on me all of a sudden!  It inspired me to create a collage - it was (and is) so rewarding to see the side-by-side pictures and to really notice the difference.

So, in June 2012 I weighed in at (my almost highest weight) - 174.3 pounds.  The highest I ever weighed myself at was 175 in May 2009.  My goal for now is 140.  I am currently (as of this morning) at 155.5 pounds.  I am very close to a 20 pound weight loss!  I had done some work to shed pounds last June, and I had gotten down to about 166 (from 174) but then was busy and traveling all summer, and got very busy during the fall back-to-school rush, and gained back some of that weight until I was at 169.something in about the second week of December.  So, since December I'm down about 14 pounds.  It feels great!  There's still a ways to go, but I am really proud of where I'm at right now and in what direction I'm headed. :o)

Took the picture last night, and I figure most people won't see this so the risqué bare skin is ok!

My bright coral t-shirt is noticeably bigger today (also yay!)

About 15 pounds to go!

I might just need to wash and shrink these pants again, but I AM down 10 pounds from the picture on the left, so maybe...

I packed these capris for my trip to LA last March and couldn't fit them. They were also a lot tighter in July than they were yesterday!  Feeling good!

Inspirations

I am really enjoying the inspirations I've been finding online lately, so I figure it's time for a quick photo post again.  Love these!

15 lbs gone, 20 more to go...

Athens and Rome 2013, here we come...

Me 2 days ago - loving the new nose ring!

Best buddies at the grocery store!

Little ladies at cousin Belle's birthday party

Photes 'n Quotes!

I had some fun with photo editing these past couple days.  I straightened my hair for fun, and took advantage of the photo opportunities while I had a different look.

"People with many interests live not only longest, but happiest." - George Matthew Allen 

"One way to get the most out of life is to look upon it as an adventure." -  William Feather

"As I grow to understand life less and less, I grow to love it more and more." - Jules Renard

Happy Saturday!