Help!

People are my passion. I really love people and love to help in any way that I can. I think that is why I am feeling a bit overwhelmed. Since I have been successful at losing 100 pounds in 9 months, I have been getting peppered with questions about how I have done it and what I did. I love answering all those questions and I love sharing with anybody that cares to listen, but I know that what works for one does not work for all. I wish I had it figured out and how to give the right answers that will help everyone, and so I am feeling so underqualified.

I think for me, I finally had my "aha" moment and that is why I have been able to stick with this. And it is mostly because of my stubborn nature. People telling me I had a right to look the way I did and a desire to prove them all wrong. I want to help everyone else have that same epiphony as I did, but I know that is unrealistic. I didn't even know what would do it for me until it happened. But, that is my challenge to you. Think about your personality. Think about the things that are motivating for you. Is it the thrill of a good challenge and some healthy competition? Is it having a piece of clothing that you long to fit into staring at you day in and day out? Is it writing down your goals and reasons for wanting to shed those extra pounds? Whatever it is, search for it and go for it. And I will be here to support and encourage you along the way.

Like I said, I love to help people, so if there is something I can do for you, let me know. I am only human though, so don't ask for some superhuman act like guarding every bite you take throughout the day. But I am here for you. Leave me a comment and let me know what you would like someone to help you with along your journey.

I hope these can be encouraging to you. Here are a couple of my 100 pound celebration pictures taken by my friend at http://www.nhphoto.org/.

And here it is

I almost forgot. I have my new picture. Thanks to my wonderfully talented photography friend. She took me out and did a mini photo shoot with me. It was only midly awkward.









Here is the before.









Now remember, one of these pictures I was trying to wear a terrible Christmas sweater, so don't judge me on that. The other is our church directory picture and I was just one month out from having our third son, but nonetheless, that was me. (What I really want to know is if I can take a new family picture and replace the directory picture for everyone that got one. All 500 or so of them. Not sure I can make that happen.)

































































And here is the current one. The picture quality itself is much better on this one, but I think the improvement is pretty dramatic.













































I still have about 24 lbs to lose to reach my goal of 100 lbs lost, but I'm getting there. Just a few more months.

Working hard

Just in case you are really curious, I am still working on getting a picture taken so I can show you my progress. A friend has volunteered to take some for me tomorrow, so hopefully, you can see soon. But, before I show them, I just want to make sure you know that this did not happen to me overnight. I know that sometimes it's hard to see that transformation in someone else and forget that it took a lot of hard work to get there. Before I started to lose weight, I felt like this was something that would take me "forever". And I think that's one of the reasons I waited so long to begin. I thought the road would be way too long and way too hard. Well, it has been long, and it has been hard, but nothing beats the satisfaction of all that hard work paying off. The weight does come off slowly and so make sure that you have small goals set for yourself to prevent getting discouraged. For me, it was hard to see that 240 lbs go to 238 lbs. It doesn't really seem like much of a difference, but I didn't gain all that weight in a few weeks and it's not going to come off in just a few weeks. Just know that all those little successes do pay off. Each pound lost is one less weighing you down.

Another thing that I have learned to do is to get rid of all those clothes that I used to wear. I mean really, why would I want that stuff clogging up my closet. I think it would be too easy for me to slip back into some of it if it was still hanging around, but now that it is gone, I have no excuses. And let me tell you, the thrift store has seen some big deliveries from me lately. And, instead of going out to buy clothes for myself during this transitional time, I have relied on some good friends who used to be this size. They have lent me their items that are too big, so at least I have something. If I bought a pair of size 16 pants, I think I could have been tempted to stay in them a while and get my money's worth out of them. So, if you have lent me clothes, bless you.

One more thing for today. I found the Weight Watchers official Facebook page the other day and noticed that they are looking for people who have met their goal weight to star in some commercials for them. Now, I am not looking for fame or stardome and I'm not really sure if I would be comfortable with that, but I am bummed that I am not eligible because I haven't hit my goal weight yet. I am about 20 lbs away from my WW goal. I just love being able to share my story and find someone that can relate and realize that they can do it too. I think that is what helped me get started. Finding someone that I could relate to and watch them make those changes.

Denial

I tried to find a picture of myself before I started losing weight to put up and show. In finding one, I took a good hard look at it and was in total shock. Wow, I can't believe that's what I looked like. Now, it was also taken at an event where we were supposed to wear the most terrible Christmas attire we could, so the bad Christmas sweater doesn't help matters at all, but what I realized is how much denial I was really in. While I was 250 lbs, I never weighed myself. I didn't really want to know what that number was. I knew I needed to lose weight, but I thought of myself as just overweight. After seeing this picture, I know I was a lot worse off. I can't believe I let myself get to that point and not see it for what it truly was. I think the denial was helping me to cope with it though, and coping was just fine for me at that time. Now that things have clicked and I am feeling so good, I really can't image what that girl was thinking. I know that you probably want to see this picture that I found, but I just can't put it up until I have a current one to put beside it to show you how hard I have really been working this past 5 1/2 months. So, hopefully, I will get a new picture very soon and you can see for yourself.

Are you living in denial, knowing that you aren't were you need to be, but not really wanting to face reality? If so, stand strong, make a change, and decide that today, you are going to make a turn for the better and never look back.