The Day has Dawned

A lot has been going on around here lately and I realized that in the midst of it all I haven't made a blog post to reflect the challenges life has brought my way. Instead of dwelling over the negatives (trust me I do enough of that on my own), I am making myself post about the one shining star hovering over it all.
I woke up Saturday morning and saw this:

I know what you are thinking: the clouds parted, the angels started singing.... yeah I know, you can see it now! But no, it was just me and my bathroom scale standing there in disbelief. I ran to get my phone to take a picture and said a silent prayer that when I got on there again the number didn't change.... that has been known to happen. But alas, I got back on and it was the magical goal number: 145lbs. Exactly 100 lbs lower than when I started my weightloss journey.

I had always joked that when I reached my goal weight I would throw a party to celebrate. We are broke, and my audience was my husband and children so we did the next best thing....

We took the kids to 7-11 and got donuts! The "old" me would have had a donut as well, but the new, skinny, 145 lb me declined the offer. Pat on the back for that one! But the kids thoroughly enjoyed their celebration treat as well as an early morning walk in the wagon (we live less than .5 mile from a 7-11 which is mighty convenient during times like this!).

Also, I thought I would cry when I saw the scale, but I didn't. I just kind of stared in disbelief and casually mentioned to Roger "Oh, I am 145 today" and he responded "Wow, that's really good". I don't know if he necessarily realized that 145 was my goal weight, he just new it was a lot of weight lost in the grand scheme of things.

So you might be wondering how I finally hit goal.... and the answer is simple. Exercise and drugs. Seriously. Once I hit 150 lbs losing weight became extremely difficult. My body has been toying with the last 5 lbs for over a month and I knew that I needed to pump up the volume if I had any hope of reaching my old goal (145), let alone my new reach goal of 125 pounds.

I have been going to the gym 3-5 times a week, sometimes more. I will do Zumba, or go on the treadmill, and I try to lift weights every other day as well as do strength training exercises. I never thought I would be a morning exerciser but with kids it is pretty much my only option. It feels great though to consistently work out!

I also scheduled an appointment with my doctor to check in on my progress. The day I went into his office I weighed 147lbs. Not bad. He asked how I was doing and what my next steps were. And I flat out asked him for prescription drugs. Right before my wedding, when he told me that if I wanted to ever reach goal I needed to buckle down, he kindly prescribed phentermine for me. IT WORKED. It worked well to say the least. And after I explained that 1 more month of it, combined with my new improved attitude about exercise would most likely break my stall, he happily agreed.

I know what you are thinking : she cheated. And ok, depending on your viewpoint, maybe I have. But the reason that I wanted to mention it is because a)I am not ashamed and b) I think it is important to record in how I have lost the weight in this time period. And despite medical intervention, I have also been watching what I eat, trying to consume as much protein as possible, and exercising like crazy. So it is an addition, rather than the end all be all for weightloss.

Today I was on Facebook (shocker) and saw that a family member had posted pictures from a barbeque in 2010. I was flipping through them thinking "oh geez, wait til I see myself in these"... little did I know. This is what I saw:

Yup, that's me in the white! Holy crap, right?! I seriously cannot believe I looked like that. And looked like that for a few years to boot! And to top it off, that wasn't me at my heaviest, which I know because I recognize the jeans in the picture. They are a size 16. I ended up an 18/20 before surgery! Oh and those little cuties are my kiddos.... they are much bigger now!

So, you might be wondering what "goal" looks like.....

It looks like that snazzy girl to the right! Up, that's me the day before I hit my goal weight! I am in skinny jeans (never thought they looked good on me), tucked into boots. My calves have always been SUPER wide, so imagine the size of them 100 lbs heavier.... this fashion statement was simply not possible! But alas, my dream of wearing jeans tucked into boots has come true, and let me tell you, I have a black pair and a brown pair and I am wearing the heck out of both of them!!! Also, I was indeed wearing a sweater for this outfit, but I wanted to show off my arms... I am in the process of "sculpting" them at the gym :P

The last thing I want to mention in this celebration post is that one of my dear friends from grade school got married this past weekend! She looked AMAZING, and it was so nice to attend an event, see people I hadn't seen in years, and not be self conscious about my weight. Most of the people I know have not gained much since high school and still look fabulous. So last summer, when I attended a mutual friends' wedding it sucked to feel like the "fattie". And when I saw the pictures I was horrified. Well, some of the same attendees were at this wedding, and someone's mom walked by my, touched my arm and said "you look amazing". I thought that was pretty darn kind of her to do.

I've lost a 6th grader from my body, but I have gained a whole new outlook on life! I'd say that's a fair trade :)