Let's backup

In order to really have this hit home, I need to back up a bit and give you some backstory.

My heaviest weight was 350. It was during the couple of years after finishing college and I just ballooned up. I have no idea why, but it happened. This is what I looked like then:

Not long after that, I realized that I needed to do something about all this weight, so I started working out in our basement. At the time, I weighed 308. Matt helped me set some rewards for every 50 lbs that I lost: a night at a B&B for 258, Disney World for 208, and a cruise for 158. And then Daddy got leukemia and I put some of the weight back on. By the time his funeral rolled around, I was back up to over 280.

A couple of months after the school year started that fall (2001), I went to LA Weight Loss and signed up for thier year-long program. I did a great job on LAWL, losing 100 lbs in 41 weeks. I weighed 181 and I felt wonderful! I was only 25 lbs away from my goal of 158.

I was cute....and I got pregnant. During my pregnancy with Halen, I managed to put 80 lbs back on by eating ice cream every day between school and my homebound student. By the time I gave birth (via a c-section), I weighed 260 again.

Six years later, here I sit FINALLY weighing 158!

I can't believe it's actually happened. Better yet, I'm not finished losing weight so what I thought was my ultimate goal has become another stepping stone. When I am finished, I will weigh between 130 and 140 lbs. My smallest ever!

Car 54 where are you?

Okay so I know this has nothing to do with a car, but it does have to do with 54....cause that's how many inches I've lost so far! Hehehe, I'm so funny. =)

Here are the new stats and pictures.

BEFORE NOW

weight 288 163

bust 46.5" 37"

waist 43" 34"

hips 66" 45" (GOAL MET!)

thigh 29" 21" (GOAL BEAT!)

arm 17.5" 11"

BMI 52.7 29.8 (see previous post)

As you can see, I have met two "inches" goals that I set for myself pre-surgery. I lack 4" to meet my waist goal and only 1" to meet my bust goal.

And now the pictures; enjoy!

And now for something really cool. We took these pictures of me in my best black dress just a couple of months after surgery. Now that I have a new black dress (and since Halen wanted me to use that for my picture this month), I did a side-by-side comparison. It will blow you away!

What'd I tell ya!?

Double post alert!

Sorry about the double post but this is SO WORTH IT!! I just plugged my new weight into the BMI calculator over at obesityhelp.com and this is what it said:

You have a BMI of 29.8.This shows that you are moderately overweight.
Your BMI is not high enough to qualify you for bariatric surgery.

When I started on this journey my BMI was 52.6.

WOW Y'ALL!!!!

Cool things!

Weighed in today - 163!! This weekend marks 8 months so be on the lookout for new pictures and measurements.

I had three very cool things happen in the last few days; two of them at a wedding last weekend and one yesterday. Okay, the last one isn't as cool as the others but it is a realization I've come to. But first thing's first...

The wedding we went to was held at Two Rivers Mansion here in Nashville. It's a gorgeous old home with high ceilings and the like. One of the rooms had a huge mirror in it; I'm talking at least 15 feet tall. When I walked by, I surprised myself myself. Not because I didn't know it was a mirror but rather because I didn't know it was me. That's when I realized that I'm thinner than I thought. So that's cool thing #1.

Number 2 - Halen was able to wrap her legs around me for the first time ever! Told ya it was cool!! We were on the dance floor at the wedding and she wrapped her legs around me above the waist. She wasn't able to cross them at the ankle or anything like that, but her feet did touch eachother while they were back there. We just looked at eachother and she had this WOW look on her face. Yes, friends, very cool!

So now for the realization. People keep asking me "Are you serious?" when I tell them that I can't just look down and see the weight loss. Finally it hit me - my view hasn't changed. From the top down I look the same as I always have. Now if I look to the side at my shoulders or in a mirror then I can see it. But just looking down, I still see what I've seen for 20 years now. I just thought it was neat that I figured this out. =)

Alright, see you in a couple of days with new pictures and measurements!

I've lost a Shareeda!

Now before you go asking, "What's a Shareeda?" allow me to tell you.

This is Shareeda:

She is a good friend and she weighs 123 lbs. It's been a joke between us for some time now that I couldn't wait to lose as much as she weighs. Well, it's happened! I have lost a Shareeda! We are hoping to take pictures of us together soon.