One Seventy-Five!

175!  That is how much I weighed today, midday after I got home from work and had eaten one meal and a snack.  That's 88 pounds lost so far and I can finally say, "Only Twenty pounds to go until I reach my goal."  And I know that number will shrink, day by day.  I think that these last ten pounds have been the hardest, but it feels good for them to be gone and I worked hard for it.  So before I present my photo montage.  I just want to add a few words of encouragement.

I was waiting to reach this number before I did another update on my own journey.  I realized about two weeks ago, that I had already reached my goal and everything else after this is just icing.  Now I like icing so I will keep going for the icing, don't worry about me stopping here.  I will keep challenging myself.  155 is my goal because I want to get to a healthy BMI.  The goal I've reached is that I am now able to play and keep up with Javy without losing my breath and being tired all the time. A couple of weeks ago, I took Javy to surf with Kevin.  We got there a bit early so I took Javy swimming to warm him up.  I swam with Javy for almost two hours which is a little bit like water calisthenics-with crab crawls and duck walks. I was used as Javy's own personal surf board which is apparently good for the core.  I pushed him across the sand four times and that's about 130 pounds with his wheelchair.  After Kevin took him away on the board, I was feeling like I should start marketing my Javy workout.  I think it could rival P90X.  But I was not beat, I did not require a day of recovery.  I felt energized.  And another lesson came out of all this.  Afterwards, mom took us out to eat at a local Mexican restaurant.  Having just burned 1,000 calories, I savored every bite of my meal-a mango margarita and a chile relleno.  I really appreciated it and enjoyed it.  I didn't inhale it, like I would've done in the past, taking for granted the flavor.  I don't eat like that everyday but when I do, I can really enjoy it now.

For me it's beyond the aesthetics.  People say I look great, that's fine.  But what I really want them to say, as I push Javy's wheelchair across the sand in my two piece bathing suit is, "Damn, that is a really awesome mom and did you see the muscles on her legs?"

Without further ado, here's a quick photo montage of my journey so far, about a year and a half:

Dec 2011, Right before I started my journey

March 2012

May 2012
About to hike Sleeping Giant
for the first time.

June 2012
Still got some serious rolls

October 2012

February 2013
Right after surgery 

April 2013
I love this pic, because this shirt is a size S.
I couldn't even fit it over my right boob before.

Me!  Today, June 9, 2013

Still got some work, but Hey,
I'm almost 40.  Look what
I did.  

Yes!  I realize there are still rolls, but look at the guns!

I've come so far, I've got more work to do.  But I'm almost 40 now and I've never felt better in my whole life.  I hope this encourages you to go for it, whatever your goal is or what you want to accomplish.  Just gotta start.