Friday, February 22, 2008

Before and After

I was browsing through some family pictures that we had taken this past December and thought it would be fun to compare before and after shots of myself pre- and post-weight loss. Looks pretty good! (Compare May 2006 to Dec. 2007)

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Say Cheese

It's been a cold and fairly uneventful winter around these parts. A has a knack for brightening every day. Here's a bunch of cute shots we've taken over the last several weeks.


After FHE one night we made berry smoothies for treats. A really got into his. He's a little young for a moustache...


Just being silly with a wide open mouth.



Doesn't it almost look like A is reading the music. He pretends to read the music, play the piano and sing to himself.

Building towers in a favorite past time. I think A used every block to build this tower.




A loves to help in the kitchen. This day we were making muffins for breakfast. Can you tell which muffin cup he filled?

We took A to the New England Aquarium before going to the Temple in Boston several weeks ago. He and his little friend had so much fun. So did he and dad!

Friday, February 8, 2008

Lifetime

Yesterday I reached one of the pinnacle moments of my life as of late. I became a lifetime member of Weight Watchers. Essentially that means that I set a goal to loose a certain amount of weight and was able to reach that goal and stay within two pounds of that weight for six weeks. I realized that the health benefits are tremendous, but the knowledge that I could harness my own bodily appetites, exercise self-dicipline, and set a goal and achieve it are the truest rewards. I also feel like I have shaped my life and that of my family for a bright and healthy future.

Here are the brief stats:

September 2006:
weighed around 174 pounds (more than when I was eight months pregnant).
started running (very, very slowly) nearly every day and actually decided I liked it. I attribute so much of my innitial motivation to Erin. Thank you so much. I don't know if I could have dug out the stamina without your support.
began attending Weight Watchers
December 2006:
Reached 10% goal. I had lost 10% of my body weight, 17 lbs.; rewarded myself with the new Gladys Knight CD.
January 2007:
First weigh in of the new year showed that I had LOST 2.5 lbs over Christmas (WOW)
September 2007:
Started attending a different meeting with a different leader, who I love. This kickstarted me all over again and helped me really decide why I was doing all this. I had been trying to loose about 12 lbs for six months.
October:
Decided I wanted to set a goal to loose 5 lbs by Thanksgiving.
November:
Weigh in just before Thanksgiving showed I had lost nearly 5 lbs. It felt good to set a small goal and meet it. Thanks to Sundee for joining me in that goal.
December 2007:
Reached my goal weight of 127 lbs.
February 7, 2008:
Became a lifetime member of weight watchers.

Total Weight Lost: 45 lbs
Time: 70 weeks

I feel a little like the blue engine in A's favorite book, The Little Engine that Could. She just kept telling herself, "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can..." And after she did it, she said, "I thought I could, I thought I could, I thought I could." Through most of those 70 weeks I never doubted.

But, as Satan will always do, just as I was coming down to the last few weeks, I was overcome with doubt. I didn't think I could do it. Then I read a portion of a talk by Elder David A. Benar, "Clean Hands and A Pure Heart." Essentially it said that it will never be enough to think we can have enough willpower to change our lives; we must solicit a higher power. I had kept the Lord abreast of my goals all through this process, but in that moment I read Elder Benar's talk, I realized I hadn't trully turned it over to the Lord. I still let my pride roost inside of me. After all, I had done it "by myself" for so many months before. Why not now? Well, the Lord is a great humbler and a great healer of our souls. He will give us the power to manage our temtations and bodily appitites if we will let him.

I did it! I'm so glad and so greatful and learned so many other lessons. One of these days I'll post a list of the life-lessons I learned. So, here's too a lifetime of success!