Then and now

The "virtual me" on the left is a fairly accurate representation of what I looked like in early July.

The "virtual me" on the right is that same model at my current weight. My body doesn't look exactly like either of them, but it's as close as I can get.

It's more to show the dramatic difference! I have photos of myself before and after but I normally refuse to post photos of myself on any blog...particularly this one...as I'm deeply embarrassed by them and normally I refuse to pose for photos anyway.

Last time I posted a Virtual Model I did not see a whole lot of difference between the before/after, but I do now! Awesome!

A present from me to me?

I'm nearing my Christmas goal of Onederland and some of my friends have encouraged me to get myself a very nice treat for getting under 200 pounds. I'm contemplating this.

On the one hand, buying a $100 bottle of perfume or an expensive piece of jewelry would make me feel good, but wouldn't it be temporary? Wouldn't the image in the mirror be reward enough? I don't know. Maybe I should get myself a really nice piece of jewelry, because then I'll always associate that piece with the hard work I put in to achieve my Christmas goal.

What do you guys think?

Yippee!

The day after Thanksgiving, I weigh less than I did the day before! The wonders never cease!

It helps that I was at my parents' house, and that is where all the leftovers are. I made the mashed potatoes with butter and cream and sour cream because Thanksgiving comes only once a year, and they were very tasty!

Today I'm alternating between work (yes, WORK) and a deep clean to get my house smelling clean and fresh. Now that I am more than halfway through my weight loss journey, it is time for me to start thinking about quitting smoking. I smoke inside my house, and it does smell. I can't stand the smell (ironic) but I've decided to turn over a new leaf and stop smoking inside the house. Once I've slaved away for a whole day getting it sparkling clean, I hopefully will remember all the hard work I put in cleaning up the stench and not do it anymore.

Work = insane

Work has been insane this week. I've been good about going to the gym, but less good about food and this weight is stubborn. I haven't lost anything this week. :-(

Also, the guy I have been seeing said that he could not see me anymore until his divorce is final. "Lawyer's advice". I am not the other woman; I met him after the divorce was filed.

So I'm sick and tired of mens' bullshit, and fed up because of work and stress. This has been a very difficult week and it is only going to get worse in the run up to Christmas. I will be at work probably 60-80 hours a week until January.

I want a new job.

Cardiovascular health getting better

I focus a lot on my appearance and love life and food cravings in this blog, but one of my primary reasons for wanting to lose weight was to improve my health. Earlier this year I was sent to the ER for a blood pressure reading of 172/127 and resting heart rate of over 120 bpm. A diastolic of over 120 is a medical emergency, so my doctor promptly freaked out.

Fast forward six months later, 4.5 months into my weight loss journey, and 51.4 lbs down, my blood pressure today was 128/87, pulse 67. My diastolic is still a little high but that is a MUCH better reading.

Mini-goal #4 met!

I've met mini-goal #4 and lost 20% of my weight! That's 1/5 of what I used to be. That's pretty amazing when you think about it! I'm almost halfway through my weight loss journey, as my goal is to lose 42% of my starting weight.

My next goal is to weigh 199 lbs, i.e. that magical Onederland where I weigh under 200 lbs. Right now I have 6.2 lbs to lose to get there.

I had an amazing date

The man I have been seeing redeemed himself on Friday with the date from heaven, which to me involves lots of snuggling and cuddling. We snuggled on the sofa and he couldn't keep his hands off me. That's a wonderful feeling...to have someone tell you that they love your body. My newfound confidence helps a lot, too. :-)



I hope this one works out; I really like this guy.

Men suck, but I'm still getting slimmer.

I'm rapidly closing in on the 20% milestone, and shortly after that comes the "under 200" milestone. I am 6.8 lbs north of the 200 lb mark, and my goal for Christmas was to weigh under 200 lbs. I think now I will probably achieve that by early December, which is good. After achieving "Onederland" I will then set another date for achieving my goal weight of 150 lbs. I haven't decided what that date will be; I need to do the math first.

In other news, men suck. I knew my date last night would wiggle his way out of having coffee with me, and he did....blaming "divorce drama" for having to cancel. Oh well. In other news, I bought new clothes last night and did not once set foot in the Fat Lady section.

I didn't have the nerve to go into the regular-sized clothing stores at the mall, but I did become more familiar with the wide selection in the regular-sized section at JC Penney. Yay me!

Going to do better this week.

I haven't gained, but I haven't really lost either. Last week at work was tough, didn't go to the gym every day...plus Friday night I had a date...and on Saturday night the same guy came over and we had a Zesty Italian pizza from Papa John's. I want to get under 200 lbs before Christmas and I have 9 lbs to go, so I need to put my ass into gear and get refocused!

In the meantime, the guy I had the date with is really cute and sweet, and I like him a LOT. We're seeing each other tomorrow too. :-)

Still about the same weight, thank goodness.

I had a date last night...a really good one...and we went out for Italian food. I had some grilled chicken pasta dish with lots of vegetables that was fairly mediocre, but it wasn't gigantic and was not covered in a cream sauce or cheese. But afterwards I had tiramisu. Basically I've been really bad food-wise this week. It was a perfect storm of elections, work breakfasts, and a date. So far the consequences to my waistline have been practically nil.

I will have to do better next week.

Pigged out!

Yesterday my brother came over to watch the election returns with me. We ordered pizza and I had six....SIX...slices of pizza! (Medium hand-tossed pepperoni from Pizza Hut.) Ouf! I only went up half a pound though, and I'm betting some of that is from water retention. Pizza is so salty.

It was worth it though. So worth it. The pizza was so good and it had been about four months since I had a pizza delivered. Mmmmmm.

What a week.

This past week at work was a nightmare. We're implementing a new billing system and it has been hell on earth. I disappeared for about a week. I only had time for the gym 3 times last week. I managed to at least not gain any weight, which is a pretty good achievement considering I went to a Halloween party on Friday night, then to a friend's house to watch football yesterday...and snacked my head off both times!

Hopefully this week will be better. As for my acne, that hasn't started clearing up yet.