It's been a while...

I guess I am not the best blogger in the world.  :)

I don't have much to update.  I am still here and still moving in the right direction.

I feel like I am doing well through these hard holiday weeks, and I don't feel like I am falling off of the wagon, which is good.  My focus seems to be pretty clear.

Part of my success, this holiday season, is that I am planning to do a Whole30 immediately following Christmas.  To prepare myself for that, I've been trying really hard to conform to those guidelines in advance...  Which means, I am really trying to eliminate as much of my sugar intake as I can during this time.  I am not trying to be perfect, I am just trying to make it easier on myself later.  This seems to be working well for me, as I don't do well on an all or nothing sort of diet anyways...  Likely, when I do my Whole30, I will have to do it with a few variations...  I know that is not the spirit of the Whole30, but I need to be able to do what works for me.

This last weekend was our 17th wedding anniversary, so Josh took me out to a gorgeous turn-of -the-century hotel...  We had the most fabulous time!  We learned that we really need to take time for ourselves every once in a while - it's good for our marriage.  Sadly - we don't do this often enough, and we know that, time just has a way of passing us by...  But, it still amazes me, how I can fall in love, over and over again with the same man...  Love and life are truly great!

The reason I mentioned the above...  I was feeling great, all dressed up for our dinner - my oldest daughter did my make-up and I did my hair - I felt good about myself.  I am wearing a solid size large in almost everything - I do have a few mediums thrown in.  :D

The following morning, I took a few pictures of myself in our hotel room mirror, and I was a little shocked at how I looked.  I don't feel like I've lost much size since our Disney trip in August - but I do think these pictures might disagree with me.  I do look different and smaller. 

(And please ignore the weird way I am standing - I am not trying to do that pigeon toed stance that's popular with the young girls these days...  The tiles were really cold on my bare feet - that is all.  LOL)

It's just really fun for me, to see how my body is changing.  Everyone continues to tell me that I am looking younger and younger as the days go on...  I must admit - I am starting to get a bit of an ego.  ;)  But it shocks me to look in a full-body mirror like this, and not see the person I am used to seeing standing there.

D~

First round of Holiday festivites, complete!

It's been a while since I have checked in here... 

It was kind of crazy over the holiday weekend with food prep, food eating and shopping - plus work.  But we survived and we had fun.

I did weigh and mesure yesterday (I guess it was really brave for me to weigh and measure immediately following a holiday weekend like that), for the first time since the end of September - I can't say that I am thrilled with the results, but they aren't bad - so I will take them.  I just feel like I am so stalled out, at this point, I am just going to try to coast through the holidays and maintain (like I did last year - but I'd be thrilled if I lost), then I will try to refocus after - and really commit to getting rid of these last few sizes.

Ok - so officially - I am down another 3.6, for a grand total of 63.4 lbs. -.25 forearm, -.25 neck, -1.25 waist, -1.5 navel, -.25 hips. Everything else stayed the same.

Looking at my progress photos from this summer, there really isn't any change at all.  But looking at the bigger picture, there is a lot of progress, so I really need to focus on that part of it.

Anyways...

There is just so much work left for me to do.  I don't aspire to be society's idea of perfect in any way, but I'd really like to be comfortable in my own skin, and I just don't feel like I am there yet.

D~