Before...and during photos!

First I want to give a shout out to my good friend and fellow running gal Beverly.  She has just started a new blog depicting her healthy life style changes.  Bev will also be co-instructing the For Women Only (Learn to Run Clinic) through the Running Room with me this coming July.  If you have a moment, mosey on over to A Pond's View and see what she has to say.  I look forward to following her journey.

I found some old photos of me and thought I would share a side by side, or in this case, a top to bottom.  My husband was looking at them today and couldn't believe I ever looked like that.  These photos are not that old, and I was wearing a plus size 24 in them.

Probably taken last summer at Canada's Wonderland...
less than a year ago!

That is a maternity top I'm wearing...
I'm not pregnant!

This is my most recent full body shot...taken on Mother's Day after my morning run.  I think this was an 82 pound difference.  I'm currently wearing a size 14/16 regular.

Be kind...I haven't showered yet!

The photo on the left, taken last summer in Port Stanton.  The Photo on the right taken last week by my computer.  Almost exactly a year between photos.  We were in Port Stanton for the Victoria Day long weekend last year which fell on May 21st this year.




So there you have it!.  I'm not done yet, but well on my way to being a normal, healthy weight.  I've said this before and I'll say it again, if I can do it...anyone can! Now for some motivation!

Run for Wells

Almost at the finish line, waving at my little guy!

This morning was my third 5k race.  My chip time said I ran the race in 42:17.  I'm not sure how accurate that time was.  There was no chip detector at the start line, the race started about 3 minutes late, and according to my friend Enz's Nike+ it says we ran 5.44k.  It was a pretty small race, so the timing was completely unorganized.  It annoys me a bit because I ran the race to see if I could better my last time, and I can't say if I did or not.  There are just too many discrepancies.  So a touch disappointing.

Puffing along...

I did however, get a technical t-shirt, and the added bonus of running along a real pretty (and hilly) route.  It was a nice challenging run and I did enjoy chatting up some other runners along the way.  My pace bunny was a 7 year old girl named Mercedes who I spent the entire race passing, then watched her get a burst of energy and pass me.  If only she could have kept up the pace the whole way, she would have won!  She was real fast when she got her bursts of energy!  I told her that it was all mental and she could run the whole way if she talked herself into it.  That's around the time she rolled her eyes at me and stayed behind me the rest of the way.

Greeting my boy after the race.

Another added bonus of the race was the lovely road kill along the way.  There was a particularly gruesome raccoon in the middle of the country road, entrails and all spewed all over the place.  I didn't look at it as I passed and kept my eyes on the road, only to see foot print entrails in front of me.  Yuck!  Thank God my stomach was empty, I'd have hurled from the smell alone!

Enz and I just after she crossed the finish line.

 Although the race was for a good cause (Wells in Africa), I'll likely not run it again.  The organization left much to be desired, and there was no medal.  The only way you got a medal is if you placed.  That definitely wasn't happening for me, but there was a young boy (around 10 years old) who came in 4th for the 10k.  He completed in about 44 minutes.  I'm going to find out his name because I'd be very surprised if he doesn't turn into some running star in the future.  Just imagine how fast he'll be when he's 18!

Harley, Tanya, me, Bev and Enz after the race.

We waited around for Pauline to finish the 10k before heading out to Kelsey's for the celebratory lunch.  I was pretty much spent by this time, but had to rush out to the grocery store to buy BBQ supplies for my brother, father and niece who were coming out for dinner.  I'm pretty tired as I type this out and I really should just pack it in for the night.  I have to get up tomorrow morning for my regular practice run at the Running Room!

Pauline coming in from the 10k run.

Pauline and Bev at Kelseys.

Julien and Enz playing Tic Tac Toe.

The thigh's the limit

I went to see Dr. Stephen today for my official weigh-in.  I'm down 5.6 pounds...4.8 of that is fat!  That brings my total weight-loss to 87 pounds!  That number is a bit overwhelming to me. A year ago, I was talking about how I was going to finally get gastric bypass surgery.  I never dreamed I would lose all this weight by diet and exercise alone.  Especially the exercise part.  I never made it a secret about how much I hated exercise.  I'm now fully addicted to running, I really enjoy my yoga class, and I'm still taking the stairs...all the time.  Admittedly though, I hate the stairs.  I just do it to get some extra cardio in my day and I just pretend that all elevators are broken!.

While running tonight (I ran 5k on my own for only the second time ever), I noticed that my inner thighs no longer rub together.  I'm thankful that it was just me along the rail trail tonight, as I kept touching my inner thighs as I made this discovery. Something you should really do in private.  I don't believe that my inner thighs have ever NOT rubbed together.  Maybe when I was 6...before I started gaining weight.  According to my BMI I have another 43 pounds to lose.  I still have some real problem areas that I will be glad to be rid of.  My upper arms, butt, outer thighs, gut...I can totally see where I can still lose 40+ pounds.  Only 2 more pounds before Heloise's restoration. Yikes!

The last two weeks, I have followed Phase 2 of Dr. Poon's Metabolic Diet.  I lost 5 pounds, which is what I lost on average when I used to follow Phase 1, and I didn't exercise.  I really want to get faster with my running, so I think I'm going to try and follow mostly Phase 1 for a couple of weeks and see where I end up...with the exception of  eating a protein bar 1 1/2 hours before I run.  I ate a salad with lean protein about an hour before I ran tonight, and I had cramps the whole time.  Eating the protein bar before running definitely works better for me.

I know that the key to getting faster, is dropping more weight.  One thing I can honestly say about following this metabolic diet is I am never hungry.  I always eat until I am full and the key is to eat the right foods (ie: no cheating).  When I'm hungry, I just want to eat to subside my hunger.  I rarely think too hard about the variety of food that I eat.  This diet may not be right for everyone, but it has helped me to think of food as being fuel for my body. It's just food, and it will no longer control my life.  I was an emotional eater my whole life and I hope to never go down that road again.  I've come way too far to mess this up now.  I have boundless amounts of energy, and I never feel better than I do right after a run.  I LOVE that feeling!  It's completely addictive.

This past weekend was my nephew's confirmation dinner.  It was also his cousin's confirmation, so the mother's had a joint dinner for both.  It was a lovely evening and I saw people I haven't seen in a year, and some I just saw a month ago.  My sister-in-law's sisters-in-law (hope that's not too confusing) were shocked by my appearance.  I hadn't seen them since last summer.  My father and mother-in-law only saw me a month ago, but said that they didn't recognize me when they saw me.  I had no idea that I looked that different in the span of a month!  My sister-in-law said something that choked me up.  She told me, in a whisper while hugging me, that every time she sees me, she gets tears in her eyes because she's so proud of me.  Of all the compliments I got that night, that was definitely the one that touched me the most!  It's moments like these that make me want to reach my goal.

My boy Jules, me, my handsome nephew Nicolas,
his beautiful cousin Victoria, and my hubby.