More Fun!!

I'm going to take a break from my story - just for a paragraph :)  Since I started writing this, I've had many people say so many nice things to me - Thank you so much!  I never thought I would inspire anyone so to hear that from people means the world to me.  Just know that it is a lot of hard work but, if you are willing, it is completely worth it!!  Even the sore muscles :)  These last (almost) 8 months have honestly been some of the best I've had in so many years.  Don't get me wrong, I've always had a great life but I never really found myself.  I feel that over these months, I've started to discover myself and find what makes me happy.  It's hard for me to remember how I felt last year at this time.  All I know is, I never want to go back there.  And I know that, in addition to my awesome family, I have a few more people in my life these days that make me feel like I matter and who I consider to be the reason I've found success and am still making so much progress.

So, it was mid-June, I'd lost 54 pounds and I was entering my first full week of summer.  During that week I had agreed to work a swim camp in the morning with school age kids to make some extra money.  I've worked it before and it was usually hard to get me to play in the water with the kids.  Not this year - I actually didn't mind being in my swimsuit!  And, I still managed to get a workout in every day.  A couple of mornings I got up early and did a walk/jog at the park near the Y.  It felt good to get it done early.  By now, I think everyone knows how much I hate pushups... they really are an evil invention ;)  But, one day that week I asked Renee' what weight stuff I should do - she was busy so I joked around with her and said... no response means no pushups, right??  I should have kept my mouth shut...She responded with, of course pushups, 100 total.  I thought she was kidding - apparently not.  I was allowed to split them up into shorter segments but my arms were killing me by the time I got done - I told her 100 pushups was mean... but I know they are good for me.  I now looked forward to working out - crazy!

That Monday afternoon, I sat on my couch and, with my resume and cover letter complete, I stared at my computer for about 10 minutes before I hit 'send'.  I was excited and scared all at the same time.  I had no idea if anything would come of it but was proud of myself just for hitting the send button.

With regards to food.... Renee' was convinced I could become an expert in the kitchen by the end of the summer.  I just smiled and nodded.  I knew there was no way that would ever happen.  I get so confused looking at recipes that I just give up.  If it hasn't already been written, someone should really write a cookbook for people who aren't very smart about food....like me.  But, I said I would try to find some new stuff when I had time.  By this point, although I knew what a garlic clove was, I still had no clue how to use it so I started buying the minced garlic and I use that now - makes my life soooo much easier!

I was also working on a list of goals that I wanted to work towards over the summer.  That's another part of this that I found was crucial to my success.  I was writing things down and setting completion dates for myself.  It was Renee's idea but it worked - imagine that :)  It made me do something rather than just sit on the couch and fall asleep all summer.

With how busy I was that first week, I wasn't sure what to expect from my weigh-in on Thursday.  Guess what - I lost 4 more pounds!!! Which meant - a total of 58 and I had achieved my next goal - 2 weeks early!!  Unbelievable.  I almost cried.  Those goals that I mentioned above - I had written some at the beginning of February and one was to be down 45 pounds by vacation - I had more than surpassed that and it was an absolutely amazing feeling!!  Of course, now I needed a new goal.... Stay tuned to find out what it ended up being :)

Enjoy the picture below from mid-June (My nephew and I tried to take a "selfie")