Sunday Night Chit Chat: Before & During

Howdy Humble Readers...

A few days ago, Elana asked for some before and after pics of me and my weight loss.  I'm not going to call them before and after, because I'm not near "after" yet.  However, I will call them "during" pics.  I had some difficulty finding a picture to qualify as before... partly because I'm always the one behind the camera, and partly because I honestly hate pictures of me (due to my over abundance of me).  I'm going to give you a few befores...

December 2012 - had just started losing weight
About 305lbs

May 2012 - when I was 36wks pregnant with Pip.
No one at my church realized I was pregnant.
Around 312lbs. 

September 2009 - In NYC
I was 320lbs when we got home from that trip.

And now for a couple of durings...

Yesterday, at 255.8
(I've lost another pound since)
Like my new haircut?

Hadn't realized how baggy those pants were.  Ick!
I just bought them in April. 

I don't see a whole lot of a difference, yet.  Yeah, there's a difference between me now and me when I was almost full term pregnant, but people who saw me on a regular basis didn't even realize I was pregnant, so that says something about what kind of shape I was in.  I was at my heaviest just after our NYC trip, and I had yo-yo'd around between 280-310ish during/immediately following my pregnancies.  At the end of November 2012, what I consider to be the start of this weight loss journey, I was 309lbs.  As of this morning I'm 254.8lbs.  Woohoo! 

What I have noticed is that I have a lot more stamina.  I can walk a lot farther before I get tired, and my feet and legs don't ache like they used to.  I'm doing a squat challenge this month and I'm up to 190 squats (today's count).  My legs are much stronger now, and I can get up to the 140s or so before it starts getting challenging.  I can make the 3 or 4 trips out to the car to get the groceries and not be huffing even a bit. 

My blood sugars are great.  I'm hopeful that when I next go to the doc (early August) we'll be able to lower my dosage on both the metformin (for the Big D) and my lobetalol (for high blood pressure).  I'm really happy with my progress up to this point.  Now I just need to keep up my motivation. 

On to tonight's chit chat.  Here's what I'm ...

Reading - I had planned on reading the last in the Mitford series this week, but my hold at the library on the new Edward Rutherfurd book, Paris, came in and Mitford got bumped.  I'm not all that far into it yet, but that's the way it usually goes for me with his epic tomes. 

Watching - I'm recording Food Network Star for later in the week, along with the new reality competition show Whodunit.  Instead of watching regular tv, I'm going to watch an episode or two of Game of Thrones.  I'm really enjoying it (graphic violence and sexuality notwithstanding)... can definitely tell that it was inspired by LOTR.  Many similarities.

Listening To - Until just a minute ago, I was listening to my Beloved going through the bedtime rituals for the wee-lings.  Change clothes, brush teeth, story, "saying amens", and tucking in.  So sweet.

Cooking/Baking - Tonight was standard Sunday night fare... roast beef, taters, veg (zucchini and mushrooms).  My favourite meal from the last week was when I made roast beef Florentine paninis.  Roast beef, roasted red peppers, spinach, brie, and a garlic-horseradish mayo.  It was seriously yummy!

Happy I Accomplished This Week - Got my hair cut!!!  It's only been 6 months since my last cut, which is actually good for me.  I also coloured my hair last night.  (need to work on that skill a bit more... not entirely happy with the result)

Looking Forward to Next Week - The long weekend coming up.  Going through the wee-lings' dressers for another purge... and hopefully being able to make some money by selling some of their too-small clothes to the local consignment shop. 

Thankful For This Week - That the Shire escaped the flooding that has so ravaged the southern half of our province.  That, while the loss of property due to the flooding has been heart-breaking, there has been minimal loss of life. 

***Bonus Question*** What was your least favourite part and your most favourite part of the last week?  Least favourite... a disagreement my sister and I had about parenting philosophies.  Most favourite... yesterday morning.  I had gotten in my walk, we had gone to the farmer's market, and were home just hanging out.  It was so relaxing, and I commented to my Beloved on how GOOD (physically and emotionally) I was feeling. 

*****
This was posted as a part of Carla's Sunday Night Chit Chat.  Please click over and see what the others are chatting about tonight.