First Stall - Check!

Well I didn't get a chance to post last weekend and figured since there wasn't much to talk about, I would just wait until today to post a new blog.  I hit my first stall last week.  Not too bad!  I have lost weight every week since June 17th, 2012 until last week.  And I was totally okay with it.  I am shocked it didn't happen until now so I'm happy it has come and gone!  I wasn't really worried about it because I started an intense weight-lifting routine and just figured is was muscle building.  And I'm fine with that!  I was starting to think this past week would be another stall but mid-week the scales started moving again and I ended up losing 3 pounds this week!  So I'm now down a total of 127lbs!  I'm very pleased with the progress and still amazed at how fast it's all happening.  I feel blessed to have a healthier body now and am LOVING all the things I can do now, physically, that I couldn't before and things many people take for granted!

It was my baby girls' 8th birthday this week and I was remembering this week how skinny I felt when she was born, even though I was 48lbs heavier than I am now.  Unlike most ladies, I lost a lot of weight with all my pregnancies.  The doctors said it's because I was so big to start out so the healthier eating and more activity made me lose weight.  From the day I got pregnant to a week after Gabrielle was born, I lost 35 pounds.  Here is a picture of the first day I took her out after she was born and another one taken today.  I couldn't wait to head into my workplace that day to show my co-worker all the weight I lost, AND my new baby! haha  8 years later, I am 48 pounds lighter than that day and so happy that I can do things with my babies that I have never been able to do since they were born!

So my last post was about the confidence issues I've been going through.  I believe many of you prayed for me because I have felt the prayers!   What a difference I feel in two weeks!  I'm not quite where I want to be with my confidence, but I'm almost there.  I want to first of all thank my Heavenly Father for helping me realize who I am IN HIM!  It really doesn't matter what people think of me - what matters is that I'm living my life for Christ each day.  I will be the first person to admit that I lost sight of that for a while.  But it's all good now!  Secondly, I want to thank a couple of friends who had some really wise words for me that really helped me - Rob and Steph.  Steph, a friend who I babysat when she was 10 years old but is now married with her own children sent me this message last week and it meant so much:

I've been thinking about you a lot lately, especially over the last week. Let me first say that the success you have had is INCREDIBLE! To lose 124 lbs ever is amazing, but to do it in the time frame that you have is truly something!  I have struggled with whether or not I should say anything to you about your recent confidence struggles, only because I don't want it to come across as the "weight loss counsellor" voice, but rather my own that has struggled the same way and had many friends struggle with the same feelings, and please just take it something to consider as you work through these feelings of lost confidence.  I would encourage you to sit down (literally) in a space that is quiet and without distraction with a pen and paper. Write down all of your strengths and gifts... Personally, emotionally,as a mom, as a Christian, as a wife and a woman... Everything that comes to mind, and take your time. Know that those are the things that define you, the things that your friends and family and even strangers in a lunchroom will see... If you allow them to. Keep those things at the front of your mind and thank God for each and every one of them. Allow Him time to remind you of all of the things he loves about you and consider ONLY His opinion of you every time you walk into a room. 

Steph, thank you SO MUCH for those words!  I hope that anyone reading this who is struggling with the same things will be encouraged by them too!  And Rob, you are da man!  You have been a HUGE source of strength and encouragement for me and for me and Stelios as a couple.  Your words of wisdom hit me like a ton of bricks and I'm so thankful to God for placing you at Southwood and in our lives!

Another group I want to thank is my Wednesday morning Bible Study ladies.  Without even knowing it, you have helped me SO MUCH.  You are all such a huge blessing to me week after week!  Some weeks I just sit there and take it all in and some weeks I'm the noisy one.  But in all of it, you just let me be me, and I love you all for that!

I also want to thank my family.  Mom, you are always there to listen to me about the good and the bad stuff. I miss you so much and wish you were closer but I believe God had a plan for us to go through this journey this way and I'm so proud of all you have accomplished in your weightloss journey.  Tammy, thank you for your encouragement too.  You have always been the skinny one in the family and I always felt like I had to measure up to you, physically.  In all the years I was so overweight, you never made me feel less that who I am in Christ and I thank you for being my biggest fan. I love you and can't wait to run, swim, go on roller coasters and anything else we can this summer!

If any of you are struggling with weightloss, with depression, with loneliness  or with ANYTHING, I have learned that the key is to surround yourself with the right people.  I've always been a people pleaser and thought that I could be friends with ANYONE.  But I've learned the hard way that some people are just not meant to be close to us.  I have learned in the past few weeks to surround myself with people who are going to inspire me and strengthen me in my journey, whether it be this weightloss journey, my spiritual journey, my marriage or parenting journey, or whatever journey God takes me on.  And I'm thankful for the people God has put on my heart to allow to walk beside me.  I am truly a blessed woman and I thank you for your love, support and encouragement in THIS journey to better health!

Total Loss: 127lbs