Successful Summer Weigh-In Update – Week 10+ (The Get Real Post)

Today is officially my last day of summer vacation (school starts tomorrow), so I figured it was time to get on the scale and really weigh in.  This is the last of my Successful Summer Weigh-Ins.

The post that I wrote on Friday was a bit of a BS recap.  I mean, I meant everything I wrote, but it was the easy way out of getting on the scale and admitting that I’d gained weight.  I knew I’d gained weight without even getting on the scale because I’d been to the doctor and saw the number there.  And even if their scale is higher than mine is, it wasn’t that much different.  The reason I avoided the scale on Friday morning was because I didn’t want to come on this blog and admit that I had fallen into old habits.  I didn’t want to admit that I’d eaten myself into the equivalent of a wasted summer.  And I didn’t want to face judgement.

But then I realized that this blog was never about putting on a happy face or avoiding the truth.  This blog is about the down and dirty of my weight loss journey.  A journey that has been a struggle for me, every step of the way.  It’s important for me to document the reality of what I’m doing, for myself.  So that I can see the patterns (which I know that all of you have seen for a long time, but when you’re the one at the center of it, it takes longer to recognize it) and make better choices.

I’ve been feeling nervous about the beginning of school and my more restricted time and a more structured schedule.  I got depressed about my high blood pressure readings.  And my reaction to all of that was to binge eat.  I know that makes no sense to those of you who don’t have a disordered relationship with food.  You would think that I’d take advantage of my last week or so of vacation and make healthy choices, both in food and exercise, which would naturally help with the BP results.  But I didn’t.  I got overwhelmed and shut down, which is my tendency.  I turned to food to numb everything. I showed no willpower and I let base cravings get the better of me.  I sat for hours on the couch and had “marathons,” but really they were just an excuse not to workout, because I know that when I workout I naturally eat better.  Again, those of you who don’t struggle this way will not understand it.  But this post isn’t for you, it’s for me. 

{Okay, Bella, that’s all good and well, but what we really want to know is how you did on the scale}. Right?!

Today I weighed in at 307.0, which means I set myself back to week one of the summer.  I have 26 lbs to go to reach my pre-surgery goal.

There it is in black and white. I fucked myself over this past week, and now I have to deal with it.  Period. It’s not insurmountable by any means.  But I can’t keep losing weight and then gaining it again in moments of stress and fear.  Otherwise I’m going to get kicked out of the Bariatric program.  And there is no way that I’m going to let that happen.

I know I have a lot of work to do mentally.  I’ve already begun taking steps to put myself in a better mindset and break this cycle that I’ve been on for years.  Therapy and self help books are in the works.  I’ve decided that I’m not going to blog about this portion of the journey, because I’ve been uncovering deeply personal things, and I want to keep them private.  I’m sharing them with the therapist and a few people in my life, and that will suffice.

But I don’t want this post to be completely harsh or negative.  I’ve had an amazing summer, overall.  One week of terrible choices doesn’t negate all the fun I’ve had.  I spent most of the summer participating in a bunch of activities that I loved – walking Sofi, Zumba, Bikram yoga, swimming, Hot Hula, belly dancing, and bike riding.  I’ve made beautifully well-balanced, healthy meals for myself that all incorporated my love of fresh fruits and veggies.  I’ve documented all of this on MyFitnessPal, keeping track of my food and my workouts every single day for 9 weeks, which is no small task.  No readout on the scale can take these things away from me.

And I’m still going into the new school year weighing less than I did when I left in June, so that’s something.

Until next week, my friends. I hope the scale treats you well, and that you’ve had a wonderful weekend!

I disabled comments for this post because I wrote it for me.  I appreciate everyone’s support. I apologize to those who have read this again and again on this blog, and are really over it (me).  I understand your frustration, believe me, I’m living it. But I also know that I am way too determined to let anything stand in my way, so I WILL get there eventually. All of this struggle and strife is just part of my journey, I guess.  

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Wordless Wednesday – Recently Pinned

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Girish: Remixed

Last night my friend Ani and I went to see Girish:Remixed at one of the local yoga studios I like to go to.  I had been on their site looking up a class for my sister when I happened to look at their upcoming events and saw the show.

REMIXED links Sanskrit mantra and chant with modern grooves in a heart-opening, soul-stirring union. This is sensual, funky, yet deeply devotional music that will have your body moving and your heart soaring.

REMIXED joins Girish’s lush, soulful voice and transcendent melodies with a dazzling array of international musical luminaries including Mac Quayle (Sting, Beyonce, Madonna), DJDrez (Black-Eyed Peas, Bombay Dub Orchestra), Herb Graham,Jr(MacyGray), Desert Dwellers, Rara Avis, Shujat Ali Khan and more.

REMIXED is an inspiring blend of musical styles ranging from dubstep to reggae, from dance to electronic – while maintaining the devotional heart and soul of Girish’s music. This is music to put your prayers in motion!”

I love music of all types, and I’m always looking for something out of the ordinary to do, so I figured it was a nice way to spend a Saturday evening.  I asked Ani to join me because she’s always up for new adventures. And I did something really a-typical for me – I didn’t research more about the music online before the event.  I wanted to experience the evening fresh, without any preconceived notions.

This is the Luna room at Breathe, where they hold their aerial yoga classes, among others. It was the beautiful setting of the evening’s music.

While I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I knew I’d hear some interesting music in a tranquil space, no matter what.  And I did.  We sat on blankets and bolsters on the ground, and most people were wearing loose, easy clothing.  I was a bit overdressed, but very thankful that I’d chosen to forgo my jeans, which would have been much too uncomfortable for sitting on the floor for two hours.

The music was based on chants from sanskrit, many of which are used in yoga practice.  I was actually shocked at how many people in the small group of 30 knew the chants by heart. The Girish website has samples of all the songs we heard last night, and here’s a sample of one of my favorites from last night, Jaya Hanuman. The thing that you don’t hear from the samples is the way that the songs built up in intensity and tempo.  As the description wrote, many of the songs took on a funky, jazzy vibe, courtesy of brilliant bass guitar playing and drumming.  Those were the moments I enjoyed the most, when I could just forget about everything else and FEEL the music.  And I guess that’s really the whole point, to let all of your troubles go and just be in the moment, exactly as you are when you’re practicing yoga. 

The only song I didn’t like was one that was sung in English and sounded more like a Christian revival meeting.  (It was something more impromptu, and not part of the CD or the samples).

Even though I didn’t completely feel like I belonged there (just my own thing, not because anyone was unwelcoming), I still really enjoyed the evening.  I liked the experience so much that I think I may go to the OM Music Festival in Santa Cruz in October.  I think it speaks to the fact that music can bridge all sorts of gaps.

Do you ever go to events that are very out of character for you?

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Successful Summer Weigh-In Update – Week 5

It’s summertime! Which means that life is a lot easier – my schedule is free, healthy fruits and veggies are plentiful, and I have nothing but time to work on this goal. Success is practically guaranteed – all I need to do is follow through with my actions. My re-assessment meeting with my surgeon was on Friday, June 8th, which just so happened to also be my last day of school before summer vacation, making Fridays the perfect day to weigh-in. So throughout the summer, I’ll be giving Friday progress updates called Successful Summer Weigh-Ins.

This past week was a bit of a mixed bag.  I did great with exercise over the weekend, but then when Monday hit, I just couldn’t seem to rally myself to workout. I made the choice to spend some time getting organized around the house – laundry had backed up and the house was badly in need of a deep clean.  I did go swimming on Wednesday, because the temperatures were so high, but that was about it.

My food was pretty good, but I was feeling sort of bored with my usual choices.  I didn’t log my meals in MyFitnessPal, either, which is so rare for me.  Laziness took over here, too.

I decided to skip the scale this week, as well.  I know that some of you are probably thinking that avoiding the scale will only lead me down a bad path, but I know myself.  I think seeing another week at or up from last week’s numbers would put me in a bad frame of mind, and I just don’t want to let that happen.  No more backsliding.

This week was a good lesson for me – even though I said I wasn’t going to let last week’s gain get to me, I think it did.  And then instead of working my ass off to make up for it, I went in the other direction.  Isn’t it funny how I can sabotage myself that way?  Doing the exact opposite of what I should be doing to be successful.  It just shows that I don’t have all of this on lock down and I can’t allow myself to get sloppy like I did this week.

Once again, I’m not going to make a bunch of declarations…well, not more than I already have. I’m just going to RELEASE myself from the guilt, shame, and disappointment, and I’m going to show my commitment to my goals with my actions.  So look for my tweets and/or on MyFitnessPal to follow my food and exercise diary to see what I’m DOing.

Until next week, my friends. I hope the scale treats you well, and that you have a wonderful weekend!

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Successful Summer Weigh-In Update – Week 4

It’s summertime! Which means that life is a lot easier – my schedule is free, healthy fruits and veggies are plentiful, and I have nothing but time to work on this goal. Success is practically guaranteed – all I need to do is follow through with my actions. My re-assessment meeting with my surgeon was on Friday, June 8th, which just so happened to also be my last day of school before summer vacation, making Fridays the perfect day to weigh-in. So throughout the summer, I’ll be giving Friday progress updates called Successful Summer Weigh-Ins.

This week was strange. I had a great week, but with my birthday on Monday and then the 4th of July on Wednesday, things were a bit off for me.  My food was ok, but I did have more calories than normal on Wednesday at the BBQ.  All good food, but just maybe too much of it.  The other days I ate fine, but I didn’t have the same “pep in my step,” especially in terms of workouts.  Last weekend I didn’t workout at all really, other than taking Sofi for a walk.  I just wasn’t very motivated for some reason.  Monday started off well with 90 minutes of bikram on my birthday, but then I just fell flat Tuesday-Thursday.  I had every intention of going to Zumba or getting in some other workout, but each day something happened that through a kink in my plans and then through me off schedule.  Like I said, it was a weird week.

{Okay, Bella, that’s all good and well, but what we really want to know is how you did on the scale}. Right?!

Today I weighed in at 304.4, which means I gained 2 pounds this week, so I have 23.4 lbs to go to reach my pre-surgery goal. I’m not going to freak out about this.  Mother Nature gave me a bday gift on Monday with TOM, I ate a big meal on Wednesday, and really only exerted myself on Monday.  No big surprises.  Even my water intake was “just okay” this week.  It was just an off week, and while I’m not excusing myself, or giving up on my goals, I’m not going to get crazy or discouraged.  What good would that do?

And by walking, I mean, “walking the talk.”

Which is exactly what I did this morning.  Right after I got off the scale, I quickly whipped up a berry green smoothie, grabbed a cup of coffee, picked up my gear, and headed to a 9am Bikram yoga class.  Today’s class was phenomenal.  A different teacher than Monday, and I’m not sure if it was her, or the fact that this was my second day this week of practicing, or a combo of both, but I could already see a marked improvement in my ability with the poses.

I still have to make some major modifications because of my weight, for example, with #6 you’re supposed to kick your foot into your hand and hold your ankle, but I can’t do that at all, so I just lift my leg and hold my arm as if the ankle was in my  hand.  Not perfect, but still attempting the posture.  The same thing for #19.  I really can’t do #20 or #21 at all, and for today, I just laid in Savasana (corpse pose).  I’m going to ask about a modification for those poses, because I don’t want to sit poses out just because my body can’t get into the perfect form.  They say #23, the Rabbit pose is one of the toughest, and I can’t do it at all…yet. As class ended, I felt good about what I did because my body got into the poses more quickly and with more fluidity than just 4 days ago.  Progress!  (I also ran into my mom’s cousin, MM, whom I have always looked up to.  She’s 10 years older than me, and when I was younger I thought she was the coolest.  Seeing her at yoga  today and getting to practice next to her was a fun experience).

Directly after yoga I headed to the pool to cool down.  I have been leaving the class a sweaty mess.  I’ve always been somewhat sweaty after a bikram class but this week I was literally dripping with sweat and my clothes were soaked through, top and bottoms.  I wonder if the vitamins I’ve been taking are helping my body sweat better?  Anyway, I was gross, hot, and just wanted to cool off, so I was so glad I took the time to pack my swimsuit, etc. with me so that I could quickly change, jump in the pool, and do a few laps.  About 20 minutes worth, which was nice.

All told, I burned 1769 calories today – halfway to 1 pound!  I’m not just saying that I’m going to do better this week, I’m actually taking the actions that will insure it.  Since I spent quite a bit on the 1-month yoga pass, I want to plenty of those classes, but knowing that I would get burnt out on all yoga all the time, I also want to keep swimming, doing Zumba, and fitting in some bike rides.  So, here’s my workout plan for July:

Sunday: Yin Yoga, walk Sofi
Monday: Bikram, swimming, walk Sofi
Tuesday: Bikram, swimming, walk Sofi
Wednesday: Zumba, walk Sofi
Thursday: off/ bike ride, walk Sofi
Friday: Bikram, swimming, walk Sofi
Saturday: Zumba, gentle yoga, walk Sofi (bike ride in the late afternoon)

It seems like a lot, but I think it’s doable.  It’s the sort of intensity I’ve been craving, and it’s high time I bring it!  I think it’s a nice balance of yoga and other workouts that I love to do.  And I think it will help me achieve my goals – on and off the scale.

Until next week, my friends. I hope the scale treats you well, and that you have a wonderful weekend!

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Successful Summer Weigh-In Update – Week 3

It’s summertime! Which means that life is a lot easier – my schedule is free, healthy fruits and veggies are plentiful, and I have nothing but time to work on this goal. Success is practically guaranteed – all I need to do is follow through with my actions. My re-assessment meeting with my surgeon was on Friday, June 8th, which just so happened to also be my last day of school before summer vacation, making Fridays the perfect day to weigh-in. So throughout the summer, I’ll be giving Friday progress updates called Successful Summer Weigh-Ins.

This week I wanted to try to see what happened if I cut back a bit on my grains at dinner a few of the nights. So Monday-Wednesday I didn’t have any sort of grain and you know what? I didn’t miss it….much. I think I started out on Monday missing the idea of having a grain at dinner more than I actually missed the grain. Because I planned meals that were filling enough, the grain wasn’t a factor in my feeling of satiety. For example, Wednesday night I had TJ’s ginger marinated cod with a side of sauteed zucchini and summer squash, and I was really satisfied. In fact, I felt full enough that I didn’t even think of the “missing” grain at all. I did end up having some quinoa last night because I had it left over from Sunday and I didn’t want it to go bad before I ate it. The scale didn’t move from yesterday to today, though, which tells me it is probably better to skip grains at dinner, unless I’ve done a fairly major workout that day. Which is just fine, since I wanted to keep my plan balanced and in moderation.

{Okay, Bella, that’s all good and well, but what we really want to know is how you did on the scale}. Right?!

Today I weighed in at 302.4, which means I lost 3.8 pounds this week, so I have 21.4 lbs to go to reach my pre-surgery goal. I’m thrilled with this steady weight loss, and I think the combination of eating well, cutting back on evening grains, and working out helped. The total for three weeks is 12.6 lbs lost, which is excellent. I’m really proud of what I’ve done so far this summer.

My first weight loss reward is scheduled for 15 lbs (5%), and I’ve decided to get a shellac manicure. Now that I’m taking Biotin every day, my nails are growing and getting stronger. Since normal manicures don’t last for me (I chip the polish within a day), I know that the shellac is the way to go. Yesterday when I got my hair done I made an appointment to get the shellac mani on July 12, which gives me more than enough time to lose the 15 lbs. In fact, I’m sure I’ll be closer to 20 lbs off by then. That’s so cool to think about!!

The week ahead could be a challenging one with my birthday and the 4th of July, but I’ve decided that this year, nothing is more important to me than losing this weight, so I’m making that the priority. I’m following it with my actions and choices. More on that in Monday’s birthday post.

Until next week, my friends. I hope the scale treats you well, and that you have a wonderful weekend!

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Successful Summer Weigh-In Update – Week 2

It’s summertime! Which means that life is a lot easier – my schedule is free, healthy fruits and veggies are plentiful, and I have nothing but time to work on this goal. Success is practically guaranteed – all I need to do is follow through with my actions. My re-assessment meeting with my surgeon was on Friday, June 8th, which just so happened to also be my last day of school before summer vacation, making Fridays the perfect day to weigh-in. So throughout the summer, I’ll be giving Friday progress updates called Successful Summer Weigh-Ins.

This week my main goal was to remain consistent in my efforts that I put in place last week, because that’s the area in which I need the most improvement. The one hurdle I faced this week was Father’s Day. I hosted a BBQ at my house, and even though I had healthy choices and ate in moderation, I did have a planned indulgence in two Blue Moon summer wheat beers. Monday the scale had me up a bit, but I didn’t freak out and just kept with the program. I am proud of the workouts I’ve been getting in because I’m not only burning serious calories, but I’m enjoying myself. It’s been so fun to be able to keep busy and workout at the same time.

{Okay, Bella, that’s all good and well, but what we really want to know is how you did on the scale}. Right?!

Today I weighed in at 306.2, which means I lost 0.4 pounds this week, meaning I have just slightly over 25 lbs to go to reach my pre-surgery goal. Now, losing 0.4 isn’t awesome, but it is a loss. And since the scale had been up the first few days of the week in response to the aforementioned BBQ, I’m happy with this. The total for two weeks is 8.8 lbs lost, which is a wonderful average. I can’t complain about that.

The plan for the coming week is to do more of the same. My workouts/fitness have been excellent, and I want to continue swimming, walking, and taking Zumba class, but I’m also going to add in riding my beach cruiser. It’s been far too long since I’ve gone out and had a long bike ride, so that’s one of the main goals for next week. In terms of food, I had a great week, but I am going to cut down on my carbs a bit at dinner. So instead of eating 3/4 of a cup of quinoa or brown rice, I’m going to have a 1/2 cup or skip the grain completely at dinner.

The idea limiting the carbs at dinner isn’t new, but it got reinforced when I saw this pin about Bob Harper’s The Skinny Rules:

Source:Pinterest

 

Most of these are rules that I’ve already incorporated into my lifestyle, but #7 is something that I want to try out this next week. I’m going to take this as no grains after lunch, because the carbs found in veggies are perfectly fine, to me. It’s an easy thing to do, and I want to see how cutting some of the carbs later in the day affects my weight loss. My guess is that it will improve. I’m not going to be militant and say absolutely no carbs at dinner, but I think I’ll try this 4-5 out of the 7 days. What do you think of The Skinny Rules?

Until next week, my friends. I hope the scale treats you well, and that you have a wonderful weekend!

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Successful Summer Weigh-In Update – Week 1

It’s summertime!  Which means that life is a lot easier – my schedule is free, healthy fruits and veggies are plentiful, and I have nothing but time to work on this goal.  Success is practically guaranteed – all I need to do is follow through with my actions.  My re-assessment meeting with my surgeon was on Friday, June 8th, which just so happened to also be my last day of school before summer vacation, making Fridays the perfect day to weigh-in.  So throughout the summer, I’ll be giving Friday progress updates called Successful Summer Weigh-Ins.

This week I was motivated in a way that I haven’t been in a really long time.  I guess hearing the surgeon tell me that he’d kick me out of the bariatric program if I didn’t complete the goal in a timely manner will do that to me.  What I’ve come to realize is that following the plan and making this into a lifestyle is really easy when this is the main focus of my days.  That’s what I love about summer – I can concentrate on me.

I’m glad I had this time off for this first week back because I instilled quite a few changes:

• I started taking all my vitamins again – I’d gotten really lazy about this, but I need to develop this as part of my life because I’ll be much healthier after surgery if I do.
• I’ve been weighing and measuring every single thing that goes in my mouth, no exceptions.  My main problem is portion sizes, so it’s important to get back to basics with those.
• I’ve changed my daily routine so that the first real thing I do when I wake up (after all the bathroom business) is make my bed, get dressed, and take Sofi for a walk while the coffee is brewing.  It’s a great way to begin the day.  I also tackle one housekeeping thing each day so that I don’t have to do a marathon cleaning session on the weekends.
• A huge change has been in the way that I’ve been shopping for food.  When school is in and time is tighter, I shop for the entire week on Sunday.  Now that I have plenty of time and no schedule to follow, I’ve been shopping for just a few days at a time.  This works well because I don’t have too much food in the house at any one time and the fruits/veggies are fresher.
• I work my day around my workouts, rather than the other way around.  Swimming, bike riding, and walking have really become activities that I look forward to – hobbies that I enjoy as much as reading or blogging – so I make sure that anything else I need to do fits into my workout plans.
• I’m getting more sleep.  This is huge for me.  I still get to stay up late, which I love, but since I don’t have to wake up at 5:30am, I can get enough rest.  I wake up feeling so ready to tackle the day.

{Okay, Bella, that’s all good and well, but what we really want to know is how you did on the scale}.  Right?!

Today I weighed in at 306.6, which means I lost 8.4 pounds this week, meaning I have 26 lbs to go to reach my pre-surgery goal.  What an awesome start!!  26 lbs seems like nothing.  And granted, I am still over 300 lbs, which is frightening and embarrassing, but dropping 8.4 in one week is amazing to me.

What’s even more amazing is how easy it was to do it.  I just didn’t allow myself to consider that snacks were an option, because they weren’t.  I told myself that I was going to eat as close to 400 calories per meal as I could, and stick as closely as I could to 1200 per day.  I also made sure that I exercised for over an hour each day, except Wednesday, which I took as a rest day. The power of the mind is incredible.  This goes to show that if I stick to the guidelines Kaiser’s laid out for me, I will be successful.

I’ve been here many times before – jazzed because I had a great weigh in, and then something in my mind goes haywire and I get cocky and I let things slip.  Not this time.  I know that my problem is consistency, so that’s going to be my focus throughout this summer while I reach for my goal (and beyond that, obviously).  I have it in me to have great weeks every week, and now I’m all about showing it, rather than just writing it.

Until next week.  I hope the scale treats you well this week, too.

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Pinterest Perspectives: No Excuses

Are you as addicted to Pinterest as I am?! I absolutely love going on there to dream, to be inspired, to learn, and to grow. And, okay, to waste a ton of time. I find so many interesting ideas from Pinterest everyday, and I just wanted to share some of it with you guys on a weekly basis. Hence Pinterest Perspectives.

This week my goal has been to do exactly what it says in this art – I’ve woken up each morning and made the conscious decision to banish all excuses.

Instead of giving allowing myself to skip workouts because I had a million other things to do, because I got home late, or because I was tired from a poor night’s sleep, I didn’t give in.  I pushed myself to workout anyway.  I told myself that all of that would be waiting for me in 30 or 45 minutes.  And you know what?  It was true.

For example, yesterday I had an awfully stressful day at work, then spent over an hour waiting at the pharmacy (when it should’ve taken 20 minutes, got home much later than I expected, and missed a phone  call with my friend who lives Back East.  I felt like I was going to suffocate under the pressure.

But I stopped, took a breath, and then decided that I was going to change the day by changing my outlook.  I went outside to my backyard and played with Sofi.  I stayed outside and caught up with my mom and another friend on the phone.  And by the time I was done with that, I felt refreshed.  All it took was a change of attitude to completely change my feelings about  how the day was going.

I felt so good that I went inside and found a killer OnDemand cardio kickboxing video that had my heart pounding and left my breathing shallow.  I felt invigorated by the time I was done.  The endorphins kicked in, and so did my pride in myself. When I posted a third sweatyface photo in as many days on FB, I was motivated, and heard from my friends who said I was motivating them too.  Who doesn’t like hearing that they’re a source of motivation for others?

It’s an important lesson for me. I could have wallowed in the excuses and sought comfort in overindulging in food the way I have so many times in the past.  But that would have just left me feeling terrible about myself, physically and mentally. Instead, I reframed my perspective, which completely transformed my feeling of the way the day was going.  By taking time to stop and just enjoy life a bit, I gave myself the chance to change the pace of the day.

I allowed myself to breathe.

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Today was a Gift

It’s funny, this morning started out pretty badly – one thing after another went wrong as I was getting ready for work (like all of the ice in the ice cube tray falling and scattering across the floor while the tray bounced and then broke – random, I know), and I was nearly late.  Being late is not an option as a teacher, so it always stresses me out to even think that it might be a possibility.  But instead of focusing on the stressful start, I shook it off, and just went on with the day.

And before I knew it, there were all of these amazing things to be thankful for…

…I had on a really comfortable, flattering outfit that I felt really confident in.  How often does that happen?  That’s like the fashion trifecta or something, isn’t it?  Plus, I got three compliments, which boosted my spirits even more.

…My class finished our reading of Our Town by Thorton Wilder.  If you haven’t read or watched the play, its core message is about how the little, everyday details of life are precious and should be valued. It seems to be the theme of today.

…BeautyJunkie824 invited me to her Goal Weight Celebration Hike in Muir Woods.  I absolutely love the idea of doing something active with friends as a celebration of such an accomplishment.  Not only that, but I was just telling my sister the other day that I wanted to go to Muir Woods this summer because I’d never been.  Now it’s happening even sooner than expected for an amazing reason!  Kizmet, I tell you!!

…I got my brows & lip threaded. Now to most of you that probably doesn’t sound like the makings of a great day, but let me tell you, for someone with naturally thick, nicely-shaped brows that can turn into a hairy, unkempt mess without upkeep, it is perfection.  When my brows look good, my whole face is brighter, and I feel lit-from-within pretty.  And as much as I loving wearing makeup everyday, nothing in the world can replace that “makeup optional” feeling.

…I got three free songs that I really like from the Starbucks Digital Network while I was there between appointments enjoying an iced coffee.  I love new music, and FREE new music is even better.

…My Fitness AHA Moment was featured on FitApproach!  I’m still pinching myself that I was asked to be part of this amazing network of women/fitness enthusiasts.  I’d written the Dawn of Super Bellina post weeks ago, and was dying to share it, but wanted to wait until it hit FitApproach.  Lately I’ve written a few posts that are more reflective and deeper in nature, and I’m really liking the insights that I can draw from them.  I’m going to do my best to write more posts like that.

…I had another therapy session today, and I had lots of good news to share with the therapist. Once again, she asked some really great questions that got me thinking and making connections.  I know that as I uncover the deeper truths about my behaviors and beliefs I will be successful in my journey.  This is the final piece of the puzzle that’s been missing for so long, and it’s why I’ve failed in my previous efforts to lose weight.

Today was just one of those days that I have to stop and take a moment to show my gratitude.  It wasn’t any one thing that made the day so fantastic (although a few of these things were awesome all on their own!), but it was the combination of all of them that made it simply amazing.

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