My Journey through 2013...my year of self discovery.

We are now over 8 months into 2013. I decided that rather than wait until December and write my "year in review" post I would start now. This blog post will eventually end up on a scrapbook page I am sure but for now this was a great place to put down my thoughts. Someone asked me this morning on Facebook what my original goal was in my current weight loss journey and I realized that my goal started out as just wanting to move more and eat less....but it has become so much more than that now. This afternoon I saw this quote on Pinterest and thought it totally described my year so far. Nothing could have prepared me for the twists and turns that this year has brought and yet I must say I am grateful for everyone of them.

January 2013 dawned with excitement at our house. We were expecting our first grandchild. I made plans to take vacation after the baby arrived so that I could be there when sweet little Kaden was born. He was perfect in every way. I arrived just the day after he was born and I was totally in love with this sweet little guy. I stayed the week and then went home. I hated to leave but knew that it was time to come home.  I was home a week or so and then the first "Plot Twist" entered my life. I had a routine colonoscopy and they found a mass in my rectum and I needed surgery. Talk about yelling "PLOT TWIST"!!! I was screaming! Fortunately for me I was surrounded by amazingly wonderful family and friends who supported me through the whole journey.

Sweet Kaden at 4 days old.

In March I was able to go and see my sister on another weeks vacation where I had an absolute blast. I looked at my sister and her amazing transformation from overweight to a remarkably fit woman having lost 30 pounds and I was instantly impressed and proud of her for doing it. I attended a couple of Zumba classes with her and realized that I really could move more and at that time I made up my mind that once my surgery was behind me I would embark on a journey of my own. I kept it to myself and continued to ponder about it as I prepared for surgery. I found myself even before the surgery trying to eat a little bit better.

Fast forward to after my surgery. I won't say the whole experience was a piece of cake because it totally wasn't. But I was guided along the way by a loving Father in Heaven who buoyed me up and carried me when I didn't think I could go on. Family supported me, friends rallied...words cannot express how

Loved hanging with my Sister, Linda.

Ready for Surgery

wonderful everyone has been. I was off work for two weeks. Believe me I needed it. While my surgeon was right it wasn't a painful surgery, I got tired very easily and found that resting as much as possible was important. I joked that I became an HGTV junkie. I watched all kinds of shows on that channel while I was recovering. By the time I had my one month post-op appointment I was back to work and feeling pretty good so I started to walk for exercise. Mostly just my neighborhood. One day at work my manager asked me how far I was walking and I said I wasn't sure probably about a mile. She told me about Map My Run, a free app I could get for my phone that ran off GPS and could track and record my exercise. Well let me tell you...that was all it took. Never in my wildest dreams did I think a silly app on my phone would inspire me to walk on a regular basis. I'm not very competitive by nature but now suddenly I was competing with myself through this app...I wanted to walk longer, I wanted to walk faster than I had the day before. Between Map my Run and my decision to post every day on Facebook to help keep me accountable I was off to a good start.

Today is day 50 of my walking. I have not missed a day. Some days I walk longer than others but even if I don't feel like it I do it anyway. At first I was afraid if I took days off I might not continue.
Besides, for years I had heard that it takes 21 days to develop a habit and I wanted walking to become a habit. So that was my first goal. It just kind of went from there. Especially when I saw how far I had walked. In July alone I walked 60.6 miles!!! I have branched out from my neighborhood. I am walking other neighborhoods.  I have been walking the beach on Saturdays when I have a little more time. Last Saturday I even walked extra...I got a little over zealous and got two miles away from my car before I realized I would have to walk 2 more miles back to my car. OOPS. I survived tho and while I was a little bit worn out the rest of the day I was thrilled that I could say I had walked 4 miles!

I finally got into the cute white
jeans my sister gave me.

My long term goal at this point is to do a Color Run like my sister. It looks like so much fun....my goal is to run as much of it as possible. There is one here locally in May of 2014...just in time for my 60th Birthday...I can't think of a better way to celebrate. I am sure as the weight comes off running will become easier. In the mean time I am just going to keep on keeping on. I feel so much better, . I have grown spiritually, physically and emotionally. Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks?

Truly the last 50 days has been AMAZING.  I have accomplished so much more than I ever thought possible. The weight is coming off. I have lost 20 pounds. While I can attribute some of that to surgery and not eating for nearly a week before and after the surgery....I have taken off much of it on my own. I am for the most part eating healthy foods. Not too much junk and really not even wanting it either, which for me is really weird. I have always had a sweet tooth but since my surgery I haven't craved sweets quite so much. So I am running with that as long as it lasts! lol I also am eating, per Doctors orders, lots of fiber and drinking lots of water. I've even cut way back on my diet coke consumption.

I have learned so much about myself in the past 50 days....I have discovered I am much stronger of a person than I ever thought....I have learned to rely on the Lord when I simply can't do it myself. I have discovered that I have so much determination when I really put my mind to something...yes I guess you can teach this old dog some new tricks...So what will the next 50 days bring....more walking, for sure, more healthy eating, definitely, more weight loss, I certainly hope so....and maybe, just maybe some new, better fitting clothes. =)