Quite a bit has happened in my boring little world since my last post. Where to start?
I made a new friend, that’s always fun! We met on Ravelry.com, my addiction, and she invited me to go and spend a day chasing after alpacas at an alpaca farm here in CT. OMG that was one of the most fun days of my life. The alpacas are totally cute and shy! But I could spend hours, and did, just looking at them and taking pictures. With my luck, I left my camera at home! Noooooooooo! But, the camera on my iPhone came to the rescue and I was able to take a bunch of pretty decent pictures that way. And here are those pictures.
Another thing that’s been going on is my weight loss. I’m now down to 50lbs lost if I go by my scale here at home. That was a “HOLY SHIT” moment! I started crying once I did the math. I never thought I’d lose 50lbs in 1 year and be under 190lbs, hell, under 200lbs. I had given up hope, but because I had given up that hope on ever being under 200lbs, it made the weight loss even more sweet.
Now, you might ask, how does one lose 50lbs after giving up hope? Easy… I take it one day and one pound at a time. I had enough hope to lose the first 10 which gave me inspiration to lose the next 10 and so on. I also did it s-l-o-w-l-y that’s the key! I didn’t want to lose 10lbs in a week, I wanted to lose 1lb a week and if I didn’t, it wasn’t the end of the world, I just kept trying. I started working out and eating less and cutting out manufactured foods (including those food that are first dreamed up in a chemistry lab) I even stopped drinking milk! I joined Weight Watchers once I saw a plateau, an it helped me figure out portion sizes and navigate my choices (I was making a few bad ones… too much cheese). What gave me this confidence? Getting my life in order and that took a layoff.
WHAT????? Yes, getting laid off helped me immensely. It made me see myself through the eyes of a future employer. I might be cute and totally qualified, but because I was plus-sized, I was getting overlooked. It gave me a bit more energy and desire to lose the weight. Once I made this decision and as the weight came off, I got the confidence to go back to school. First, I tried grad school and got rejected from all 3 schools I applied to. Then, I tried community college and got accepted! I start in the fall. I met the disability advisor and worked with him to come up with ways for me to be able to take my classes and be accommodated (I can’t write without experiencing pain. Some days I can’t even write an address or do simple math out by hand!!!). All of this is because I’ve dropped 50lbs and went down 4 jeans sizes. Squeeeeeeeee!
One Comment
50 pounds! Congratulations, that’s amazing! Hard work, but you did it. And you’re right… being unemployed makes it easier to focus on yourself and do a bit of exercise every day. With work… let’s put it this way, I haven’t been to the gym in months, and all I manage is the occasional walk.
Great work!