What a Difference a Year Makes

It's been one whole year since I started my new lifestyle - one filled with healthy eating, exercise, and boundary establishing (I haven't talked a whole lot about that last one, but I will in future posts).  I wish I had blogged back then so that you, my faithful readers, and I could really see the full transformation.  I think it's more than just physical. 

Until earlier today when Lauren posted her interview with me where I spilled all, only my closest friends and my family knew what really triggered my whole need for change.  I'm going to share it with you now.  It's quite embarrassing, really.  At younger sister Linda's wedding on March 21, 2009, my size 24 bridesmaid dress (which should have been a size 26) split open.  At the time, I blamed it on the dress getting caught on the bottom of the chair and me scooting the chair.  That part is true, mind you, but that alone didn't cause my zipper to rip the entire length of the dress.  Let's face it - it was busting at the seams because I was at my all-time heaviest weight.  This is not something I am proud of, but it is a fact.  My mom had brought a beautiful lace shawl in case my sister got cold and had left it upstairs in the bridal room, so older sister Cathy went up to get it.  Then sister-in-law April  tied the shawl just so to get me through my Maid-of-Honor speech and toast.  Afterwards, I was able to slip out, drive home, change into a different dress, and make it back to the reception - all in about 20 minutes (thank God the facility was so close to the house).  I was humiliated.  You think that would have made me jump on the wagon right then and there, but apparently I had a little more emotional downward spiraling to do before I got my act together on July 6, 2009.  Then there was no looking back.

I feel like a whole new me.  I'm doing things I never would have thought possible and I'm doing it all with a rejuvenated spirit!  Although I've lost 106 lbs, I still have another 60+ lbs to lose.  Even once those pounds are gone it will be a forever battle, but it's a battle I'm willing to fight because I never want to feel so unhealthy and so uncomfortable in my own skin ever again.  It's funny to gleefully go to doctor appointments (versus dreading them) because I know I will get a "good job" instead of a lecture.  It's awesome to know the aches and pains I have are from running or other forms of exercising and not from excessive weight on my joints and bones.  It's empowering to see the changes in my body.  It's so many different emotions...

What difference has a year made to you?