Progressing Toward Goals...

This month has been a little difficult for me. I let my circumstances dictate me, to a point. Don't get me wrong, I still went to the gym almost daily. I still did as much cardio as I could (which, truthfully, wasn't much, due to the bum leg). But, what I did not do, was stay on target with my diet. Of all the times I should have been spot on with my diet, this month was it. But, I didn't. I allowed myself to veer off plan. To eat many things I shouldn't. At one point, I felt as though I were on a slippery slope of crashing into my old lifestyle. And quite honestly, that scared me to death. I don't want to go back to where I was. I feel like a whole new person. My outlook on life has changed for the better. No longer am I the girl who circles the parking lot looking for a front row parking space, or too tired to go to the gym. No longer am I the girl who picks sweets over healthy food. No longer am I the girl who doesn't eat leftovers. No longer am I the girl circling the fast food restaurants for breakfast. No more. I refuse to go back.

This past weekend my mom finally made me go through my clothes I had packed away in the attic. You know, the clothes you always keep because you just know you're going to get into them again someday. To be honest, I've needed to do it for quite awhile now. But, I have delayed. Procrastinated. Made excuses as to why I didn't do it. Truly, the root of it was that if they didn't fit, I didn't want to be devastated. Nonetheless, my mom literally dropped the bucket of clothes right in front of me and basically said to do it. So, Sunday afternoon, I shopped from my attic. I found many items that I could wear. There are two or three shirts I cannot quite wear. Other than that, I mailed off a ton of items still with tags to a company that resells them for you. They were too big! And not just a little bit!

Monday night was measurement night. You know what that means. I'll be honest, I was a little bit dreading it because of the surgery, my lack of perfection on the eating plan, lack of cardio. But, you know what? Despite all that, it still was okay. Life went on (insert shocked face, here)! Here's the updated measurements:

	April 17, 2013	June 3, 2013	July 1, 2013	July 29, 2013
Neck:	16	15.5	15.5	15
Chest:	52.5	51.0	50.5	49
Waist:	56	54	51.5	51
Hips:	75	73	71	71
Left Thigh:	39.5	37	36.5	35
Right Thigh:	36.5	35.5	34	34
Left Calf:	26	26	None due to surgery	None due to surgery
Right Calf:	28.5	26	None due to surgery	None due to surgery
Left Bicep:	21.5	21	18.5	18
Right Bicep:	20.5	19.5	17.5	16.5
Shoulders:	56.5	53	51	50.5

Last, but not least, below is the updated picture. Because there was only a six inch loss this month, the picture really is not distinguishable from last month. Mostly, because it's a half inch here and there. So, just for fun, I thought I'd post my initial weigh-in picture from April 17, 2013 and my picture from this month's check-in:

Left: April 17, 2013 (445-ish lbs.)
Right: July 30, 2013 (362 lbs.)

This picture shows about an 82 pound weight loss in just four months (82 pounds since April 13, 2013). I know it sounds cliche, but I really do feel like a whole new person. I am at 102 pounds since last July, when I first joined the gym. It's not the 100 I wanted to lose from April through July, but I am okay with it. I am truly happy with my progress because I know I have done everything I could do to get there. I did not give up when the going got tough. I might've stumbled, but I did not quit. It is still 100 pounds. 

So, a huge thank you to all my family and friends who push me. The deepest, heartfelt thanks goes to Danny and Cynthia - who reached out of their busy lives and saved my life. Without y'all, I'd still be eating fast food three times a day and being miserable. I owe y'all so much. 

The point of this post, is that I am striving for progress. I fell off the wagon. I had an injury. Before, I would have given up. Now, I'm more determined than ever to kick this weight loss in the face and beat it -- once and for all!

You can do anything your mind says you can! If you haven't made the change, what are you waiting for? The hardest step is the first one.