But First...A Selfie

I used to HATE having my picture taken.  I cringed at the thought of a permanent record of "what I had become".  When I look back at the pictures that I had allowed, I can't believe how much I had let myself go.  I hated how I looked, how I felt, how much I had changed.  It was depressing.  So...to avoid all those feelings, I just avoiding being in pictures.  Pretty sad for a scrapbooker.  I have tons of everyone else.  Not many of me.

Flash forward to now - look how far I have come!  My daughter said that she was looking at a picture of the 2 of us from Mother's Day a few years ago and she couldn't believe how different I look now.  She is proud of me.  I am proud of me.  

I like asking people to take our picture when we go places now.  I like when we attempt to "take a selfie" even though neither my nor hubby's arms are very long (so some of them are close-up-selfies).  But I don't care.  I like having my picture taken now.  

This being said, I promise I won't overdo it. I won't be one of those people who constantly put pictures of myself on Facebook or Instagram.  An occasional pic here and there, maybe. 

This was a good week.  Down a pound.  I hope that I have broken through the plateau I have been up against for so long.  These last 15 pounds (now 13.8) to goal weight have been very slow to come off.  It's frustrating.  But I am not giving up.  I am going to get there. It might not happen when I had hoped.  I might have to re-adjust my timeline.  But that's ok.  I will get there.   

But first...a selfie.

That's the Shenandoah River behind me

Love this

Stress

I just realized how long it's been since I posted.  I have been swamped at work and by the time I get home, exercise, make dinner and clean up, I am pooped.  

In the last year, I have become more in tune with my body. I have noticed how stress affects me.  Work has been one of the things in my life that I feel like I have complete control of.  Until recent changes have thrown me for a loop.  The last few weeks have been crazy!  I had to keep reminding myself not to eat my feelings.  Each day when I got home, I had to talk myself into not crawling into bed but instead exercise.  It was a struggle not to raid the pantry and eat everything in sight.  And each day, I was grateful that I didn't give in to temptation.    

Stress does terrible things to the body.  That's why you have to figure out a way to manage it.  I think did pretty well.  I know getting on the elliptical helped tremendously.  Exercise releases endorphins, which is helps the brain feel good.  If your brain feels good, so should you.  Right?  

The scale is moving very slowly.  Despite tracking and my normal exercise, I am not losing at the rate I would like to be.  I am trying not to get discouraged and keeping in mind how far I have come.  I've hit that dreaded plateau.  I have been reading some articles on overcoming this hurdle and hopefully something will work.  

In the meantime, I will keep on keeping on.  And try not to stress about it.