The official before and after shots...

I just got the official before and after shots from my surgeons office.  What a difference a year makes!

Like Mother Like Daughter

I got new business portraits taken last week. I'm happy with the way they turned out.  Well, happy now that my friend Everardo fixed a strand of hair that went a little whackadoodle on me.

I was playing around with filters and when I applied this one it reminded me of a photo of my mom.  I am clearly my mother's daughter.  I think it's in the eyes and the cheekbones.

One Year Surgiversary

One year ago today I had weight loss surgery.  This was probably the most critical decision I have ever made in my life and for my life.  The journey this last year has seen the good (hey my clothes fit), the bad (let me see if I can choke down these two ounces of food) and the ugly (yes I threw up once a day every day for a month) but oh the rewards were worth it.  I have lost a total of 127 pounds, 112 since surgery, and a total of 8 sizes.  I've had a lot of non-scale victories.  I can walk up stairs without getting winded, I can fit comfortably in a coach seat on a plane and in those tiny theatre seats, I can run and not just because something is chasing me.  Bathing suits shopping was actually fun. I had the confidence to try paddle boarding.  I am truly grateful for the experience of this last year and for all I've learned from it. Thanks to my incredible support system who honored my decision whether they thought it was a good idea or not and then let me talk about it nonstop for 12 months!  Here's to year two.

I haven't blogged about my vacation to Maui yet but I did put together a Shutterfly book on it as the Marriott Wailea gave me a free book as part of my room package.

Click here to view this photo book larger

Turn your favorite photos into a photo book at Shutterfly.com.

Non Scale Victories

In the weight loss phase, it's all about the number of the scale going down.  Now that I am trying to maintain my weight, I try to celebrate the non scale victories.  I was heading out of my hotel room one evening to work out and glanced in the mirror and realized...my thighs don't touch!  Victory!

And now having posted this, I feel compelled to go work out so I can sustain this look and feeling!