Wow, thanks everyone for all your replies!
I definitely have worked to get every one of those pounds off me, but it hasn't been torture - it's been liberating!
The differences between how we live now and a year ago are just amazing, for example:
- our grocery cart is full of healthy, nutritious foods - plenty of fruits and vegetables, lean poultry and fish.
- we don't stuff ourselves full of fried, fatty foods at every opportunity
- our clothes closet is full of workout gear that actually gets used
- we spend our time off outside as much as possible, doing active things like biking or hiking, together or with friends
- I plan my calendar around what races, charity bike rides and sporting events I want to participate in
- For the first time in my life, I consider myself an athlete. I wish someone had told me 20 years ago that you didn't need to be skinny or good with a ball to be good at sports!
In fact, it's the activity that is really different this time round. I've tried to lose weight before and have lost as much as 50 lbs (from my high weight of 350) but I'd always fall off the wagon, go back to old eating habits, and gain most (if not all and then some) of the weight back. This time, although we made healthy eating a priority, I also focused on exercise and found to my amazement that I actually enjoyed it. Now, I don't really consider most of what I do 'working out' since running and biking are just things I love to do, and have incorporated them into my life. Setting fitness goals has been the secret to my success this time, I believe.
There's not one aspect of my life that hasn't been improved by this. Absolutely everything is better, and I know that will only be more so as time goes on, and I lose more weight and become more fit.
Oh, and for the person who asked what milestone song I chose (in relation to a question I'd posted to the board recently), the more I thought about it, I decided this song fit me best:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVKjC_simy8
(Enjoy the retro vibe
)
Now, ONEDERLAND, here I come!
