Lighter, It's a Wonderful Thing!

I've been wanting to write this post for a while now, 

but I never could sit down long enough to do it.
Well, that and the fact I was afraid I'd hex myself.

Can I just say that lighter is a wonderful thing?

I know you're asking, 

"What exactly does Gina mean by lighter?"

Well for starters, here is heavier:

Yeah, Heavier, with a capital "H."

Believe me, I was never one to have my picture taken.

Being Heavier (capital H),  I  ran from the camera.

That picture was taken on Christmas Day 2013.

Now I will share lighter.

7 months later...taken this past weekend.

(Sorry, I don't have the selfie in the mirror thing down, so 

you'll just have to bear with me.)

44 pounds lighter! 

 We used the old Weight Watcher system and did it

with a "let's try & just see what happens-no pressure" attitude.  

I think that helped, along with the fact that 

my husband came along for the ride, and my kids too.  

I didn't put the kids on the diet,

 but they endured my lighter, healthier cooking 

with rarely a complaint.

(Funny thing:  looking at that before picture and looking

& my daughter today, she too, looks thinner to me now.)

In case you are wondering, I highly recommend 

this website, Skinny Taste,

if you are looking for healthy & tasty recipes.

I've made many, many, many of her recipes

and I've been pleased with 98% of all I've tried.

Now, there has been shopping, lots of shopping!

My entire Summer wardrobe was too big.

Not that I'm complaining, but wow, it's hard building up a 

wardrobe from scratch, especially when you 

have to have something to wear to work everyday. 

Here's some of the old Summer wardrobe, stacked up

getting ready to be donated:

Lots of empty hangers:

Summers are short here.   When it's time to try on my

Fall/Winter wardrobe, I'll probably have triple the amount of

clothes to get rid of.  Eek!  

A lot of good has come from this weight loss...

besides all the shopping and being able to buy clothes 

anywhere & everywhere now.

I take the stairs everyday at work and I no

longer have to gasp for air when I reach the 3rd floor.

My cholesterol was borderline & it dropped 72 points.

I try to go for a walk regularly and I just plain feel better.

I don't want to give the impression that I am

the perfect dieter and have been for the past 7 months.

There are always days, or even weekends,

where I've been to parties or out to dinner,

and I've eaten more than I should have.

What is very different with me this time around though,

is the fact that I can tell myself, 

"it's ok, just begin again tomorrow."  

Whenever I'd dieted in the past and

had a bad eating day, I would get angry

with myself & give it all up for lost.

Not this time!

People are always asking me what my goal is.

I never set a goal when I started this.  

Remember I was just doing this with that 

"let's try & just see what happens-no pressure" attitude.

It worked & I'm very grateful.  

I do realize I have more weight to lose.

 I'm still heavy, just with a small h this time.  :)

I know I was not meant to be a size 2 and I'm fine with that.

Lighter is good,

lighter is a wonderful thing!