100

Yesterday was one of the best days of my life.

I hit a milestone I waited a long time for: 100 pounds lost.

It's still quite "unfathomable" that I hit that but yet - it's completely "fathomable".

I tend to be one to shy away from saying "yea, I did that!  rock on!"

But, I did!  I can be proud of this!  I worked hard for this.

I changed my lifestyle to one that is better than anything else in my past.  I took control of my health and I believe I changed my families health for the better and for our lifetime.

I am very proud.

The past couple weeks as I approached getting close to hitting this mark (and I'll be honest - I stayed in between 99 and 100 pounds lost for a bit over a week and I'll just say that was one of the hardest weeks for me because I was so close yet so far away!) I started to work on a list of "100 ways life is different/things I have observed with now losing 100 pounds".

(Also, shout out to my husband for secretly working on his own list of "100 things he loves about me" during this time.  Melt. My. Heart.)

It was fun to make a list.  I got the idea from a blog that I love to follow called "Runs for Cookies".  She posted a similar list and I thought it was a great idea and decided to copy after her.

My list is below.  It's long.  A lot to read.  But, it was so therapeutic to remember how life is different now.  Encouragement to keep moving forward.

Bless you all for speaking life to me yesterday on Facebook.  Words can't adequately express how moved I am by all the uplifting things spoken to me.  Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

And now…the list:

1.     Play with my kids and not get exhausted.  Or, rather, I can keep up with my kids…or they keep up with me!

2.     No fear of sitting down on a piece of furniture and breaking it. 

3.     I can sit in any swing with my daughter and swing. 

4.     I’m not embarrassed for my picture to be taken – rather I like it. 

5.     I can shop in any store I want to! (Although, I haven’t technically experienced this yet – but I will soon when we are Stateside…I can’t wait for that!)

6.     I’m discovering what style of clothes I really like – not just having to get something because it’s the only things in my size.

7.     It’s nice to hear I’m an inspiration. 

8.     If I were to have another baby, I’d start out the pregnancy in a healthy weight and that just feels good. 

9.     I love the way my husband looks at me.  I’ve always loved the way he looks at me – and now it just seems sweeter. 

10. It’s a great feeling that I can go in for a physical and the first words out of the doctor’s mouth won’t be “well, you need to lose weight”.  

11. I love the taste of food – real food.  I crave vegetables and fruits – not like the junk I used to eat. 

12. Working out isn’t a “have to” – it’s a “I get to”.  It’s just normal.  I love that. 

13. I can do more things than I never even thought possible.  A year ago, I never would have thought, “I’d like to do a triathlon” – but I’m here now saying that. 

14. I love that I’m setting a great example for our kids – for health, dedication, determination – that you can do anything you set your mind to. 

15. I was nervous flying over here about “will I take up too much space on the airline seat?”.  Now, thinking about flying later this year – that thought doesn’t even enter my mind.  I can sit there just fine and my kids could sit on my lap too if need be – no problem. 

16. I rock climb…and challenge myself on harder climbs.  Enough said there. 

17. I never thought I would hear so many compliments on how good I’m looking – it’s just unfathomable to me. 

18. I’m thinking about rocking a 2-piece swimsuit when away with my husband later this year.  Now, that’s just nuts. 

19. As I’ve become fit, my extended family and I have embraced being healthy together.  We’re all eating well and working out.  I’m so proud of us all. 

20. 100 pounds ago I would have said that the most thing I’m looking forward to going to in the States (when we return) would be different restaurants.  Now the thing I’m most looking forward to is working out with Stephanie (friend/trainer/nutritionist) and going for runs in the evening with my husband. 

21. Nutrition is at the forefront of what I think about.  I want the best for me and my family.  I am constantly trying to find how to feed my family the best and trying to come up with new recipes that they will love. 

22. People come to me for advice and exercise and nutrition.  Seriously?  Wow. 

23. I’m that much closer to my husband being able to pick me up, swing me around, or carry me into a room.  That’s a dream of mine.

24. I am mentally tough.  I haven’t waivered in this process – I set my goals and focused on them and achieved them.  (And I’ll continue to do this with the last 35 pounds I have to lose.) 

25. I’m finding out what sports I love.  Before, I shyed away from sports – but now, I’m interested in trying all kinds of things.  Like, for example, I’m discovering that I really like lifting weights.

26. I find it so strange that I’m smaller than some people now – especially when I was almost always the biggest one in the group. 

27. I love flexing my muscles and checking out the definition that is taking place in my legs and arms. 

28. Besides being mentally tough, I’m physically strong.  My husband told me that my legs are really strong.  I never thought I would hear something like that. 

29. I’m heartbroken looking at myself 100 pounds ago.  I wish things would have changed quicker and she would have known how awesome this feels right now.  But, I have to remember that there is a time for everything. 

30. I’m excited to go to Disney with my kids and ride the kid rides with them – with no fear that I won’t fit on the ride with them.  In fact, just going to Disney will be exciting – riding all the rides and just going all day and not needing to rest all the time. 

31. Our house that we moved into here in Nairobi is two levels. I remember when we first got here – I hated having to go up and down the stairs all the time.  Now, it’s no problem – I can go up and down them with ease and I even like it b/c I feel like I’m burning more calories. 

32. Even though it’s still a bit surreal, it’s lovely to be around the same size as a group of women.  It just feels normal.

33. I feel more like a woman – beautiful and confident. 

34. I enjoy wearing shorts now.  Heck no to this 100 pounds ago. 

35. Shaving your legs doesn’t feel like a workout now. 

36. I don’t have to constantly tug at my clothes to pull them down, make sure everything is lying correctly. 

37. I used to be always so warm all the time and don’t get me wrong – I get warm here living on the equator – but it’s different now. 

38. It’s an actual possibility now that I can come within 5-7 mins of my husband in a 5k race.

39. “Time” with my husband is just better ;)

40.  Hearing Kenyans say, “you can stop reducing now” is a big deal. 

41. I look at nutrition/healthcare/medications differently.  (Feel free to talk with me about this if you want.) 

42. Through this process, the idea of going back to school to study nutrition or something in this type of field is very appealing to me.  I’d love to be able to help others find this type of freedom. 

43. Losing weight and getting fit has freed me from all kinds of emotional baggage. 

44. I remember taking a horseback riding class in college and having so much fun with it.  But, then I found out you had to be under a certain weight to go riding and have put aside that dream for a while. Now, I could definitely go horseback riding with no issues at all. 

45. And in the same note as horseback riding – there’s all kinds of activities that I want to try now: zip lining, skiing, etc.  No fear now in trying them at all.  No fear that they’ll say, “you are too big to do this”. 

46. I have no problem saying my weight now to people that ask. 

47. I am just healthy.  The risks of me developing diseases, cancers, etc has drastically decreased. 

48.  I’m not afraid to dream now and make those dreams come true. 

49. I’m not just the “funny one” or the “good friend” now – I am still those things but now I get to be so much more. 

50. Normal size towels wrap around me.  That’s sweet. 

51. I get really excited thinking about seeing old high school/college friends - there is no fear. 

52. I don’t have to worry about making excuses to get out of things because of my weight being an issue. I can just jump into things with ease.

53. Purses that go across my body hang a lot lower as to 100 lbs ago would be higher.

54. I did a 5k at around my heaviest weight right under 1 hour (and I was super proud of that time!) and now I know that I would crush that time. 

55. It is encouraging tracking and watching inches off my body come off. 

56. I have been trying to think if there have been any spiritual differences from before to now.  Nothing has come to mind other then God loved me the same then and now. 

57. I used to think that I would have to wear my hair up because it was the best way to make my face look more slender. Now I can wear it any way that I want. J

58. My favorite thing to drink now is water verses cherry coke a year ago.

59. I believed now I am disciplined person, not that I was not before though this experience has taken it to another level.

60. The double chin is fading away in pictures.

61. I have run more miles (over 500) in the past in 6 months than probably in my lifetime.  My goal is to run 1,000 miles for the year and I am on track for that.

62. When I first attempted doing leg lifts in my workouts, I asked my husband, “Can you just left my legs up for me?” Totally defeats the purpose of the exercise.  Now they are no big deal.

63. I never attempted plank when I was 100 pounds heavier and I am pretty sure I couldn’t hold it more then 5 seconds. Now I can hold plank for 2 minutes and working on increasing this time. 

64. A lesson I have learned in this is that there is a high value in having a personal trainer and nutritionist as a friend. She has helped keep work outs fresh, how to properly fuel my body and encourage me along the way.

65. Even the things that I read and I find encouraging are different. In the past it might have been a funny TV show and now I really enjoy looking at things that lead me to live a healthy lifestyle.  One of those that I have found so encouraging during this process has been “Runsforcookies.” www.runsforcookies.com She lost 125 lbs and became a runner in the process and her story and blog have been so motivational.

66.  I’m getting close to hitting single digit size clothing.  Oh my goodness! 

67. I like the fact that I’m no longer in the “obese” category on the BMI scale.  I still have more to go to get out of the “overweight” category – but I’ll get there. 

68. A friend sent me the cutest pair of red pants and I held them up and was so disappointed b/c they just looked so tiny and there was no way that they were going to fit.  But, I tried them on and they fit perfectly!  That moment was probably one of the best ones I’ve had in this journey.   There was much dancing and smiles in my house that day. 

69. One thing that excites me is the prospect of my sister and I wearing each other’s clothes…because we’re the same size.  She might not think this is so awesome in that she might have to share her clothes – but I do!  J 

70. Starting to wear your husband’s clothes (sweats, t-shirt) is a great feeling. 

71. I’ve observed that it just takes one person to start something awesome.  I’ve watched friends become healthy and so encouraged by that and just those steps they have taken have motivated me to keep going and I’ve heard from friends that these steps I’ve taken have motivated them.  It’s awesome to see it all continue.

72. When it comes to stretching before exercising (this is even when I did a couple 5k’s years ago), now I can lift back my leg behind me and hold my ankle and stretch. 

73. I feel more adventurous to try out new classes when it comes to exercising. 

74. I can cross my legs with ease.

75. I can sit indian style in a chair. 

76. My rings are too big.  (I haven’t had my wedding rings here for 2.5 years so it’ll be interesting to see how those fit when we get Stateside.)

77. I don’t mind wearing tank tops/sleeveless tops now.

78. Belts are essential to wear with pants – especially through this process where I have been dropping sizes quicker than normal. 

79. At the beginning of this journey, I thought I’d be happy as long as I got to wear a size 14  - because I thought that sounded perfect and I could shop in a lot more stores.  But now, I’m wearing smaller than that and still have a drive to get more fit than where I’m at now. 

80. I can run and not tire out after a minute or two. 

81. I don’t run out of breathe just doing normal household chores – those are easy peasy now. 

82. I’m meeting people now that don’t know me any either way.  That’s so strange to me.  I almost feel the need to say “you know I used to be bigger….”

83. I went from a size 24 to 12 in losing 100 pounds.  Probably in 10’s but I don’t have any here to try on.  The 12’s are a bit too big. 

84. When out at restaurants or stores, people look at me normally…not like “she’s big”. 

85. I’ve been trying to shop online for a bathing suit and it really had me stressed out until I realized that I’m smaller now and chances are the suit is going to fit so much better than before and it’s gonna be ok.  This one hit me hard for some reason. 

86. I love looking at myself in the mirror now.  I don’t avoid it. 

87. I wish my grandpa were around to see me now.  Man, he’d be stinking proud of me.  I have thought about him often during this journey and that’s been motivation for me. 

88. I often daydream about challenging myself to do the “next” thing – like do a triathlon, run a half, and try a harder rock-climbing route. 

89. When someone asks, “hey, do you want to hang out?” – I used to think “ok, let’s go to this restaurant and such” – but now I’m wondering if they want to go to the forest for a walk or go climb or do something active.  So different. 

90. Something that hasn’t changed?  My husband’s love for me.  He’s loved me so well through this whole process.  My biggest encourager by far. 

91. I love cooking healthy meals for our family.  I love eating at home and knowing what is going into our dinners.  It makes me feel so much better.  I would rather eat a turkey burger at home than out any day of the week. 

92. Sometimes I bring my own food to a party so I know there is something there I can eat. 

93. Instead of snacks being fries or milkshake…my snacks are snap peas and a yummy peanut dip or cashews and apple slices. 

94. My thighs are starting to separate out J

95. I thought once…”wouldn’t it be fun to really tone up all my muscles and enter a fitness show?”.  Oh my ‘lanta.  Enough said there. 

96. I thought that I would have to give up coffee or tea because I would just put so much sugar or other artificial flavorings in it to make it taste better…but now I actually prefer drinks without sugar. 

97. I have a desire for everyone to experience this: a healthy lifestyle. 

98. I love being able to feel my rib cage now when lying down. 

99. I can carry both my kids around in my arms (and groceries) with no problem.  But, yes, I’ll happily accept help J   

100.                Today (the day I hit 100 pounds lost) has been one of the best days of my life.  Not in I got to put on a beautiful white gown and get married or birth another child – but that dreams came true because of hard work, discipline, drive, and more importantly because of God’s work in my life & His goodness.  Today has been a sweet day –one that is so different than any other day in my past.