Success... In More Ways Than One

Good Morning...and what a glorious morning it is! I weighed in this morning at 146.5...I never thought I'd announce my weight to people I know let alone strangers...but if I'm on this journey and looking for advice and wanting to share my ups and downs of weight loss I think it will help me be more accountable to myself to be completely honest. Anyway, 9 days ago I weighed in at 153 when I returned from vacation. So that's 6.5 pounds! Now I know some of it is water weight, bloating women issues, and not eating extremely healthy for a whole week before starting...but it's weight loss and I'm super excited at that.

A year ago, after the 5th baby, I weighed 140 lbs. before leaving for our annual beach house Thanksgiving trip. When I returned I was 145...and since then ( a whole year ago) I have not seen 140. I continued to exercise on and off, but ate out a lot and figured "well this 150 is the new me and this is what is my new normal." I figured that was the number I could maintain w/o really having to be restrictive or work hard to stay at it. So for the last year I have fluctuated between 145 and 150...mostly staying pretty close to 150.

After a lot of soul searching, blog reading, and a few doctors appt. where the scale was more than I liked...I realized 150 is not where I want to be. This isn't the new me! I don't like the pictures I see of myself, the clothing size I've gone up to, and the lack of energy I really have. I don't want to be this girl any more.

I want the old Danielle back. The one that enjoyed being active w/ the kids chasing them all the time, long glorious walks in the fresh air, Zumba classes that keep me pumped for the rest of the night, and wanting my husband to introduce me to people...and for him to be proud that he has a wife that looks good after 5 kids. Now I will say he constantly tells me I look good, he likes the way I am, but inside I know this is a small gift to him too!

So this morning when I saw 146.5 I felt like I am more than ready for these changes. I can't wait for the say I can look back and say "I did it" this is the new me! My ultimate goal is 125-130 because I think once I get there that is the number I can maintain. I know the weight loss will slow down and I'll have to push harder...but I'm off to a great start and most importantly I feel great!

Another success to celebrate...this super cute boy is finally interested in letters! All of the sudden this morning he's picking out the letters of his name, wanting to try to write words without tracing them, and he is doing awesome at picking out numbers and counting. By Kindergarten next fall he should be so ready!

And that makes me one proud mama today...Success all around!