Week 30 and still going strong!

End of week 30 and I am 116.4 lbs lighter!  The first picture of me with our Golden is after 60 lbs.  The second of me is on Sunday after weighing in -116.4!  I can't begin to tell you the difference in how I feel!!  My girlfriend and I talked about this after she took some pics of me for tracking my journey. I opened up and told her things I hadn't told anyone!  Not even my husband!!!   She cried for me!  And then of course I cried!   There were things in my life that I was hiding and holding inside.  I could not share these things with others.  On the outside, I appeared to be smiling but on the inside, a whole different story!  I was miserable.  I was in my own personal jail.... one created by ME!  One created by my weight!  I honestly felt that I was beyond help anymore.  I had seen an orthopedic surgeon for extreme pain in my knees.  No one knew how much pain I was in!  I hid it!  Or TRIED to hide it.  Going to the grocery store would put me in the chair for the rest of the day from pain!  And carrying in the groceries?  Ugh... I would carry in one or two bags (as the added weight would PAIN my knees) and then have to sit in the chair, wait awhile and carry in more, repeat until done.  Then, it would take time to put them all away!  Yes! Going to the grocery store and taking care of the groceries could become an all day project!  I HURT!!!!!  My husband did not understand what was going on and was becoming to think I was LAZY!~ (I need to add that I would do these chores when he wasn't around to see how I couldn't do them!  he just saw the aftermath and must have wondered in his mind, what did I do all day?  lol)  And then the breathing!  Always out of breath.  Simple tasks such as changing the bed sheets was a chore and more!  I would want to stop and rest in the middle of that!  I think I was wearing blinders.  I think I didn't understand or better to say, I didn't want to understand what was going on with me!  And I was afraid!   I couldn't exercise because it hurt.  I was in a catch 22 and I couldn't get out of the situation.  Then my dr told me that my left knee was 90% gone and I would need surgery.  But had to lose weight for that! And couldn't have a cortisone shot because of all the fat cells and swelling from my lymphodemia!    Quite the situation I was in!  Pain, sadness and all of my own doing!  For a couple years I had considered weight loss surgery.  Hubby and I had gone thru the seminars and I had all the testing done and was cleared for it.  But I had to lose 30 lbs to even do that.  The small still voice of God was telling me this was not the answer for me.  Take Shape for Live (www.healthierishappier.tsfl.com) came into my life and the vehicle for losing weight and changing my habits!  Thank you, Lord!  It hasn't always been easy!  But I am learning to make the right choices!  In September I had lost enough weight the dr was able to give me a cortisone shot in my left knee!  The pain was relieved immediately and my mobility increased! YAHOO!  This week I completed the second shot in my first series of Orthovisc shots in both knees.  I am feeling relief!  I have gotten a Nordic Track exercise bike and am doing a mile and a half in the morning and a mile and a half in the evening after work!  I will increase this as I get comfortable with it.  Movement in my knee is 99.9% improved and I am living without constant pain all the time!  I feel like a new woman.  I feel like God has given me a new lease on life!  At Christmas we were taking pictures of all 16 of my grandchildren.  One of the younger ones ran out of the pic and was refusing to come back in. I scooped him up, loved him up and we both got in the picture!   6 months ago I could not have done that!  I don't think my children realized that!  Not just because I didn't like my pic taken but the pain of lifting that weight and standing would have been too much!    This truly is my story.  I am a healthier and happier person!  I know there are MANY MANY others out there with stories similar to mine.  I hope I can help encourage others to lose their body fat and get healthier and happier!  I have started coaching as a Take Shape for Life Coach!  My website is www.healthierishappier.tsfl.com      I am here to be an ear, an encouragement and to say if I can do this ANYONE can do this!   I want to make a difference to others that may be going thru the same experience as me - held hostage by a fat body and a mind that created it's own jail cell!  

Some exciting news to me:  My doctor says that I may not have to have a knee replacement on my left knee, now that I have lost weight.  Time will tell! That is jumping in the air kind of news!!!!  I LOVE THAT MAN!!!  lol  And...... I fit into my biking leathers!  I tried them on this past weekend and I can wear them again.  The bad news is that when I reach goal, I will need to buy new ones as they will be too big!  Oh, wait.. maybe that isn't such bad news!   :) :) :)  :)