Week 5, 264 lbs.

Three more down!

It has been a big, busy week, so I weighed in a day later than usual.  

Remember the Capri pants I mentioned in an earlier blog?  They're now hanging loose on my frame!   

You know how when you move a big piece of furniture that's stood forever in a certain place and for days afterward your eyes keep going to the spot where it used to be, because it looks like something's missing?  I'm having a similar experience when I look down at my thinner wrists and thighs.  


Every day brings a new miracle! People are noticing the change in my shape.  I have better mobility, tons more energy and I just feel happy.  Oh, and for the first time in I don't know how long, I have a waistline again!  (The pot belly is still there, but is a shadow of its former self.)


This afternoon, when I went to weigh in, I saw a woman who talked at the informational seminar before I started this diet.  She has been on the diet and her top weight was what I weigh now, but she was several inches shorter than me.  Her "before" photos reminded me of myself.  Today (about 18 months after she started) she's a trim size 12 and looks fantastic.


Today I thanked her for talking to the group.  I told her that listening to her talk was what gave me hope when I came to learn about the diet.  It's the first time in my life I felt that it was possible for someone like me to get back to a healthy shape.


I was reminded the time I tried another diet program.  I'll never forget how discouraged I was during one of their pep talks.  A woman got up to address the group.  She was trim, beautiful and looked great.  She talked about how hard she worked and how long she dieted to get to where she was.  Finally, it came out that she had lost 28 lbs.


28 lbs. is great!  I am not belittling what the woman was able to accomplish, but while I was sitting there I couldn't help but think to myself:  "She's been working almost a year to loose 28 lbs. and I have over 100 to get rid of.  I'll be on this diet forever at that rate!"


The night after I went to the Ideal Protein seminar, I went online to research the program and I am amazed at how many morbidly obese women, like myself - many who outweighed me by several pounds - have shed huge amounts of weight relatively quickly.  

Peggy Stratton, who's blog is posted in the sidebar on this page, has been a huge motivator and inspiration in keeping me going.  Seeing how far she's come and how much she's changed inside and out is empowering and I feel so blessed that I stumbled across her blog as I was beginning my own journey.


Anyone with the determination to reclaim their life and their health can do it!  A couple of nights recently, I've had dreams of eating something fattening but when I awake I am not experiencing cravings or tempted to cheat.  When I told my husband about the dreams I've been having about sneaking food or cheating on the diet, he laughed and said he had similar dreams about cigarettes when he quit smoking.  I guess my brain is working through the changes taking place in my diet.


I do miss the foods I've been dreaming about  .... but I don't miss the 24 lbs. I've lost so far, and that's enough to keep me going!


I'm hoping to loose more than 3 lbs. this week!  Right now, not many people in my life know about this blog or the diet, but as the changes in my shape become more dramatic and I drop more pounds, I will be letting more folks in on my secret.  Even so, I am surprised at the number of hits this blog gets. 


I hope that this blog will one day serve as the kind of inspiration that I received from Peggy's blog.  If I can do this, stick with it as long as I have and get these kind of results, believe me, ANYONE can.


Peace,
Lanza