I’m finally normal…BMI!!

I DID IT!! I finally reached my goal of normal BMI (the top end of which is 169)!  I know you all know by now but I have to say it again: I couldn’t have done it without Naturally Slim!!

Oops! That’s hard to see on that background…so off to the garage!

And then I didn’t want to wear that out and about so changed into a new shirt (with my new jeans from the other day).

And the collage I posted online…and Naturally Slim shared!

Now I have to see if my body thinks it should lose another 15 or so so I can claim that I lost half my body weight! 🙂

Some NS thoughts this morning.

It was nice shopping for a sweatshirt/jacket on the island yesterday and pulling out mediums. Mediums. Most of them fit, too, depending on the style of course. 🙂

Last night we ate too much but it was our 15th anniversary dinner so we said screw it. Crab and cheese fondue and lobster bisque (both shared with Tom) and scallops for dinner. In past days I would have scoffed at 4 measly scallops for a “dinner”—that’s just four bites!! But on NS it was 16 bites! Plus the other sides, of course. 🙂 I was full but not overstuffed at all. 

This morning was the first morning since June 15, 2015, that we ate breakfast. We didn’t have OJ at the hotel and hadn’t brought any…and the room came with breakfast (that we’d typically skip) but we decided to eat. It wasn’t excellent but it was decent and we didn’t eat much. 

This morning after checkout we walked from our hotel to town—it was only 2 miles (I had originally thought it was quite a bit longer) and it was the best walk. I actually wanted to walk farther. That would have NEVER happened pre-NS. 

F WHAT ANYONE ELSE MIGHT THINK—I’VE LOST 135#

So, I have my good ol’ standby bathing suit that I love that I found in a smaller size, so I’m happy about that. But I need more than once suit, so I found a cute one—size 12!—that *GASP* doesn’t have a full skirt. (I’ve worn a full-skirted suit for as long as I can remember.) And even though it fits and looks decent, all I can see when I see myself in it is THIGHS and VARICOSE VEINS. Ugh.

But, since my new mantra is FUCK WHAT ANYONE ELSE MIGHT THINK—I’VE LOST 135#—I wore it to the pool the other day with a friend. She said it looked adorable. Other Naturally Slim friends asked for a picture and I told them baby steps: I wore the suit. In public. To our pool. With other people. A pic would come later this summer. But then I put it on again today and said WHAT THE HELL. So here it is.

Of course my friends all applauded me and said I looked great (and that I wasn’t an 18yo Sports Illustrated swimsuit model so who cares about thighs and varicose veins). 🙂 But, to make myself feel better, I found a Before picture from last March. 🙂

2016-06-10bathingsuitbeforeafter

Starting the 10 weeks again!

I got the email from Naturally Slim today…so we officially start again Saturday!! (Why Saturday instead of Sunday? You’ll laugh, but it’s so I can officially change my weigh-in day to Saturday because I always seem to screw up my week on Saturday!) 🙂 

I actually asked Tom how much I should set my goal for because I really don’t think I need to lose that much—I only have 11# to get to my Normal BMI goal (I was a mere 5# away at one point—GRRR) and I’m not sure how low I can/want to go. (Yeah, that’s something I never thought I’d say!) Another goal would be to lose 155# (which would be exactly HALF my weight!) and that’s only 25# from where I am now…which is what I lost the first 10 weeks…but I really, honestly, don’t see me being that successful again. So I set my goal for 15# in 10 weeks.

Since the program videos have changed since we originally saw them, we get to experience the new ones and compare them to the old ones. That said, I can tell you already that I will miss the old ones because they were more Marcia-centric and I loves me some Marcia! I’m hoping I find them as helpful and motivating as the originals. 

And something else I shouldn’t complain about? I was all set to give up my Fitbit because I don’t really need to track steps anymore (I know when I get my daily steps in and I try to exercise 3-4 days a week) and I’m tired of wearing it and wanted to get rid of my Fitbit tan line…but if I’m starting NS again I just HAVE to see my daily steps on the dashboard which means I have to keep my Fitbit active and synced. #firstworldproblems

I love Marcia.

Marcia Upson, President of Naturally Slim, that is. 🙂

During our previous conversations, she had told me to keep her updated on my progress…so this morning I emailed her my one-year update. I thought she might email me back in a few days, so imagine my surprise when she called me to congratulate me!!

I had also mentioned my time almost being up on NS Town and she said she’d make sure that I still have access. 🙂 Not that I participate there a lot, but I do like to update my thread. 🙂

And then we just chatted for a bit about my success and her loving my updates and that she appreciates the emails since she doesn’t always get to respond on Facebook (technology isn’t her strong suit). And she thanked me again for my video testimonial and I told her that I’d actually just checked out my video testimonial page in NS Town and saw it had something like 1250 views—and I didn’t think much of it…until I checked the other testimonials and saw they all only had like ~160 views. (What?! That blows my mind. How can that even be?! Even with all the people I know there, how can it have so many views? I don’t think the YouTube video has that many views!) 

So then she reiterated how much she appreciated the video and said if I ever needed anything…or if I ever wanted to watch the videos again…to just let her know. Wait. What? Yes! YES!! I said “Now that you mention it, I’d LOVE to watch them again. I’ve been maintaining for about two months now and I just can’t seem to get going to lose the last bit.” So she’s hooking me up with the videos again. I’m gobsmacked. And now I’ll have NO reason to be unsuccessful other than my own self. And I’ll take notes this time!!

And then I told her that I had just actually watched the week 10 videos again (that they loaded when I installed the new iOS app) so I had just watched her video on weight loss rewards (for motivation she suggests rewards at different levels—maybe a small treat every 2# with bigger rewards for bigger goals). I told her that I had my new wardrobe so my final reward would be flying to Texas to meet her! She got really excited about that and said they’d pick me up at the airport, we’d go out, and I’d spend the night at her house! WOOHOO! (Of course I’d want to try and see other local peeps, too, but that info will come later!)

So…YAY!! What a completely awesome surprise!!

132 pounds in 365 days!

One year ago today at my highest weight ever, I crossed my fingers and started my attempt to lose weight doing low-carb (the only thing I really knew). Little did I know at the time I’d find my way to Naturally Slim and would end up successfully losing 132 lbs. (thus far—with a few more still to go)! If you’d told me a year ago I’d have lost that much I’d have said you were insane.

I can’t begin to thank everyone who has supported me along the way, but top shout outs go to Tivo friend Brad Nelson (who started the thread on Naturally Slim), Tivo friend Bryan McCullough (who turned out to be THE Naturally Slim guru), and my amazing husband (who supported me every hour of every day—and even joined in).

I owe my life to this program (and these people!) and I’m beyond thankful every. single. day. that I have a new, thinner, and healthier lease on life!! ❤️ 😀 🎉 👏🏻 🍾

A medium petite, people. 

I just tried on a Ralph Lauren pantsuit…in Medium Petite. It was a tiny bit too small…but it fit. A MEDIUM PETITE, PEOPLE. I loved it, though, and want to find it in the right size! (I didn’t think I was actually a petite…but…I do have some short pants that fit perfectly so I thought I’d try it. It was also the only size they had.)

   
 

Someone didn’t recognize me!

So, today I had my first real experience with someone not recognizing me! I feel like I see friends and acquaintances frequently enough—plus I share a lot on Facebook—that no one should really be that surprised. I’ve been told that seeing me in person is much different, but still, you know to expect the change. 

So after morning program I ran into his old assistant kindergarten teacher in the hall on the way out. She chatted for a moment then had an A-HA look and said “Have you lost weight?” I said yes, and she said she hadn’t even recognized me! She had recognized Katie but wondered who she was with…then realized it was me…but hadn’t wanted to ask about the weight loss but then did anyway. Of course she was amazed when I told her I’d lost 125 pounds (I’m rounding—I was at 124.8 this morning). And she hadn’t seen me around the school and we’re not Facebook friends…so she had NO idea!

And then I had a clothes bender…

So, as a byproduct of the weight loss, pretty much everything in my closet is new. But I’ve been holding off on buying summer clothes until I got closer to my final weight so I wouldn’t have to buy even more summer clothes (I went through multiple sets of winter clothes as sizes kept changing). The weather is getting nicer now…so it was finally time to get some summer stuff. As luck would have it, friends were staying with us for the weekend and Sheryl—who has worked in the fashion industry for probably 35 years—went with me to pick out some new stuff.

AND OMG IT WAS SOOOOO MUCH FUN!!! :p

AND OMG I SPENT ENTIRELY TOO MUCH MONEY!!!! 😯

But I now have a whole new wardrobe of SUPER cute and stylish (!) summer clothes thanks to Sheryl’s assistance. It was so much fun…

  • looking for and trying clothes on with a friend.
  • fitting into pretty much every single thing I tried.
  • being able to decide what pieces I really LOVED and not just what FIT.
  • liking how I looked in most of it (though Sheryl had to convince me of some pieces).
  • buying most things in size large, but also a medium and even a small! A SMALL!!

I got six dresses (from a formal ball gown to casual sundresses), 11 tops, 2 pair of jeans, a pair of patterned slacks, a short skirt, two long pencil skirts, and a spring/fall all-weather parka (because the same type coat I just got in October is WAY too big—GRRR).

I don’t think I’ve done a clothes shopping trip like this EVER in my life—the closest might be a back-to-school shopping trip where I’d get like two pair of jeans, a few tops, a sweater, a pair of shoes, and some socks. It was expensive, but everything was from Nordstrom Rack and Marshalls so overall it wasn’t bad. And I am now set for summer clothes for the next few years, if not more (since NS should keep me at about this same size forevermore—I mean, realistically, I could wear these clothes for the next 8-10 years).

BRING ON SUMMER!!

I had my first bender tonight.

Food bender, that is—dinner out with 15 peeps at what turned out to be an amazing restaurant (Green Pig Bistro).

The food was all excellent and everyone was passing around plates to try everything (because the portions were HUGE)…so on top of probably 15 bites of random dishes (which would have been a complete meal in itself), I ate my entire plate (which actually was one of the smaller plates—four tiny scallops and probably a cup of crab and coconut risotto) and then a few bites of desserts (ours, plus others!).

I didn’t feel overstuffed at the time, though I knew I obviously ate too much. But I ended up waking up during the night feeling like I had a hangover. I actually had to think: “Wait. Did I drink last night?” Because it felt sooo similar. (Note: I didn’t drink.)

The following morning I didn’t even want to think about food. And I was nervous to step on the scale—I had actually been pretty close to losing my 4# of fluff but that went out the window. But DAMN it was worth it. 🙂

One fun part of the dinner was a surprise birthday dessert for Tom! We had seen another table get the sparkler and one of us decided that it should happen at our table because fire. And they just happened to pick Tom!

Happy un-birthday, Tom!

My Naturally Slim testimonials are online!

I just got word that my produced videos were uploaded to Naturally Slim’s YouTube account

Thanks for sharing your story and being our first testimonial in our Organic Success Stories series. We wanted raw, unscripted success stories and you gave us just that.

And linked on their Facebook page…

2016-03-21_nsfacebook

They’ve chopped my 10-minute video down into four snippets, which will play in a playlist one after the other here:

And since I really did grow to like my original, full-length, unedited testimonial submission…it is now public on YouTube as well: