2 years out surgery, 1-1/2 for maintenance. Yaay.

**edit to add belly pictures, where my skin cannot be very filled out with muscle!  :}


I was trying to wait until my labs came back so I could share some stuff I thought was important to share about us tracking our labs, but all of them have not come back yet, and today I found these berforey pictures.

I found some pictures today of me in 2008. This is the year after my daddy died and my 2 good sweet 14 year old dog friends died and I was just hopelessly packing it on. Who the hell knows how much I was weighing. Not me. I hurt so much all the time, in my heart cuz I missed the people I loved, but it hurt to stand too long, to walk too long, to sit too long, to lie too long. I exercised and was active but it really just seemed like all it did ever was hurt, and not change anything.

These "before" me pictures. These are the reasons I ask people irritating damned questions - when they ask for someone else to talk them off the ledge, these are the reasons I ask YOU questions so YOU learn to talk you off your ledge - cuz having friends and support is great, but sometimes YOU are all you have, and it could be SO EASY to GO BACK HERE. I know I irritate the **** out of some of you, and that's cool - but know that my heart is FOR you, is for your Health, is for your WHOLENESS is for your HAPPINESS, is for you to be FOR YOU FOR THE REST OF YOUR DAYS!!

I wish that for us all. 

Its too easy to go back to the person you were, if you were a person with baggage, like I *am*.  Anyway, some befores and some nows. 



These I found today.





Here are fronts - The pink thing looks clowny on my 22 month out part but :} a friend had asked to see my then and now in them.

If you scroll the bottom bar all the way over you can see me in my white unders and my starting belly.



You can see I have extra belly skin and that's just what it is.  I will not ever have an 0 for a belly button without surgery, but that's cool = my belly button modeling days have been over for a while.  :}







And so you can see, there could be hope for you back roll skin!

Nows

 

1 year out



2 years out



Some of us maintenance folks irritate the **** out of some of yall. :} Its okay, we are all just human, but know this -

OUR HEART IS FOR YOU!!

Muwah, squeeze and

PEACE OUT KLOWNZ!!

Nice array of pictures B. Really showcases your journey and how well you have done. Hope the lab thing works out. Diane

My labs are okiedoke, I got to peek them when I had to give more blood for the Bs that ought have been frozen the first time but were not.  My protein was down a titch, but I had been doing an experiment to drop the shakes mostly, but that's just not going to happen.

And thanks.  I think its human nature to kind of forget what the situation REALLY was.   The photo journal leaves no room for "meh it was not so bad" forgetful editing!  :} 

You are ALWAYS right on and always tell it like it is.  Which is what we all need.  Whether we listen or not is up to us!!  I, for one am listening.  Now your picures prove the point that you know what you're talking about.  You rock your sleeve and defy the Trixi***** in a way that I dream of also doing.  I'm working on it and you are one of the reasons that I know I can do it. 

Love you lots, Klown!

You sure can and you sure are, even in the middle of life squeezing you hard, babygirl!!! 

*muwah*

Rock On!!!! You have done a marvelous job at losing your weight and reworking your body. Would you attribute getting rid of your back fat, to weight training and/or losing the excess weight? Your butt looks pretty good!!! I have butt flaps, but 6 months of weight training is helping to build some muscle in my upper butt. I'm not quite as flat as I used to be.

Gail

Both, I lost the back fat but when I did not have the muscle, I had bags.  Wait - that one picture I put together that shows when I stopped lifting out so my hands could get used to transcribing full time again speaks volumes.

Here is me 08/2009 - see, I am losing back fat, still have it, but I have serious bat wings - THESE are really what bat wings are, not the bingo arm flap! I was still just doing cardio, but for upper body stuff, doing girlie pushups and triceps dips.




Yaay strong armishness!!




Okay - if you scroll over to the picture of me in black bottoms that was 4 months after the picture of me in the purple shirt 11/2009 - in November 2009 I lost my job that did not hurt my hands and had to quit lifting - you can see how much muscle mass I lost, and I was starting to have back flappidy things again. 

Another post for a butt conversation. 

I have been doing full body lifts on the days I lift, but now - for my upper, I am cool with it, I would like to develop my shoulder caps a little more, but I really cannot lift heavier, because I am at my max lifting/hand pain/fatigue where I am - which is fine - but that means - I can do a little focused bootyness.

The trick, for me, is/is going to be - replacing fat with muscle for those legs, so I do not *have* to go and bunch a bunch of new britches if I do not *have* to - but some of my breast tissue has come back, so I am not actively looking for fat loss, because it will only wrankle my bellah and empty my breasts if I go at it too agressively.

BUT ALSO, muscle matures and you can see it differently under the skin as it matures, so I am interested to see at year 3, what difference there is in my skin, for belly, booty and backs of thighs!! 

Its a really cool sort of experiment! 

I am excited for you!  I got some curve back to my booty, because in that one picture with me in the black bottoms, oy, baby got guillotine !!  :} 

You keep rocking it girlie!  I am excited to see your experiment of one!

Your pictures really illustrate how weight training can change one's body. You have done a fabulous job. I am still early out, so it will be interesting to see how things settle. I know weight training won't take care of the loose skin issue, but I know some of my major muscle groups definitely look better. Things would be worse, without the weight training. My belly skin is deflated and at 57 years old, I don't expect it to return to normal. I'm just going to keep on working with my trainer and see where it takes me.

Your journey is truly inspirational.

Gail

Are you still doing the Chalean videos?

I just finished my first month of p90x. It really isn't very hard. I was surprised. (does that mean I am getting strong?) I have graduated from girly pushups to real pushups. I can do about 15 per set, which is what, 150 or something per workout? I remember when my husband first did p90x a couple years ago and I thought that it looked impossible!

I do have to do leg day early in the week so that it doesn't interfere with my weekend cycling. My legs feel heavy for a couple days after the leg workout.

mary