Proud Husband! :Weigh in Update

I consider myself to be a very lucky person. I have been blessed with an amazing support group of family and friends. My wife has been one of my biggest supporters and has always been there for me even in my darkest of times. I have always pushed her to do things outside of her comfort zone, I truly believe we push each other to be better people. She has done the same for me on many levels. When I set out to loose my weight and become the man that Meghan deserved she too had some personal health goals that she wanted to tackle. Along my journey Meg has taken a journey of her own loosing 30 pounds and this weekend she did something that she never expected to do. I convinced her to run a race with me, at first she agreed to a 5K and then I convinced her to run an 8K ( or rather i signed her up before telling her) – She was so nervous and I know she considered every excuse to get out of running the race as running might be her least favorite thing to do…. but I am so proud of her for taking the time to train and accomplishing what seemed to be impossible. Now I just have to convince her to run a 10K and then maybe a Half Marathon! Way to knock this one out of the park…. 5 miles in under an hour!!!!!

Our Post Race Picture!

It’s been three weeks since I last stepped on the scale. I chose not to weight in last week as we were on vacation as a family. I stepped on the scale today not expecting to be happy, because while on vacation I splurged and ate things that I wanted. The unique part about this is that I was comfortable with it, not in a dangerous, I might go back to old habits way, but an I am going to enjoy this experience and not let the scale or my journey be the focus of this trip kind of way. I took some time away from working out and just relaxed! I assure you it was much needed. With all that said I was hoping for one thing – to not have gained any weight because of it and I am happy to say that didn’t happen. In fact I was able to lose a few more pounds which I will take as a bonus. Part of my journey is understanding that there will be times like these. There will be a day when I no longer want to lose any more weight. In fact that day is fast approaching. I am 21.6 pounds away from the original goal of 225 pounds. Through this journey I have also realized and reflected here that the scale is no longer the most important thing. Reaching 225 pounds will not change my life any more than it has changed as of today, it will simply close a chapter of my life only to start a new one, with a new goal. I made a choice prior to taking this vacation that I was not going to get emotional about what I ate, I wasn’t going to beat myself up over it. I enjoyed an ice cream cone or two with my son – those moments are a necessity in life and I am not willing to rob myself and my family of that – after all its these moments that provide the drive to be healthy! The key difference between Mario 2.0 and the old me is I feel like I have the ability to recognize what is a reasonable amount. I didn’t think I would ever utter this phrase let alone post it here because in the early part of my journey I didn’t think I could handle this but, “It’s all about portion control!” In the early part of my journey I was afraid to even take bites of these kinds of foods as a fear existed within of what type of junk food eating beast could emerge from the ashes! I have earned my own trust now and am thankful that this has “clicked” so to speak!

Here are some family pictures of my Disneyland trip! We had a wonderful experience and it was a great way to celebrate loose over 200 pounds!