May 31, 2022

Transformation Tuesday #73

Happy Transformation Tuesday! Every Tuesday, when I put this post together, I'm reminded of all of the chores I want to complete this spring and that I'd better get a move on it. Summer will be here in a few weeks! It feels like summer today, that's for sure. It got up to 90 degrees yesterday! I think today is going to be just as hot. I went for a run this morning and the humidity was... well, not pleasant.

Anyway, I have some really great readers' transformations to share today! Enjoy...


Today I took a break from work, and did a little transformation project for myself. I really have started liking shoes more than I used to, and they were becoming a bit of a mess and piled up on my closet floor. With the addition of a new shoe rack from Target and getting rid of about 5 pairs I don’t wear anymore, here is the result!

- Cathy



Cathy, all I can say is WOW. The before pictures actually look neater than my shoes in my closet, haha. What a space saver to have the new shoe rack--I'm sure you love it each time you step into your closet. It looks great! -Katie




This is a follow up to our main bathroom remodel. In our original bathroom, we had a giant soaker tub with a tile surround. I’d always wanted a claw foot tub and I found one--for free! It needed some serious elbow grease (and a power sander) to clean it up, but I love the way it all turned out.

- Jenn





Jenn, my jaw literally dropped when I saw this. Not only the tub, but the wallpaper--it's gorgeous! I'm super impressed with the tub restoration; how awesome that you got the tub for free! I hope you're enjoying it :)  -Katie




This is a very small transformation…. A friend is going to be a grandmother for the first time, and she asked me to weave a blanket for her.  She chose the yarn, 100% cotton, and I wove it up for her.  The dimensions of the blanket are 45x60.

-Katie



Katie, small transformation or not, I love that blanket! Seeing this makes me want to learn how to weave, haha. I have never known anyone to do it and it never even crossed my mind. What an awesome gift for your friend!  -Katie




Thank you for sharing your transformations (and for the inspiration)! Please keep sending them so I can keep posting them. To submit a transformation, just send a before photo and an after photo, along with your name and a description of your transformation, to me at: katie (at) runsforcookies (dot) com. I look forward to seeing what you come up with!

May 30, 2022

Memorial Day

When I stop and think about Memorial Day, I get kind of emotional. Nobody very close to me has died in combat (for which I am so thankful--I worried about my brother every single day that he was in Iraq). But as a mom, Memorial Day makes me feel sad for all the moms out there who have lost a child in the military.

This is a picture of Eli when he was on a school field trip at the River Raisin National Battlefield Park. Each of the 379 flags behind him represents a fallen soldier from The River Raisin Massacre during the War of 1812. I love this picture--the rain only seemed to compliment it somehow.


Since Jerry and the boys have the day off of work today, I'm going to take a break today, too :)  

Here is a week's worth of random facts; I wasn't planning to post all of them, but I found all of them interesting! I'm not going to comment on them and I didn't google anything about them, but here goes:






Enjoy the day! Hopefully your weather is as great as southeast Michigan's right now.

May 29, 2022

Recent Reads (no spoilers)

It's been three months since I wrote a post about what I've been reading lately, and while the topic may not be interesting to anyone but me, I like to post a few thoughts about books I've read. It later helps me to remember what it was about. Why does it matter? Ha! No idea.

I tend to go through phases: I will spend a couple of months reading in all of my spare time, but then I'll spend months not reading anything. Usually, the reading phase is sparked by a good book. If I read a good book, I immediately want to download another. Eventually, I get to a book that just doesn't hold my interest and that triggers my not-reading phase.

Right now, I'm very much in my reading phase. So, here is what I've read since the last time I posted my books (late February). There are a lot of them, so I'm going to keep my thoughts short for each one.


'His & Hers' by Alice Feeney

I liked the format of this murder mystery, being from the points-of-view from "him" and "her" (and the killer) in a whodunit psychological thriller. Unfortunately, my first instinct happened to be correct--I didn't know the "why" but I strongly suspected the "who" from the beginning. I prefer books that keep me guessing until the end. However, the story is much more complicated than simply learning who the killer is, and I was second-guessing my instinct throughout the whole book.

In a nutshell: The two main characters are a reporter ("her"), and a detective ("him"); they have a past, and a recent murder brings them to the case for their own agendas. Both of them have ties with the woman who was murdered, and the more they dig into the case, the more suspicious they each look.

There were some really great quotes in this book! For example:

"The lives we lead need to be gold-plated nowadays, a series of varnished truths for the sake of how we appear on the outside. Strangers who view us through a screen—whether on TV or social media—think they know who we are. Nobody is interested in reality anymore; that’s something they don’t want to “like” or “share” or “follow.” I can understand that, but living a make-believe life can be dangerous. What we won’t see can hurt us. In the future, I expect people will long for fifteen minutes of privacy, rather than fifteen minutes of fame."



'Local Woman Missing' by Mary Kubica

Another murder mystery (yes, my favorite genre). I found this one to be very unbelievable. It's kind of like watching a B-horror movie, where the acting isn't great and the story is a bit "out there"--but they are still fun to watch. This book was a pretty fun read and I definitely didn't see the ending coming; but the ending was very unbelievable, so it would be hard to guess ahead of time. Also, there was zero motive behind a big twist, which was a let-down. I didn't love this one, but it doesn't feel like it was a waste of time, either.

In a nutshell: A woman goes missing, and shortly afterward, another woman and her six-year old daughter go missing as well. As readers, we try to figure out the connection (if there is one). There are multiple viewpoints and timelines (something I love in a psychological thriller) and you are waiting for the past and present to merge so you get the rest of the story. Very far-fetched in several parts of the plot, but I enjoyed it for the most part.



'False Witness' by Karin Slaughter

I really liked this one! It's slower-moving, but it held my interest enough to where I didn't want to stop reading. This one isn't a murder mystery (surprise surprise!); rather, you know what happened and are 99% sure who did it, but you don't want to see them get away with it. 

In a nutshell: The book starts off in the past (20 years ago) with two young teen sisters who babysit for a little boy. The boy's dad is a monster--a pedophile and rapist, and after he assaults the younger sister one night, they kill the him and vow never to tell a soul. Fast forward to the present, where the "little boy" comes back into the picture. He is accused of several counts of rape and as a defense attorney, the older sister agrees to represent him--not knowing who he actually is until she agrees to take the case--even though she is absolutely sure he is guilty.



'We All Fall Down' by Natalie D. Richards

Groan. I would never have read this if I'd known that it was supernatural. I don't believe in supernatural happenings, so I was super disappointed to get probably more than halfway through the book before I discovered that. If it had been a typical "whodunit" story, I would have really liked it. Once I learned it involved supernatural elements, I couldn't really get on board.

Anyway, to sum it up in a nutshell, it's about a bridge that the locals think is haunted. Two teens witness some weird stuff happening and they set out to figure out what's going on and who is playing mind tricks with them.



'Delirium' by Lauren Oliver

LOVED this book! It is the first in a series of three books (plus a couple of side stories). I flew through this one and immediately downloaded the second and the side story called Hana. The third book isn't available through my library, but I'm probably going to end up buying it because I really want to read it!

In a nutshell: This is a dystopian YA novel, taking place in the United States probably a century or so from now. Love was declared a horrific disease and scientists developed a "cure"--which kind of sounded like a lobotomy. A bit of brain surgery, and voila! You can no longer feel love, but you can perform daily tasks and live a (very boring) life. Everybody must get the surgery when they turn 18; at that point, they are paired with someone of the opposite sex to make a life with (marriage, children, etc.). 

The protagonist is a 17-year old girl named Lena who is very excited to get her procedure and move on with her life. She (along with most other people) is terrified of catching the "deliria" disease and she wants to feel safely cured. What is a dystopian YA series without a bit of romance, though? Lena meets a boy, which starts to change everything that she's been told from the time she was born.


'Pandemonium' by Lauren Oliver

This is the second book in the Delirium series. The big twist at the end was obvious from the very first page, but even knowing that, I couldn't want to see what happened. As soon as I was done with this, I read Hana.



'Hana: A Delirium Story' by Lauren Oliver

A side story of the Delirium series. Hana is Lena's best friend, and this short story is Hana's point of view that happened during the first book. This one wasn't very interesting, but it only took me a couple of hours to read it.


'The Upside of Falling' by Alex Light

This is the contemporary romance YA novel I mentioned Friday. This was such a fun and light read!

In a nutshell: Girl is a bookworm, kind of nerdy, not interested in relationships. Boy is captain of the football team, best looking boy in high school, uber popular but not interested in dating. She wants her friend to believe she has a boyfriend; he wants his parents to believe he has a girlfriend. They have a "fake" relationship to fool everyone. And naturally, just as you'd expect, the fake feelings start to turn real.




'Five Total Strangers' by Natalie D. Richards

I'm not sure how to feel about this book. On one hand, I was completely sucked into it; on the other, it was SO far-fetched with way too many coincidences. And how many crazy-bad things could happen to one group of college kids in the span of a day? I found a lot of the writing to be redundant (descriptions of how bad the storm was; how it felt like someone was watching all the time; how odd the other passengers are). I guessed the "who" from the beginning, but I was left wondering "why". In the end, I felt like it followed the college-kids-in-danger-and-who-is-trying-to-hurt-them? category perfectly. I liked it, though; if you like the predictable young adult thriller/horror movies (*raises hand*), you'll enjoy this book.

In a nutshell: Protagonist is flying home from college for Christmas when the flights are grounded because of a severe snow storm. Another college student, who she met on the plane, ends up renting a car to drive home. She offers a ride to the protagonist as well as three other people. The five of them begin a ridiculous "creepy" adventure on their way home--dealing with a snow storm, car accidents, scary people, missing items, and other things I won't write so as not to spoil it.


And that's about it. I need to start writing my thoughts after each book, even if I just jot down a few sentences on Goodreads, so I can remember more easily. My favorite on the list is, by far, 'Delirium'. 'False Witness' was very well-written and I enjoyed it a lot. And 'The Upside of Falling' was very fun and light-hearted--a nice break from the usual murder mysteries I like.

If you have suggestions for more that you think I might like, please share! There are lots of books I never would have discovered if not for readers telling me I would probably like them.

May 28, 2022

VEGAN RECIPE REVIEW: Vegan White Chili


I don't know if it's been like this all over or just where I live, but the weather here has been crazy this year. It has felt like winter all spring long. We were going back and forth between the heat and the air conditioning for a couple of weeks. And we've had a ton of rain.

On one of those cold and rainy days, nothing sounded better than chili for dinner. This recipe by Choosing Chia for Vegan White Chili looked amazing (I'll link to it again at the end of the post).  I've loved experimenting with different vegan recipes over the past several months, and this one looked like something my whole family would like.

As a side note: I decided I am not going to make any recipes that start with "THE BEST ____" because probably 75% of the recipes I browsed on Pinterest claimed to be "the best" of whatever. Those words don't even mean anything anymore!

As for the ingredients: cooking oil, onions, garlic, celery, bell pepper, jalapeño, flour, cumin, salt, chili powder, cannellini beans, corn, veggie stock, green chiles, raw cashews, and salt. Not really a short list, but I happened to have everything except for the cannellini beans at home.

Not pictured: flour

I've never been a big fan of cannellini beans, but it had been a very long time since I tried them, so I hoped I'd like them. The reason I never liked them isn't because of the flavor, but rather because the skin on them is really thick. They are essentially white kidney beans, and I never really loved kidney beans for the same reason. The beans I used most are: black beans, red beans, garbanzo beans, and great northern beans.

As I always like to do, I made the recipe exactly as written; and then if I don't like it as written, I'll either change a few things next time or scrap the recipe altogether.

First, I had to sauté the veggies until tender. (The bell pepper I used was orange; those aren't carrots in there.)


Then I added the flour and spices. Without any liquid, it's like a thick paste of spices coating the veggies. I couldn't understand how such a small amount of stock (1 cup) plus the cashew cream could turn it into chili! 


I added the beans, stock, and chiles, and let it cook for 15 minutes. Again, this just didn't look like it was going to be a nice texture:


Meanwhile, I made the cashew cream. I'm so amazed by what raw cashews + water, blended into oblivion, can do! It turns into a very creamy liquid (the thickness depends on the ratio of cashews and water) and actually looks a lot like dairy cream. It's flavorless, but it adds a creamy texture to dishes just like heavy dairy cream would do.

While everything was cooking, I made the cashew cream. It was a much thinner consistency than it was when I made it for a previous recipe (I think it was the nacho "cheese"?). That one had the consistency of sour cream; this time it was like heavy cream.


Once that was done, I added it to the pot with everything else. The chili ended up being the perfect consistency. Per the suggestion on the recipe, I had planned on blending half of the chili to make it creamier/thicker, but it didn't end up needing that. I cooked it for a few minutes longer and then it was time to taste it. Thankfully, I didn't mess anything up this time! ;) 

I'd bought tortilla chips for Jerry and the kids to crush over the chili, but I just ate mine without.


The verdict? The flavor was a bit underwhelming--which is odd, because there are lots of flavorful ingredients. Like the recipe I made last week, it tasted like it needed *something* but I couldn't put my finger on it. It was definitely good enough to eat, but if I was to make it again (and I might) then I would have to add or change the spices.

Side note: On the last recipe, someone commented that the "something missing" may be because there weren't any acidic ingredients to balance it out. I thought that was super interesting! I am not a chef and I don't know anything about acidity in food; but after reading that comment, I found all sorts of info about it. And almost all of the articles I read stated that when you say the dish is "missing something", it's almost always an acid (aside from salt). I would love to test this--making and tasting a dish without the acid, then adding a splash of vinegar or citrus, and tasting it again.

The dominant flavor was actually the cumin, which was interesting because there is only 1/2 tsp in the recipe. I hoped to taste the jalapeño and chiles, but I didn't get any flavors from those.

The main reason I didn't love the chili, though, wasn't the fault of the recipe. It was the cannellini beans. I still don't like the thick skin on them--it feels almost like the beans aren't fully cooked. Jerry agreed with me; he prefers softer beans, too. The kids ate it, but they felt kind of neutral about it. Basically, we all thought it was okay but nothing special.

I'll probably try using this as a base recipe for White Chili and I'll adjust a few things--namely, the spices and the type of beans. I'd use great northern beans next time for sure.

You can find the full recipe here: Choosing Chia's Vegan White Chili.

May 27, 2022

Friday Night Photos

Well, our "family night" was a bust yesterday. Eli ended up having a baseball game, but just before it started it was canceled due to rain. When we thought Eli was going to play baseball, Noah decided to go into work; so it didn't work out. It's so hard to get all four of us together these days!

Everybody is off on Monday, though, so we are hoping for good weather. Noah and Eli invited their girlfriends over and Jerry is going to cook burgers on the grill (I'm going to attempt a homemade vegan burger--if you know of a good tried-and-true recipe, please let me know!), and we'll probably play Cornhole or something like that.

Anyway, I don't have a lot of "fun" pictures this week, and several of my pictures are of the cats, but here is what I have from the camera roll...

I got tired of prepping my Almond Joy Cold Oats every morning (I weigh out each ingredient as I add it to the jar, which gets tedious when you have several ingredients), so I prepped a bunch of them and put them in the pantry. I don't know why I didn't do this before--it's so convenient! I just grab one in the morning, add almond milk, and put it in the fridge for lunchtime. (If you're wondering, the ingredients in the jar are oats, unsweetened cocoa powder, chia seeds, coconut, and mini chocolate chips.)



While I was trying to figure out a solution for my sewing stuff, I spontaneously made this little board in the garage for my thread. I drilled little holes (almost all the way through) and then put small pieces of a dowel into the holes with wood glue. It's perfect for my thread! I just need to buy another dowel--I just used a scrap one that I had lying around and it wasn't long enough to fill all of the holes (or hold all of my thread). I have no idea what I'm going to do with the board now, but hopefully I'll figure something out.



Yesterday, after our plans to grill out fell through, I decided to try out a recipe that had relatively few ingredients: Vegan Truffle Mac & Cheese. I had a feeling it wasn't going to turn out; I even warned the family that we mostly likely weren't going to like it! I'd never used truffle-infused olive oil before and when I opened it, the smell was a big turn-off.


I almost didn't even finish making it because the smell was gross. I was shocked, then, when I tasted it and it was VERY good. I hadn't even though I'd eat more than a bite or two, but I ended up eating a whole bowl. Jerry even liked it enough to take leftovers to work. Noah was working when I made it; Eli took a bite and said, "It's okay". He said it tastes good but the thought of "vegan ingredients" grosses him out. And I actually understand that; there are certain foods that I might like but if I think about them while eating them, I start to feel like I'm going to gag. (Salad, for example, is one of them.) Anyway, this pasta was good and I'll definitely make it again.



I was going through clothes to see what I could get rid of and I decided to experiment with a couple of pairs of jeans--by bleaching them. I wanted to see if I could lighten them (I'm so bummed I didn't take a picture of them before!). I read an article via Google search, and it said to use a 50/50 bleach/water mixture and let them soak for a few hours. HA! This is what happened...



They turned VERY light--basically white jeans. The 50/50 ratio was WAY too heavy on the bleach. I should have checked on them sooner, but I dropped them in the solution and went back about three hours later. It didn't occur to me to take the label off of the Express jeans before bleaching--that yellow spot will not come out. And the Silver brand jeans have what looks like dirt on the bottom, but I'm not sure what it's from. It wouldn't come out with the bleach. So, needless to say, this was a failed experiment ;)

I didn't give up, though! I was going to get rid of these jeans below; they get big in the waist very quickly (they feel comfy right when I put them on, but as they loosen up, the waist gets too big and I'm constantly tugging at it. Instead of getting rid of them, I tried again to lighten with bleach; and this time, I put them in the bathtub with enough water to cover and probably about four cups of bleach.


It took about six hours, and I wasn't even sure if it worked because jeans are so dark when wet, but they lightened up nicely! I love the color; I may alter the waist so that I can wear them comfortably. (And this time, I took off the label before bleaching; I may sew it back on, but probably not.)



The rest of these are pet-pictures. I saved them for last so that you can skip over them if the many pictures of the Friends clan at our house doesn't interest you ;)

This morning, I was reading my book and Duck came to lie on my lap. It was so cozy and he looked so sweet. Naturally, I stayed there until my bladder was about to burst. (This is a contemporary romance YA novel--so random!--but I was looking for a fun, quick read.)



Estelle is a major drama queen by pretending that the other pets hurt her in some way. She'll be standing next to them and when I walk into view, she gives a dramatic meow that sounds like she was just kicked across the room; then she falls over on the floor, probably hoping that I'll scold whatever pet she's trying to get into trouble.

Yesterday, I snuck up on her rubbing her face against Joey (and even licking his face) while he looked at me like, "Do I really have to put up with this?"  Right after this picture, she saw me and did her dramatic fall-and-cry so I'd think Joey hurt her, haha.



Duck was sleeping like this right before I took the picture. He just looked so comfortable in such an uncomfortable position with his legs dangling--it was cute!



I walked into my bedroom to find Chick in this reusable bag. I thought he was playing (he loves playing in bags!) but after I saw he wasn't moving, I peeked inside to find him sleeping. He was sleeping with his upper half inside of the bag, hahaha.



And finally, here is a photo of the ducklings my parents took in! My mom sent me the picture today and I was cracking up--she and my dad set up a kiddie pool for the ducklings. They already look bigger; ducks grow SUPER fast.


And that's all I've got. Have a great weekend! xo

May 26, 2022

Four Little Ducks Went Out to Play

...over the hills and far away. Mother Duck said, "Quack! Quack! Quack!" but only three little ducks came back..."

Does anyone remember that children's song? It randomly pops into my head sometimes, even though I have no idea where I first heard it when I was a kid. Anyway...

Yesterday, I was talking to my mom on the phone when suddenly I heard her yelling for my dad. There was a lot of shuffling with the phone and then she said, "Katie, there are little baby ducks in our garage! They just followed me in here. I'll call you back."

I had no idea what was going on, but she called me back later that afternoon and said that she was doing yard work and when she walked into the garage, four little ducklings came around the corner of the house and followed her into the garage! She told my dad to come see. Then he started looking for the mom and/or a nest for them.

They aren't super young--from what I saw online, I would guess maybe 4-5 weeks--but they can't fly yet, so not totally ready to be on their own. (They usually stay with mom until they are about 8 weeks old and confident flyers.)

They followed my mom everywhere she went...


My dad searched all over the place but couldn't find any sign of the mom or a nest. So, my parents made a little make-shift home for them in a large storage container: water from the lake, a nest (an old bird's nest), and rocks to climb from the water to the nest.

I volunteered to go to the animal feed store and get duck feed for them and when I brought the food over, my heart melted at the sight of them. They were SO CUTE. I'd left my phone in the car, so I don't have a picture of them in their little home, but this is the cutest video of them following my mom around in the yard:

My parents are taking care of them for now, but I'm not sure what the permanent solution will be. There is a house on the peninsula that I run by on my favorite route and they take care of ducks year-round. They even have a large coop that the ducks can wander into and stay warm in the winter.

When Phoebe was much younger and we used to let her outside, I found her playing with a duckling in the side yard--the poor thing was running away and she was chasing it, batting at it with her paws. Thankfully, she didn't hurt it, but we had no idea what to do with it. We looked for the mom, but Phoebe likely chased the duckling from the marsh across the street into our yard and we couldn't find the mom anywhere.

Phoebe's "present" for us in 2011

I had the idea to ask the people on the peninsula about what we should do and they said they would take care of it. They were so nice and they said other people have done the same when they've come across a stray duck. So, I mentioned this to my parents as an option. They said that my brother may take them (he has an enormous pond), but I'm not sure what they decided yet.

Anyway, they are SO CUTE. When I was over there to drop the food off, they were chirping at me like crazy. There was one in particular who kind of stood out from the others and did about 75% of the insistent chirping and it reminded me of Duck (who meows at me all day long like he's having a conversation). Duck even chirps as he watches birds out the window; I'm not sure what else to call the noise he makes! It literally sounds like chirping. I thought it was funny that the name Duck suits him quite well!

Well, I am keeping this short for once because we're *supposed* to do a family afternoon/evening. The plan was to cook out on the grill, but it's raining--so that's a bummer. Also, Eli was asked to play in the varsity baseball game today, so we may end up sitting in the rain for that. And Noah talked about possibly going into work. So who knows what we'll do--it's so hard to make plans when you have teenagers ;)

May 25, 2022

Wednesday Weigh-In: One Year!

One year! Yesterday marked one year since I started calorie counting and running again in order to take off the weight I picked up between 2018-2020. Even though I'd been down this road before (many times), this past year felt like the first "real" time that I've worked on the weight loss since I lost 125 pounds back in 2009-2010. I feel like I'm in it for the long haul and not just a short-term goal.

I think part of the reason I've been successful in losing the weight this past year is because I'm more focused on my health than on my looks. I've had a really hard time accepting that I'm getting old(er). It's stupid, really--it started when I went with Jerry to get his blood drawn (I think it was 2019?) and the woman at the lab took his license and exclaimed that he looks so much younger than his age. Then she said, "I thought that was your mom that came in with you."

I know I shouldn't let a stupid comment like that bother me, but ever since then, I've felt much older than I did before. I notice my wrinkles and age spots on my skin, and especially how my skin sags. The usual stuff about getting older.

The good thing to come out of it is that I care more about my health and less about my looks. Of course I want to look good for my age, but I'm no spring chicken anymore (I'm old enough that I use that idiom! hahaha).

Anyway, enough about that. Even though I've been more concerned with health, it's still fun to get back into some old clothes that I'd almost lost hope of putting on again and to feel more comfortable overall. A year ago, I hated that it was hard to cross my legs again; that wearing anything other than black stretchy pants made it feel hard to move easily; that I was out of breath after the smallest task; and that I just felt crummy in general.

A year's work--which went by SUPER fast--has me feeling a million times better, both physically and mentally. Mentally, I feel accomplished from putting my mind to something and following through (even though there is no finish line); I don't have anxiety over my weight anymore (writing a blog about weight loss definitely caused hyperawareness); and I just feel happier in general. I like that I haven't been too afraid to post my weigh-ins on the weeks that I'd gained weight. 

Okay, onto today's weigh-in:


Last week, I was at 146.4 and I said it would be awesome to get down to 144 today so that my weight would be "normal" on the BMI chart rather than "overweight". I did see 144.4 one day, but that's the lowest. The weight is coming off much more slowly, but I'm cool with that. I'm not sure how much more my body will want to let go of! My weight has gone down for the last four(?) weeks in a row, so it's definitely progress over the standstill that lasted a couple of months.

Now, onto the fun stuff... pictures! Specifically, comparison pictures. My favorite. And since it's been one year, I thought it would be fun to post my year's worth of mirror selfies from my Wednesday Weigh-Ins. For the first nine weeks, I didn't do a full-body mirror selfie because I honestly didn't think I was going to drop the weight or even do regular Wednesday Weigh-Ins. I have pictures from DietBet weigh-ins, though, so I'll post those. I wish I'd at least put a little effort into my appearance for those, but I never expected anyone to see them!

I wasn't sure how to post these since there are so many, so I just put them in rows of four. They are in chronological order, starting with Day 1 last year...














There is a 51.6-pound difference between the first and last photo. And just for fun, I put on the clothes from a year ago. I can't believe how big the shirt is!


I can remember how uncomfortable I felt in that first photo. I was sweating and I hadn't even gone for my walk/run yet!

I'm so glad I took these weekly pictures; it's so fun to look back at them and see the very subtle changes from week to week, and then how it adds up to a pretty dramatic difference in the end.

Even though I'm celebrating one year, nothing is going to change today. I'm still eating healthier than I ever have and focusing on fiber more than anything else; I've been eating vegan since January and I love it. I'm excited to see my lipid panel when I have my annual physical this summer. As far as running, I'm ready to get back into it after nursing my knee for weeks and then having COVID and ____ (fill in the blank). I'm going to do heart rate training again and I'm looking forward to it.

The year went by SO fast, but looking at that first photo makes Day 1 feel like a lifetime ago. Let's hope that this time next year, I'll have maintained my weight loss and am feeling my best! (Or at least younger than the mother of a 41-year old man, haha.)

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