Pictures Worth a Thousand Words

I've never liked having my picture taken -- I just don't. Never have. Usually it's not a problem, since I'm normally the one taking the pictures. But every so often a camera falls into the wrong hands and there it is -- photographic proof of my lack of self control down through the years. You can avoid getting on a scale (yes, even at the doctor's office), or even looking at the full length view in a mirror. But when someone hands you a stack of photos to look at you may be taken by surprise. You're face to face with... you. 

I have a bit of weight to lose this time around, but not like the sixty I dropped before. I wanted you to see that it can be done. Believe me, if I can do it so can you. So, in the spirit of transparency and in the hope that this may serve to be even a small encouragement to someone, I give you -- me. 

I was about 19 or 20 here. According to something I read in one of the "You" books by Drs. Roizen and Oz, this is the time we are at our optimal weight. No kidding. 

I would be 29 here. No explanation needed. :-)

Let's see, I'd say around 34 here. Ah, cake -- a creative outlet and a sugar fix!

Don't even think about touching my cake, kid. 

Please tell me that horse isn't grimacing. 

Big mama is getting bigger.

One of my highest weights. 

At my daughter's wedding last August. 

And me, at the beginning of the 08-09 school year.

There you have it. I know I've put on weight since that last picture was taken. I don't know for sure what I weighed then, but I know what I weigh now. So do you, come to think of it! I know that my clothes are tighter than they were a few months ago, and that I had slipped back into some careless eating habits. The ones that put on those extra pounds in the past. I don't want to go there again, and so I set my eyes to the future. It's fifteen to twenty pounds lighter there. And by the way, I'm on day #2 of keeping a log of what I eat. One day at a time!