Weight Loss Update

It is officially 6 months into my weight loss/get healthy/lower my cholesterol endeavor. I have actually done so much better than I had anticipated when I started this venture. To date, I have lost 30 pounds, and I have gone down 3 sizes. I am definitely smaller than I ever was in college and high school. I would like to lose another 10 pounds, but, as I have said throughout this endeavor, I will be happy to maintain the weight I am currently.

While the numbers are great, and I am utterly pleased, I think the lessons I have learned from this are so much more important than what my waistline measures. I have gained a vital understanding of what healthy really is. I have also learned that exercise is crucial - even though I may not like it. The most important lessons are those I've learned about myself - I am a strong person and I can acheive what I set my mind to. I am a huge fan of Biggest Loser, but I always thought it was cheesy when the contestants talked about the emotional impact of their weight loss. Now I really understand it. Something like this (even though I'm not posting the HUGE numbers that they do)really does teach you so much about yourself. There are so many opportunities to quit, but the victory of sticking with it has given me so much confidence that I lacked.

I still am not good at taking compliments, but I am learning. I still have a ways to go at accepting myself physically, but it gets so much easier everytime I look in the mirror. I still have to learn to overcome temptation, but I am learning to compromise. I am learning to enjoy working out, although that is something that I accept may always be a struggle. I am learning not to place such an emphasis on looks - I have replace that with an emphasis on health.

I have another 5 months before I get my cholesterol checked again. My last check showed improvements, but I still had a ways to go. I know that I have two strikes against me - familial hypercholesterolemia and hypothyroidism, but I feel confident in telling my doctors that I have spent this year they gave me doing everything in my power to eliminate the third strike of poor lifestyle. Thank you all for your prayers and support. Please keep praying for me over these next few months that I can stick with it and get my thyroid regulated so that I can get my cholesterol under control. Now more than ever do I understand and appreciate preventative medicine. What keeps me going? I know that quitting could mean a heart attack at an early age, taking medicine for the rest of my life, and passing bad habits onto my future children potentially shortening their lives or setting them up for a struggle like I am going through now. I think the benefits more than outweigh the discomfort.

Our Summer in Review

We have had yet another busy summer. Since I didn't do a good job of keeping this thing updated, I thought I would give a quick pictoral review of another amazing summer.

Bill's good friend from college, Wes, got hitched in Tampa in June. Bill had a lot of fun catching up with the guys, like Jeremy, Wes, Shiva, and Nathan.


Bill and his dad jumped off the rock at Lay Lake.



Our trash man (we think) took out our mailbox, so we had to replace it. Here we are attempting to pull the old one down with the Mountaineer. This didn't work, so we had to resort to back-breaking digging.


We had a very fun Sunday School lake party.


We did some redneck fishing (if you look closely, the boys have caught some fish in the raft).


Bill turned 25.


Bill bought himself an F150 Lariat SuperCrew Cab as a birthday present (despite $4.00 a gallon gas).


Bill's little sister, Carol, moved to Memphis, so we went to Graceland.