5th Anniversary of retirement­­­!!!

Five years ago today, on July 31, 2011, I drove away from my retirement luncheon and never looked back at the place where I had worked for almost 24 years.

Me and My Fla - briefly reunited!

If you've been reading my blog, you know just what an influence a young woman named Flaminia ("Fla"), my trainer, was to my current weight-loss success.  

Divorcing my scale!

Well, not actually divorcing so much as legally separating from my scale.  For months now my scale has been tormenting me by not going below 168 lbs.   

My new workout look

As I kept gaining weight through the years that would eventually lead to a long-term existence as a morbidly obese person and as my clothes kept getting bigger and bigger as a result, in my personal life I only wore baggy, stretchy pants and long, baggy T-shirts. 

Committed to a year of pampering

My gym, Total Woman ("TW"), offers a sauna, steam room, and whirlpool as part of the regular membership package.  When I joined TW in August 2014, I chose the basic month-to-month membership which would allow me to cancel at any time without having to pay a cancellation fee.  

Where I am today on my journey!

When I was writing my blog in July/August 2015, I had lost about 115 lbs. total by then which is what I wrote about.  By the time I clicked "publish," I had lost another 7 lbs., but no sooner did my blog go online than the universe started messing with me and I gained weight.  It took several weeks of struggling before I could get those pounds off again and could continue on my weight-loss path.

Be smart - listen to your body!

When I started working closely with my trainer, Flaminia ("Fla"), in late 2014, she put me on 1,500 calories a day plus allowed me (after some argument) an additional 200 calories because I was working out regularly.  She also turned me onto MyFitnessPal.com, a free website to track my calories and progress.