what a difference a year makes..

[shellyj 5]

well i wasnt banded this time last year but this is when i got my gulf shores pics back that made me decide i HAD to do something. i have lost 84 since banding 8-18-03 and 25 pre-band

these pics were taken almost exactly 1 year later and exactly 109 pounds thinner! view at they were taken with an ipod i'm not really impressed with the quality of the shots but it gets the job done!

michelle

350-241-175

8-18-03

EVERYONE take pics to document your loss! anytime i get frustrated thats the first thing i do is look at how far i have came, you cant argue with photos!

you dont have to post them although i wish you would!! LOL!!

[donali 57]

Shelly - you're just amazing!! Congrats, congrats, congrats!!!

Well done, girl!

[DeLarla 22]

Shel, not only do you look 100% FAB, but that's my boy dog! He's the spitting image of Voodoo (a.ka. Pony.) I have the Pony and The Piglet. I had to shake my head because I'm talking they are exact twins!

Good work... LOVE the furbabies!

[Vera 7]

:cool: Michelle

Congratulations. You've done an excellent job!

I was watching a video of Yosemite (about a year ago) that had me in it when I decided to do something about my weight as well.

Looking in the mirror isn't the same as seeing yourself on film. Does it add 10lbs?

[donali 57]

...seeing yourself on film. Does it add 10lbs?

lol Vera that reminds me of the "Friends" episode when they're sitting around watching old home movies, and a segment came up with the young fat Monica, and everyone was like, "WHOA!!" and Monica said, "C'mon you guys, the camera adds 10 pounds." and Chandler says, "How many cameras did you have ON you?!?!"

ROTFLMAO

[shellyj 5]

thanks donali~ your nothing short of AMAZING yourself!!!

delarla~ your pony does he look like my brown one (bear) or the black one (star who goes by piglett on occasion) maybe the are each others dopplegangers.

vera~ whew i cant look at myslef on videos!! i dont like how your moving around and gets ALL the angles... thats exactly what i thought of when i saw 'does the camera add 10 pounds' was monica in her prom dress eating a burger...

[DeLarla 22]

My brown & white Pitbull is my Piglet. Voodoo is my Pony.

[sassaay 1]

Hi Michelle,

Congratulations on your success! I love checking out your pictures and progress.... Please keep them coming.

Girl, you give me real hope.

Thanks for sharing.

[Neicy 0]

Congratulations on your fantastic progress! You're an inspiration to me. I can't wait until I can post some snapshots! Keep up the great work. Denise

[Alexandra 55]

Michelle, you look fabulous! And on you, the photos look great. How nice to have a real photographic record of your hard work.

I'm still waiting for that one picture that makes it look like I've lost any weight at all. The camera is just not kind to some of us.

[DeLarla 22]

Alex, last night we had a party at my house and all my friends showed up. I've lost 29 pounds, yet not one single person noticed. Not one little comment. I'm tall like you, so we distribute our weight over a lot bigger area so I guess we have to wait longer to be noticed. I was just a tad dissapointed, but no biggy since I know the truth and clothes are all droopy. There are benfits to being short and benefits to being tall even though it seems the grass is always greener on the other side.

Now I have to get past this emotional/physical hurdle because it's making food thoughts rule my brain! An idol mind is the devil's playground, and the devil shows himself to me in the form of food!

[New Hope 37]

I "think" I've lost about 24 lbs. But my scale seems to weigh lighter than the drs. I'll know for sure on 6/28. But no one has noticed my weight loss either. Maybe we need to get some spandex. (Now for me, that's a very scary thought!)

[DeLarla 22]

I have this one piece spandex undergarment that I bought from Nordstrom over a decade ago. It looks like a size 4. It takes about 20 minutes to get in the thing, but hot damn, it's the most amazing piece of equipment I've ever owned!

[Alexandra 55]

The funny thing is that people do notice that I look different, and even I think so when I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror. It's just that in photographs the weight loss is not so evident.

But the real evidence of lost weight, much more than the way I look in the mirror, is the way I feel and move and just LAST through my day. Today we went to a Renaissance Fair and had to park at least a half-mile away from the park. Walking from the lot to the Fair was mostly downhill, so no one minded. But a few hours later asking our two hot, tired, cranky little girls to walk all that way back, uphill, was just out of the question. So I volunteered to go get the car and come back and pick everyone up. This would have been UNTHINKABLE a year ago, and today it took nothing out of me at all. I even took the LONG way around because it was such a beautiful day and I was enjoying the exercise and the solitude.

Tomorrow I'm going to see my former stepmother, whom I haven't seen in just about a year. I don't know if she knows about the surgery--my brother may have told her, but I haven't--so it will be really interesting to see her face when she sees me. I'll let y'all know what happens. :devious

[DeLarla 22]

I was having tons more energy, also. But now I'm back to square one just trying to recover from my bad incision. Can't wait to get back to walking.