What's Your Most Recent NSV

1) A year ago, just walking up one flight of stairs would have put my heart rate at its maximum.

Today, it took riding up a steep hill at quite a pace to achieve the same effect. Not that I was trying to hit maximum heart rate but that hill was DIFFICULT and I was NOT going to be defeated. A year ago I wouldn't have even got ON a bike.

2) Got up at 5am this morning to go for a 10-mile bike ride. Was listening to music and enjoying the ride so much that I ended up going 24 miles instead. The second half of the ride was ALL uphill. Tiring, but it felt good. When I got back home, I was saying "never again, that was stupid" but now I'm thinking of doing it all again tomorrow . . .

I benched 135 pounds! BIG GIRL plates! Three sets of four reps!

I went to my 50th HS reunion and was NOT the biggest guy there. Several guys who were smaller back in HS are now bigger than me. The homecoming queen gave me a hug!
(There were 272 in our class, this is a pic of just those who went to same grade school. I went to K-8 and HS with them.)

My older Jean shorts used to be too tight and now they are very loose. I can pull then up and down without buttoning and need to wear a belt to keep then up! Summer is almost over so I probably won't bother getting new ones. This year is going to be expensive with all the new clothes I'm going to buy

PaigeInTechnicolor wrote: »

Went to the doctor, he was so pleased! Weight loss and quitting the smokes impressed him. My lipid panel looks loads better! Still some work to do, but he was delighted with my progress!

Quitting smoking - brilliant. Absolutely the best thing you can do for yourself and one of the hardest. Huge respect.

I was asked-out on a date. By a real girl.

soufauxgirl wrote: »

IcanIwill1 wrote: »

I am so happy with my creativity in the kitchen these days.
I think up recipes, and they end up tasting as good as I imagined...
I made/created an awesomely yummy broccoli and chicken soup today.
Its uber nutritious and awesomely filling....I had to keep checking and calculating the nutrient values over and over, to make sure I am not inadvertently eating a fattening soup.
Wow....I feel so encouraged, great tasting food, that I will eat for years to come...It tastes that good.

Ohhh....please do share this yummy recipe

Sure
a bit of background.
I live in the UK, so some of my terms may be different from what folks from other countries may be used to.
I buy chicken carcass/bones that's left after the butchers have taken off the breast meat for the breast fillets....there's a lot of (white meat) still left on the bones.
I use this to make a simple stock, whereby I season the bones with garlic, onions, parsley, habanero ( I love spicy) and a pinch of Italian herbs, salt and pepper.
I cook the bones until the meat falls off of them.
I agitate this with a wooden spoon so most of the meat will come off.
I pour this through a colander into a separate container to remove the bones from the stock and meat.
I let it cool and refrigerate overnight
After its cooled in the fridge, I skim off any fat on the top.
This makes me half a gallon (2lts) of stock at least. which I freeze some...it lasts me a month at least.
I chop up 1kg of broccoli both florets and stalks.
I simmer this in some of the now defatted stock, and once its tender, I take it off the heat and puree it with a stick/immersion blender. I add some more of the stock to thin it into any consistency I fancy.
Once the stock is at hand its a 15min start to finish process.
It is so filling and is my 'go to lunch' for work.
I also do a cauliflower and leek variant and also a Spinach version,
*I use bones because of the depth of flavour and the gelatin.
By all means this will work with regular stock cubes ( bullion) and cuts of any lean meat of your choice.
I found that using the bone stock gives it a thicker mouth feel, too which is quite satisfying for me.

I hope this makes sense...I've never had to write out a recipe before.

The scale may say i have ten pounds to lose, but my abs say otherwise because i am starting to get some clear definition.

I had to take the belt in another notch today. That is after taking it in a notch two weeks ago. My previous "favorite" pants are so baggy in the legs that they are becoming a tripping hazard. I'm not giving them away - I'm keeping them so I can take a Before and After photo with them in the springtime.
I had to walk to the post office for work this morning. The walk felt good, but my legs were still itching inside (I can't explain it any other way) for some REAL exercise so I walked up the stairs. Love the burn!
This morning, my hip flexors were sore. I CAN FIND MY HIP FLEXORS!!! I've only lost 4 lbs since starting the journey, but my body is changing for the better. Every. Single. Day.

1) Caught my husband staring at me after I came home from the gym...he said my thighs are much smaller!

2) finally took measurements...lost 5" from hips and 2.5" from waist. I always thought I had big hips...turns out I just had fat hips.

3) some college lifter at the gym totally asked me out. Twice. Had to tell him my post gym plans were making dinner for hubby and 4 kids

Restless leg syndrome is gone!

Didn't realize it until I went to a movie with a friend and wasn't moving around every 5 seconds. I'm not sure if it's from the weightloss or the fact that I'm working out 5 days a week consistently for the last 3 1/2 months.

I just filled 4 massive bags of clothes filled with sizes 18-22/2X/3X and am working on arranging a charity pick-up. I feel like in 2-4 more weeks the rest of the size 18s will be gone.

And today I'm wearing a t-shirt that I haven't worn since I was 10 weeks pregnant with my first--almost 5 years ago. Pants were purchase just before getting pregnant with my second and I never actually got to wear them (they were goal pants). I love shopping in my closet...

My waist slipped under 30 inches for the first time in nearly 2 decades. Not bad for a 38 year old woman at 5'9" who has lost 4 inches of height thanks to scoliosis.

I entered into the healthy BMI range this week. It feels pretty amazing. Plus, I was invited to perform in the showcase that the studio I attend does every fall.