New Focus

Have you ever seen a photo of yourself and barely recognized the person that you saw?  This happened to me over the weekend.  I saw the picture that I posted above and thought I looked really different.

I lost 20 lbs. after my surgery and it is kind of amazing how much of a difference that can make!  I now weigh about 150.  When I look at this photo, I think I look thin.  Really thin for me. 

I've decided to change the focus of my blog.  I will probably be losing my Lap Band in the next few weeks so I want to focus more on weight maintenance and fitness.  I've changed the blog name and look.  I've also removed many of the weight loss references from the page.  That isn't my focus anymore.

I really need some help.  When I originally lost weight after surgery, this blog was a huge part of my success.  At that time (in 2010-11), there was a really active online community of bloggers, but I now have very few people reading my blog on a regular basis.  I am hoping that you will consider posting a link to my blog on your blog and asking your readers to consider giving me a follow.  If you don't do that sort of thing or don't want to promote my blog, that's no problem.  I'm just hoping to gain a more active and current community beyond the few of you that are still checking in and reading.

I want to stress that the support is just something that I really need right now, but I won't think less of you if you do not wish to participate.  I know blogs are really personal  and we all have our own "rules".  If you feel comfortable helping out, thank you!

I feel so awkward right now.

So let's segue onto something else, shall we?

I went hiking yesterday.  It was about a six mile hike, round trip.  I found it really easy.  I also went to the gym in the evening.  I was going to do a light work out, but then I ended up doing a pretty tough leg work out.  I only lift twice a week so I do sort of a circuit and cover all the major areas.  I have been trying to recover from a shoulder injury that I've been struggling with for a few years.  I fell down the stairs in my house and wrenched my shoulder trying to grab the bannister.  I must have torn some ligaments or something.  I frequently re-injury it by doing things like putting on my coat and brushing my hair.  I've been trying to lift very light weights to strengthen my muscles. 

Here are some pictures from my hike.

This place is appropriately called "Blue Pool".  The water is so clear that you can see the bottom, even though it is 30-40 feet deep in places.  There were people jumping from about 30 feet above the water and it was kind of terrifying because the water looks really shallow.  I was not among those people!