The Journey So Far

So things have been going pretty great.
Bet you expected some kind of penitent paragraph for not posting recently? Nah. I have much darker things to feel guilty about. (Not really. Well. On some level we all do. It is quite possible I've had a sminch too much iced coffee this afternoon.)
Anyhow, where was I?
Oh yes. Things have been going pretty great. Thought I'd post and let everyone know just what I've been doing.
As I may have mentioned, back in September I made super major changes to my way of eating. A lot of things that weren't serving me well were unceremoniously dumped with no sensitive breakup discussion or apology. What started with a literal black trash bag has rocked on for nine months now. I'm not very good at photographic evidence, but I do have some. So let's review.
Here's me in October 2012, about a month after my nutrition overhaul. At this point, I was enjoying increased energy and definite decrease in joint pain. On this particular day I was on my feet all day, which is not something I had previously been able to do without discomfort.

Yeah, its from kinda far away because we were trying to get the mastodon in. But you get the picture. Both of those articles of clothing have since been discarded because I almost dropped those shorts in the middle of the grocery store.
This photo was taken in February of this year.

I look happy, but believe me, running indoors in a beige room on a treadmill is not my idea of a good time. But in the dead of winter it keeps me from sighting in from a water tower so we'll go with it when its 11 degrees out. Most of the happiness in this picture comes from the fact that I can move. And I feel pretty darn good.
These days, with the mountain laurel in full bloom and the temperature somewhere between 75 and 90 (North Central PA is nothing if not capricious where weather is concerned), my gym looks more like this.

And I've traded in the bike with no wheels with a view of the dusty TV for this one.

And this makes me very, very happy indeed.
I know people are curious about numbers. I've already broken down all the other good things that have come of this so here ya go, numbers people.

Pounds lost to date: 62
Aggregate inches lost from five separate measuring sites since 2/16/13: 15
Number of discarded articles of clothing to date: 5 (Note that I would have donated these if they had not been threadbare and, in some cases, ah, items of intimate apparel)

So what's on the horizon? A summer of playing in the woods and on the trails, and, this July, a Whole 30 Challenge. While many of the changes called for in the Whole 30 are things I have already successfully implemented, I want to focus on the positive side-- more veggies, more attention to the other aspects of the Challenge (the Whole 9 principles) and general focus on optimizing wellness and making the most of every single day. Far from being an exercise in depressing deprivation, this sort of discipline has given me my life back in a way I never thought possible. It doesn't matter how long it takes. It takes what it takes. The journey is a blast so far.
I'll be back soon. With pictures.