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Introduction Text Hello Sparkers! I hope you enjoy the SP site as much as I do. I'm a 55+ year old Canadian who needed to lose 71 pounds. The extra weight I was carrying around on my body was just 'F-A-T', plain and simple! Why was I overweight? Simply because I had eaten too much food. All my extra weight showed. Everyone saw it. Even I saw it (for a long time) before I decided to do something about it. I had stuffed! I had puffed! I knew what had been happening and yet I still allowed it to go on. Shame on me! (Nothing worse than knowing something is wrong but not doing anything about it!) Reaching my goal weight wasn't easy. For the first time in my life I had to learn how to say “no!” to myself and not eat every yummy looking treat I spied with my little eye. Unfortunately, just as I neared my goal weight I encountered some medical issues. Luckily for me, God was on my side (as He always is) and I was provided with a wonderfully talented surgeon who was able to cut out the 'bad' and leave me with most of the 'good'. I truly know that it is a miracle that I'm still here today. The surgeon was able to save most of my pancreas and my entire stomach. My spleen and gall bladder were just frills that needed to ‘go’ but I do really well without them. Since I was almost at goal weight before I became ill, I didn’t have any extra pounds left ‘to spare’ after my surgery. It was incredibly painful for me to eat or drink for a long, long time and I actually developed an aversion to food. Food = pain. Pain = something to be avoided. To avoid pain = avoid food. Crazy, huh? Yessiree, I lost a lot of weight in the first months back at school (teacher). Now I've managed to gain back the 25 pounds I was below my goal weight. Officially, I’m right at my goal weight and maintained it for over a year. My plan is to keep on moving forward with no looking back. My current stats: Height- 5' 8" Current weight: 140 pounds (Yeah, maintaining!) Starting weight: 211 pounds

What is next? Thinking, thinking. Accomplished: Back to a decent weight!- Maintaining my weight at 140 lbs. (Maintaining since Sept//08) Started on a regular running program and kept at it. I used the C25K program I first heard about here on SP. Begun on May 16/09. I'm still running today- Feb. 6, 2010!

I'm part of the RR 5K program. I run 5k every Sunday, Monday and Wednesday. I often add extra 'Ks' after I get home to give me a longer run. I do strength training on Tuesdays and Thursdays after school.

I live just outside Toronto, ON, Canada. I live with my DH of 34 years and have 3 adult children. I have a great little dog, Bear, who enjoys walking with me. He also enjoys sitting and WATCHING the TV. Really! (Our guilty secret? Watching The Dog Whisperer TV show together on the couch.)

Running? Who knew it could be so much fun!! Although initially I thought I would do it as a 'solo' endeavour, something that was JUST for me, I've discovered it's also a lot of fun to do with a group. Talk, talk, laugh, and RUN! What a winning combination. Exercise, stress reduction and friendship all rolled into one activity. That's what I call killing 3 birds with 1 stone. I enjoy reading (especially mysteries) but don't give myself much free time to do it. *Guilty look on face* I discovered I loved bird-watching when I was sitting around the house for almost 4 months recovering after surgery. All I could do at the time was lie down or sit. What to do? Look out the window at that view out the back and watch the natural world! So relaxing.... :o)

Add a Link You stuff! You puff! HW- 211 lbs CW- 150 lbs Toronto, Ontario Canada
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