The year that was..........

2007 has been a year of changes for me to be sure.

A relationship was ended at the very tail end of 2006 that probably should never have been rekindled in the first place **sigh**.

I lost my father after a long, arduous illness that made his leaving bittersweet as his passing was a blessing saving him from anymore suffering....but left the rest of us sad and shell shocked.

Family fallouts ensued and continue.

Grieving was done on all three fronts......the lost relationship, the lost father and the family fall-outs.....and the grieving continues, as it does, in it's own way, in it's own time.

But, as often happens, out of sadness, grief and difficult times often good things ensue. Sometimes these good things are like miracles presented to us to keep us from going mad.

For me that miracle was the lifestyle change I started on January 8, 2007. I call it my lifestyle change because I hate (despise?? cringe at??) the word diet.....and because this has become so much more than "just" a diet -- it really has become a complete lifestyle make-over for me.

Since January 8, 2007 I have lost 70 pounds. I continue to maintain that loss and keep working at losing another 20-30 lbs. I have not weighed what I weigh now in 20+ years. I have completely changed my style of eating to the point where virtually nothing processed, pre-packaged or sugary ever makes it into my system.....and I have yet to start missing any of it!! Slowly but surely I have built up a work-out routine to the point where I work-out hard for at least 45--90 minutes at least 5 times a week. This summer saw me hiking and biking for 10+ miles several times a week. I haven't biked in probably 10 years. I have dropped about 8 clothing sizes. My blood pressure which had become very problematic towards the end of 2006 is completely cleared up and normal now. My cholesterol -- although never bad, bad was certainly borderline for a quite some time and there was one element of it that was really bad -- is now superb!! So much so in fact that my doctor commended me, not just on remarkably bettering my bad cholesterol, but more importantly on raising my good cholesterol which is, apparently, a really difficult feat to accomplish and is very healthy for you!!

So, all in all, this year has had it's fill of the good, the bad and the ugly.....but the bad and the ugly though hard at times -- are tolerable -- and we do somehow get through to the other side. The good?? Well, can't say enough about the good!! I look forward to 2008 with no expectations other than to keep on truckin' with this journey I've been on for the past year.

In the spirit of keeping things simple.....here's my wish for the coming new year to all my friends and family.......