90 Days and a Few Sizes Later...

I know, I know... I pretty much abandoned you for a while.

I've been low-carb dieting for 90 days now.

It's been a busy month (or so). We took several little trips and one week-long one up to Bar Harbor, Maine, where we stay every summer.

I want to share with you a story about this trip.

Last year, when we went up there, I had an ankle that was riddled with arthritis.

I was 365 pounds.

I couldn't walk without agony.

I couldn't walk for long at all without getting exhausted.

I couldn't climb over the rocks and hills to get the kinds of spectacular photos everyone else was getting.

I did more sitting than exploring.

I was miserable but I kept telling myself that miserable in Maine is better than miserable at home.

That's true enough - the scenery up there in Acadia is GORGEOUS.

The place where we stay has a gorgeous pebble beach and you can literally sit on a bench two feet from the water at high tide.

I used to spend countless hours on that beach.

Last year I ventured down there twice during the entire week.

Why? Because there's also a huge hill involved in getting there and I could not even bear the thought of climbing it multiple times.

I was just too huge.

I had no energy.

But what did I have? I had the fried clams. Several times. I had ice cream. I had fudge. I drank a lot of the local root beer.

I had all those things, but I had a lousy vacation.

When we arrived in Bar Harbor this year, I was probably close to 80 pounds lighter.

I had a good brace keeping the arthritis at bay.

I was climbing over rocks and scaling hills all over the place.

And I got some great pictures.

I'll share a couple of them in a few minutes.

Here's what I didn't do:

I didn't eat any fried clams.

I didn't eat any ice cream.

I didn't drink any root beer.

I didn't have any blueberry pie.

I didn't cheat on the diet. Not even once. Not even when no one was looking.

I took my son to play miniture golf and for the first time in three years I didn't need to rely on him to retrieve my ball because I was too huge to bend over and get it.

We played 64 total holes of adventure golf that week. I bent over to get my ball 64 times.

I wasn't drenched in sweat in 75 degree weather.

I never lost my breath climbing the hill after visiting the shore.

I had enough energy to get up at 4:00 AM to catch sunrise at Cadillac mountain.

My SON asked to sit down and rest more often than I did.

I walked all over Bar Harbor, up and down steep hills, through dozens of shops and didn't feel the need to sit down very often at all.

I EXPERIENCED this trip. I didn't just live through it.

And here's the best part: I'm only about halfway to my goal.

I have a lot of weight left to lose.

I can't even imagine what I'll be doing next year.

I've considered learning how to kayak.

And my wife might be joining me now that she's starting the diet too in a couple weeks. :-)

P.S. I bought my first 2X t-shirt in about 5 or 6 years and it fits. All my size 42 pants fit and they're all roomy.

And here are the pictures I promised...