The gift of me...

2 gifts set before you. One elegantly wrapped in expensive wrapping with an explosion of ribbons and bows. The other simply wrapped in brown paper held together by a lone piece of twine. Which would you choose? Would you pick the same gift if you knew that one of the boxes contained a priceless item and the other contained nothing more than something found at a dollar store. 9 times out of ten you're going to select the fancy gift, right? You cant know which is which until you open the package.

As you know I've been on a diet. Working diligently to change my physical appearance. Attempting to make the "gift" of myself more attractive to others. The whole time the inner me is screaming "Notice me, (the gift) not my appearance (the outer wrapping.) See how valuable I am as a person. NOTICE ME!" But alas, today's society focuses on outward appearances. So, I keep plugging away at the diet and exercise. I'm 10 lbs away from my goal. And it's true what they say that the last 10 lbs is the hardest too lose.

The sad part is that even though I've lost 45 lbs and kept it off for a year, I still mentally see myself as the short heavy girl I was in the past. I look in the mirror and see the same person this morning that I saw the year before last. So, I've really been working on the mental change as well as the physical change my body is going through. I've come to the conclusion that gaining self confidence is harder than losing the weight. I am a beautiful woman with alot to offer. So watch out world the new me is here. And I'm here to stay! I'll always work on my figure and self confidence but baby, I've come a long way.

Here's me in December 2006:

And here I am now. 45 lbs off and still counting: