Have you ever been gone for a few days only to come home and find your puppy has grown by leaps and bounds or that your toddler seems inches taller? Or, you run into a friend and mention how great they look only to have them tell you they had not noticed  it themselves?

That happened to me earlier this week and I’m still kind of freaked out by it.

Earlier this week, I celebrated the one-year mark of regularly working out with my fantastic trainer. She gave me a gift to commemorate the milestone and I was so excited about it, I posted a pic of myself wearing my present on Facebook.

Friends I had not seen in awhile [and even those I see regularly] congratulated me on my milestone and told me that they thought I looked pretty terrific.

I have felt pretty terrific, so that was nice to hear.

A friend I had not seen in awhile told me I should try to find a photo of myself from before I started working out last year and put it side-by-side with my photo in my new jacket. That proved harder than I thought it would as most photos from last year were cropped mercilessly [if I even allowed them to be saved].

I did locate one from a little over a year ago [October 2014] which was a couple months before I started my first 24-day challenge with Advocare. I was honestly stunned because for the first time I could truly see the difference everyone kept pointing out to me.

I am not sure if I should be thankful or horrified that I did not really see myself as being really off the rails in the photo on the left. In fact, I had recently lost a few pounds before that photo on the left was taken and I felt pretty okay that day. When I look at it now, it’s just crazy.

As I think about it, I have lost over twenty pounds since that photo was taken and I’m still wearing a lot of the same clothes I wore then–walking out of the pants and swimming in the tops, but still wearing them. I suppose I could treat myself to at least a new pair of jeans rather than constantly yanking up the ones I currently own, even when I’m wearing a belt. I have mostly bought myself new workout clothes over the past year–I think it’s more fun to shop for those! I just wish I could wear them all the time. Unfortunately, yoga pants are not quite the uniform of the day at my current job.

My sister was especially shocked at the photo on the right as she admonished me for wearing “bulky” clothes every time I see her such that she missed I had passed her up on the fitness goals again. Our friendly sibling rivalry on the fitness goals motivates us both.

I plan to keep doing what I’m doing and working toward my goals. And, yes. I will find a pair of jeans in my new size [what IS my new size?!] that fit properly.