When you are 100 lbs overweight, the weight comes off ... quickly (relatively speaking)

When you're ... oh, 30 pounds or so overweight, not so much.  For anyone keeping track, I hit the -60 "decade" on January 5.  Monday was May 6.  4 months to the almost-day.  For the last 4 months, it seemed as if I'd never hit that -70!  Sure, for a time I was all, "I made it through Christmas and travel and all that stuff and kept losing.  I'm a stud."  And then I walked a little less because you know, January in Colorado.  And then February.  And then March.  And I did use the stationary bike in the basement, and I did walk when it was sunny (which it was, because you know, January in Colorado), but the scale wasn't moving.  Or rather, it was, but it just kept floating between 185, 183, 184, 182.5, back up to 186, 184, 182 ... you get the picture.  And I was a little discouraged, but not too.  I just thought it was taking an awful dang long time.

And then I went on the women's retreat for our church and when I got home, I had shot right through that plateau and landed at 178 (-72)!  You can guess my response.  HOLY FREAKING NO WAY COW ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!  And then my second response?  Dang.  I wanted a pic of "you are down 70 pounds".  There is nothing "round" about 72.  Nothing equal.  Nothing milestone-y.  *sigh*  I really do have the most ridiculous first world problems, don't I?  Poor thing.

So ... here is the latest 10-pound pic, and all its round faced little friends.

-70

-60

-50

-40

-30

-20

-10

Approx 250 lbs

... and then I was down 60 pounds!

I don't know about you, but Christmas and then New Year's Eve and then 2013 totally surprised me.  Not in a bad way, but they flew by in a blur.  I mean a real live, honest-to-goodness blur.  Like I can't believe today is the 5th.  Like I thought it was just (American) Thanksgiving.  Like did we really go to Vermont and back and it's already 2013?  And most of all, like I thought I weighed somewhere around 196 and then today when I got on the scale, I was already down to 190.  OHMYWORD, I HAVE LOST SIXTY POUNDS!

Phew.  I gotta catch my breath.


And so, as is my custom, here is the latest 10-pound pic, along with its predecessors.  Even after having a ton of food on New Year's Eve, I hit -60 on January 5.  I'm as shocked as you are.

-60

-40

-50

-30

-20

Approx 250 lbs

-10

Here's some math for you: 250 - 50 = 200

So I woke up this morning and ...

I WAS DOWN FIFTY POUNDS!!  I wish I could remember when I last weighed 200, but I can't.  I don't know if that's good or bad, but I do know this:  it's time for another series of pics.  I'm so glad my sis said to take a picture every 10 pounds (you should too, if you're losing as well!)!  I wouldn't have thought of that and ... I'd have been disappointed if I'd gotten to today without these.  (I'd already decided not to measure body parts, and now I kinda wish I had.  Oh well.)

So without further ado (and not "adieu", as some are wont to post on the intertubes), here are my "decade" pics:

-50!!!!

-40

-20

-30

-10

Approx 250 lbs

There aren't really words for how I felt when I saw that 200!  It's surprisingly motivational.  It was super windy this morning, so I didn't think I could walk outside.  Guess what?  I was even willing -- almost looking forward to -- walking on the treadmill at the gym!  My sister's thoughts on that:  "OK that's a little whacked ...."

Anyway, there are some people who think walking isn't good exercise.  Heck, there are people who think walking isn't even exercise!  Let me be the first to tell you:  IT IS!  And it is making me feel great!  I feel healthier and more calm than I have in years.  Honestly.  Do not take it lightly.  If you've been looking for something to do or try, I sincerely recommend walking.  Really!

And now I'll leave you to contemplate my excessive exclamation point usage.

"If you're tired of starting over, stop giving up."

Today's headline was a quote I read first thing this morning, and it's basically the theme of The Girl Who Cried Skinny.  I really was the girl who always said I'd lose weight, or told myself I'd lose weight, or was about to start a "program" ....  And I did try a lot of things.  No actual diets (I'm offended by them, to be frank), but lots of ways of eating, attempts at regular exercise, etc., etc.  Honestly?  I think I kept thinking it would "just happen".  How; I have no idea, but I seriously didn't think I'd be a heavy person for the majority of my adult life.  And yet, I was.

That quote is the kind of thing you see all the time.  It falls under the "possibly cheesy, vaguely motivational" category.  And a couple of years ago, I wouldn't have given it a second thought.  Maybe because now I'm actually doing something about this mess of weight I'm in, it actually resonated with me.  I don't know, but I find it deeply profound.  I realize, of course, that it's rather a big fat, "DUH!" to some people, but for me, it was ... yeah, profound!

Anyway, I'm writing this so I remember how I felt while I was doing it, but more importantly in hopes that it will motivate someone else.  So if that quote is your OHMYWORD thing, then I'm glad I copied it from SparkPeople :)

And if that doesn't motivate you, think about how great you'd feel when you woke up and realized you'd LOST FORTY POUNDS!  Yeah, I said it.  I'm down 40 lbs. today.  And so it's time for the 10-pound-pics:

Official -40 pic

-30

-20

-10

approx 250 lbs.

For the record, this is Week 20 of my "program".  I've been doing loseit.com and walking.  That's it.  A yoga class here or there, and semi-regular situp sessions, but really just walking in the mornings. Trust me; I'm as shocked as you are.

Y'know how it rains when you wash your car?

... this is just like that, only in a good way! I posted about my plateau, and THE NEXT DAY I was at my new milestone!  30 pounds down, baby!  And so it's time for another 10-pound pic (or two):

Three-Oh! Official -30 pic

-20

-10

Madame Chipmunk Cheeks, approx 250 lbs.

An interesting thing happened with this particular plateau.  The last one took about 2 1/2 weeks to get out of (and TBH it was frustrating. Not defeating, but very ... VERY frustrating).  This plateau?  Only about a week and 1/2.  Interesting, no?

And just for fun, I took a front-facing pic (yeah, that's why I'm not looking at the camera - where IS that thing?) at the end of the day ... and now you know what fine, straight hair looks like after a long day, even if you curl and hairspray it to kingdom come.

You're welcome.

Twenty*Veinte*Twintig*Zwanzig*Dwadzieścia*Twenty

WOO HOO!  I AM TWENTY POUNDS LIGHTER!  Tuesday was a very exciting day.  I was finally down 20 whole pounds.  W00T!  I also used my grocery backpack, AND I met friends for tea in a sleeveless shirt.  These are things I never would have done at 250.

So to start, have I mentioned that my brothers are both on loseit.com?  They are :)  One of them got so excited about me being able to walk to my grocery store that he ordered a grocery backpack for me.  LOL.  Tuesday morning, I used it.   The right-hand pics are before I left the house, so it's empty.  In the one where I'm pointing to the Safeway sign, it's serving a purpose.  I bought two boxes of Puffs Plus and a large container of peanuts.  That's in the top "dry goods" section.  In the "thermal" compartment are the doughnuts my neighbor bought to take back home :)  (don't tell my brother that's what was in there)

So that was fun, and yay! I can buy groceries and packhorse them home (yeah, I verbed it).

But the real big news of the day for me was the big Two Oh!  I am down 20 pounds.  And since my sister said to take a pic every 10 pounds, here it is.  Ironically, I think my face looks rounder in this shot than the 239.5 pic below, but whatevs.

Also?  I actually went out in public in a sleeveless top (<-- this one).  I honestly don't remember the last time I did that.  Maybe 15 years ago?  It certainly wasn't recently.  It helped that it was a gazillion degrees out, I suppose.

So there you have it - a milestone post.  Yay!

Of course, I have never wanted to weigh 229 so much in my life.  What an odd desire :)

The Girl Who Cried Skinny

Two years, huh?  Yup.  Two years.  So ... we've established that I'm a slacker.  Let's also establish this:  I didn't lose anything in the last 2 years except maybe some self-respect.

But ... new things are afoot.  And at the risk of sounding very boy-who-cried-wolf, I am actually losing weight.  In fact, I waited until I'd really lost some before beginning to post again.

The short version is that I downloaded the "loseitapp" to my iPhone in September of 2009.  I used it on and off for about a day at a time over the last few years, but to no avail.  And although the choice to fail was mine and mine alone, it also didn't fit my needs at the time.  In January, a friend told me they'd made several changes to loseit.com, including connecting it to the iPhone app (huge!) and adding a bar code scanner.  Then in April, as we were saying goodbye to my grandmother, I found that my brothers were locked in an epic loseit battle, losing 17 and 20 pounds each.  What?

So ... I'm back on the bandwagon, and I've lost some weight.  I can already feel it in my jeans!  Really!  I read on Pinterest once that you will notice your own weight loss after 4 weeks, your friends will notice after 8 weeks, and the rest of the world will notice after 12.  Whatever I do, I'm not stopping before 12 weeks!  in fact, I don't intend to stop at all until I hit my goal!

My sister told me to take a picture every 10 pounds, so here is 239.5.  I just realized I should note that my official "start weight" on record is 250. So basically, I gained 8 pounds in the interim.  Yay!

Thanks for reading.