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

They put markers on plateaus, right?

Once again, I'm close to a milestone. *heavy sigh*  I've been hovering around -- but not touching -- the 30-pound mark for a good week or so.  It's so close, I can taste it! (see what I did there?)  I've been at 222.  Then I bounced down to 221.  I've seen 221.5 a LOT, but still no 220 yet.  Funny thing is that I'm not concerned in the least.  I'm not worried, I'm not stressing, I'm not starving myself ... in fact, on Thursday I bought a can of Pringles (on sale!) and ate half of it (don't try this at home, kids!).  Let's be honest; that's most likely because Shark Week is right around the corner.  Either way, this is a new feeling for me - this "whatevs" as I look at another plateau.

I've heard lots of theories about what happens during weight loss -- like the body is holding on to that fat and thinks it needs it.  That it doesn't want to let it go.  It's had it for so long, it can't release it.  It just can't bear to see it leave!  Whatever it is, my body seems to get that feeling every 10 pounds.  Wait!  We can't let her lose another 10!  We neeeeed that!  And so, the 8 or so pounds in between seem to come off as they should.  But that last 2?  Wow, they're hard!  Maybe that's a good thing, though.  It makes those milestones that much more meaningful :)

Anyway, I never I mean never thought I'd be so casual about weight loss as I am feeling today (perhaps I'll change tomorrow), but for now, I'm holding at -28.5, and I'm feeling just fine about that :)

What? A Fateau?

So ... I've been walking with my neighbor, and I've been staying in my caloric budget on Loseit, but I've been at 237 (or 237.5 or 236.5) for about 5 or so days now.  I must admit it's a tiny bit discouraging.  Not enough to make me stop, but I've definitely felt some disappointment.  The good thing is that when I checked my weekly report (as opposed to obsessing about the daily numbers), I was still down 2.5 lbs for last week.  Since the max I can tell the loseit app I want to lose a week is 2, that's pretty good!

Which reminded me of a time I recently turned on the TV and watched an episode of The Biggest Loser.  One of the girls was REALLY UPSET that she'd only (ONLY!) lost 5 pounds in a week.  Seriously, honey?  That is what is wrong with America.  But I digress.

So I'm wallowing in my disappointment a bit when I stumbled on something in the Loseit forums.  Someone is asking for help in the Plateau Department.  The comments to her were spot on and helpful, but the one I liked the best was this:  Are you taking other measurements? I noticed pants that didn't fit at the beginning of my plateau suddenly started fitting. For people who are doing everything right, I think the plateau is often the time of a metamorphosis. Your weight doesn't change but your body composition and shape does. 

You know what?  That's exactly where I am right now.  Perhaps my body is making muscles out of the fat.  Perhaps my body has gone into starvation mode and is trying to preserve fat.  Who knows?  But EVERYTHING is fitting differently!  I mean, everything!  And so just a little while ago, I went to my drawer today and got out a shirt I had put away because it fit too snugly around my bagel belly.  This picture is not only goofy but doesn't quite do it justice.  Suffice it to say this shirt is not hugging the part it used to at all.  This shirt!  -->

So what if I'm stuck at 12.5-13 lbs of weight loss?  Guess what?  My breath returns to normal almost immediately now after walking an hour with my neighbor.  And although I really want to lose weight; that's just for vanity and because I like cute clothes.  It's the healthy heart and lungs I'm after right now.  The rest will come.