Remember last Monday when I was boohoo'ing about my non-broken scale and how I had been experienced the dreaded plateau for about a month? How I felt like I hit a wall?
Yeah. 3 pounds, people.
For the record, consistently losing over the 1-2 pound healthy weight loss guideline for over 4 weeks has been linked to anemia, heart complications, and loss of muscle mass. I'm sure the Biggest Loser has some sort of medical exemption, but still. I have a good buddy who wants to lose weight fast so at least my WW warning/congratulations this morning brought with it the reasoning I can give her. Of course my body is also just getting in the swing of walking so it makes sense that there be a bigger impact at the beginning.
I felt a connection to one of the Biggest Loser contestants this week--Olivia too had been experiencing a plateau. This week she pushed through, but she said that every other time in her life when she's tried to lose weight and it got to one of those times, she usually got frustrated and gave up. This week represented her sticking with it and essentially giving the finger to the wall she knocked down. I kind of feel like that.
This week it happened. 3 pounds means a lot to me for a number of reasons:
1. It means I hit a major psychological milestone.
2. It means I've lost a total of 46 pounds since starting my weight loss journey back in June. That is over 9 bags of sugar.
3. It means I met my next goal weight.
4. It means that I can work hard. I can walk 4+ miles during my lunch. I can push myself to jog. I can jog.
5. It means I burned over 10,000 more calories than I ate.
6. It means I'm below wedding weight, lingering somewhere around the weight I was when I met the Hubs.
When I started, I had 74 pounds to lose and I remember what a mountain of weight that sounded like. (And it was.) Now I have 28 to go. Still a lot, but then I look at how far I've come. I still cringe at the number on the jeans I had to buy after Little was born, but then something amazing happened on Saturday. When I went to put on my freshly washed jeans (which I hate because they alway feel snug), 3 sizes smaller than where I started, I wasn't comfortable because they were too big and were sure to stretch out throughout the day...then they fell off. I was fidgeting and trying to figure out if they were visibly too big to be wearing, if that made them really unflattering. I tried them at my natural waist and they were way too loose. I pulled them to my hips and they were really saggy in the tush and then without any effort on my part, they slid off entirely.
I raised an eyebrow and shrugged "capris it is!"
Oh and if you're wondering what 46 pounds feels like, I took the opportunity to weigh a few bags of groceries yesterday. We use the canvas reusable ones, which get packed FULL and I was struggling to carry in 3 at a time, in my-arms-are-going-to-fall-off fashion. Those 3 heaping bags? Collectively (minus a couple items) weigh about 46 pounds. Perplexed, I dragged the bags over to the Hubs, set them at his feet and told him to pick up all 3 at once. Conclusion? 46 pounds is a LOT. Oh and all the extra weight people carry is much more compact than the equivalent weight in groceries.
No wonder I feel lighter. I thought of the vests they make the Biggest Loser contestants put on to remind them how much weight they used to carry around. I have no interest in carrying around that weight again, thankyouverymuch.
This week I meant to get in more Pilates, but I did get in one session and I walked 4 days for a total of about 13-14 miles. With walking, I take long strides, I do spurts of jogging to try to increase my endurance since I'm essentially starting at ground floor for fitness. When I felt like slowing down or I had doubt in my mind that I could or wanted to walk any further, I thought of a Jillian quote:
To be honest, I didn't think it would be a good week. I blew through all but 5 of my weekly allowance points by day's end on Tuesday. My safety net, as I don't spend my activity points, was all but gone. I panicked. Then I planned. I was very conscientious of my food choices. And I made it. I stayed within my points and I left some of my activity points intact. (I'd like to leave all activity points intact in coming weeks.)
The really cool thing is seeing the difference. My arms and shoulders have always been the smallest part of my frame, but my problem areas are starting to shrink up, too. I had just posted a progress photo so I'll bring back my "avatar" for a check-in to show where I've been and when I am currently:
Before
Current (-46 pounds)
Dang.
So I met another goal--I've lost track of the smaller goals. I'm paying closer attention to the goal weights that hold a lot of significance though. Here they are:
Goal #7 (?): Lose another 9 pounds.
Goal #8: Lose another 5 pounds. (Personal milestone)
Goal #9: Lose another 4 pounds. (High school graduation weight)
Goal #10: Lose another 5 pounds. (Former fudged DMV/driver's license weight)
Ultimate Goal: Lose another 5 lbs beyond #10.
This week I'm focusing on self-control. On continuing to make good choices. To get in a groove for food choices. To space my food out throughout the day. To do more pilates. To come up with a workout plan so I don't get in a rut and get bored.
28 pounds to go and all I can think is:
Almost there.
Dig deep, girl. Dig deep.
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