Starting Weight:174
Current Weight: 152
Starting BMI: 28.1
Current BMI: 24.5
I am FINALLY moving in the right direction again. I say finally because it's been two months since I made any progress past my lowest weight since I started this journey with you (on July 20th I was 153.4). I haven't been able to add beads to my bracelet since then, I've been hovering around that 20 mark (and flying away from it) for the last two months. But yesterday.... I added two more beads! It feels great to be making progress again.
This week I hit a lot of awesome fitness milestones, and I think it really helped get me moving in the right direction. Wednesday I went to the gym about 35 minutes before it closed, which meant I could only run for about 20 minutes. Lets back up for a second and remember that when I first started "running" (lots and lots of walking followed by slow jogging, you would think as a dancer I would have had better stamina to start with... but it's TOTALLY different) it would take me 45-50 minutes to go 2 miles AND I would be in an aweful mood when I got home. However, Wednesday I changed into gym clothes, ran 2 miles, took a SHOWER and was out the door with 3 minutes to spare before they closed. It felt SOOO GOOOD!
But that's not ALL!
Yesterday I went out for a run, and tracked it with Nike, and ran my fastest 5k (35.22). I was tired, and sweating (gross I know), and I felt... GREAT! Seriously, I want to go out again today (maybe I will!).
Food wise I did really well this week. I didn't think about it much at the time, but I realized today that I avoided not one but TWO birthday tables this week! I did have a donut hole from table #1, and a small handful of tortilla chips from table #2, oh, AND since I had forgotten my lunch I had a bagel and cream cheese from table #2 for lunch (but I DID NOT have anything else for lunch that day), and managed not to touch the cupcakes, cookies, cake, banana bread, pound cake, chips, candies, and brownies that filled the tables on both these days. And I didn't feel sad about it, or have to slap my hand back, I just made a choice about what I could have and... That was it. Crazy!
Despite my lose this week, and all the above awesomeness, I will tell you that I did start to feel a tiny bit sad for myself when I realized that because of the way my body likes to lose weight (and the fact that it REALLY doesn't like to lose an average of 1-2 lbs a week) it is HIGHLY unlikely that I will reach my goal weight by my birthday, and there is a good chance I might not make it by the end of the year. Really, in the midst of all this progress, I was feeling like a failure. So I went back to look at some old pictures and remind myself of all the progress I've made. I wasn't going to share the pictures I went back to, but then I realized that those pictures, are part of my journey. And although I have un-tagged myself from these photos on facebook because I find them so unappealing... They are a great reminder of how far I've come already.
Here are two of my least favorite pictures of myself.
Current Weight: 152
Starting BMI: 28.1
Current BMI: 24.5
I am FINALLY moving in the right direction again. I say finally because it's been two months since I made any progress past my lowest weight since I started this journey with you (on July 20th I was 153.4). I haven't been able to add beads to my bracelet since then, I've been hovering around that 20 mark (and flying away from it) for the last two months. But yesterday.... I added two more beads! It feels great to be making progress again.
This week I hit a lot of awesome fitness milestones, and I think it really helped get me moving in the right direction. Wednesday I went to the gym about 35 minutes before it closed, which meant I could only run for about 20 minutes. Lets back up for a second and remember that when I first started "running" (lots and lots of walking followed by slow jogging, you would think as a dancer I would have had better stamina to start with... but it's TOTALLY different) it would take me 45-50 minutes to go 2 miles AND I would be in an aweful mood when I got home. However, Wednesday I changed into gym clothes, ran 2 miles, took a SHOWER and was out the door with 3 minutes to spare before they closed. It felt SOOO GOOOD!
But that's not ALL!
Yesterday I went out for a run, and tracked it with Nike, and ran my fastest 5k (35.22). I was tired, and sweating (gross I know), and I felt... GREAT! Seriously, I want to go out again today (maybe I will!).
Food wise I did really well this week. I didn't think about it much at the time, but I realized today that I avoided not one but TWO birthday tables this week! I did have a donut hole from table #1, and a small handful of tortilla chips from table #2, oh, AND since I had forgotten my lunch I had a bagel and cream cheese from table #2 for lunch (but I DID NOT have anything else for lunch that day), and managed not to touch the cupcakes, cookies, cake, banana bread, pound cake, chips, candies, and brownies that filled the tables on both these days. And I didn't feel sad about it, or have to slap my hand back, I just made a choice about what I could have and... That was it. Crazy!
Despite my lose this week, and all the above awesomeness, I will tell you that I did start to feel a tiny bit sad for myself when I realized that because of the way my body likes to lose weight (and the fact that it REALLY doesn't like to lose an average of 1-2 lbs a week) it is HIGHLY unlikely that I will reach my goal weight by my birthday, and there is a good chance I might not make it by the end of the year. Really, in the midst of all this progress, I was feeling like a failure. So I went back to look at some old pictures and remind myself of all the progress I've made. I wasn't going to share the pictures I went back to, but then I realized that those pictures, are part of my journey. And although I have un-tagged myself from these photos on facebook because I find them so unappealing... They are a great reminder of how far I've come already.
Here are two of my least favorite pictures of myself.
And here I am now, just a little over a year after that second picture.
I may not be where I want to be (I'd really like to have a smoother shape, that stomach in picture two from London needs more work, that's why I still have weight to lose!), and I might not be making the kind of RADICAL progress that I wish I was. But the fact of the matter is that I have lost 22 lbs since I decided to make these changes, I'm at a healthy weight, and I'm still moving in the right direction. I may not be some sort of AMAZING success story where I lost 40 lbs in 6 months. But I have lost 22 lbs in 9 months, which is more than I have EVER lost before. And I'm still pushing on, I'm not stopping, because I know I can get to where I want to be, it just is going to take longer than I hoped.
And while we are on the subject of long term. Now that I'm moving in the right direction I want to mention one more time that I'm SOOO GLAD I let loose in London. I felt a bit ashamed that I was walking 10 miles every day and I still managed to gain weight, but 1: the food was amazing and I didn't eat anything I did want to, and 2: it seemed to kick-start my metabolism back into gear.
This week I'm shooting to drink all my water (I did slack a bit on that this week, wonder what kind of progress I might have mad if I hadn't!), eat small and healthy meals, and run at least 4 times again (oh yeah! I forgot! I made that goal!).
I hope you have an awesome week and that you're able to remind yourself of the progress you are making towards whatever goals you have. And if you haven't made progress... What are you waiting for?! It sometimes sucks to start on a new path, but if it's something you want then take that first step... You have nothing to lose if you try, because you can't grab onto something that you never started to reach for.
And while we are on the subject of long term. Now that I'm moving in the right direction I want to mention one more time that I'm SOOO GLAD I let loose in London. I felt a bit ashamed that I was walking 10 miles every day and I still managed to gain weight, but 1: the food was amazing and I didn't eat anything I did want to, and 2: it seemed to kick-start my metabolism back into gear.
This week I'm shooting to drink all my water (I did slack a bit on that this week, wonder what kind of progress I might have mad if I hadn't!), eat small and healthy meals, and run at least 4 times again (oh yeah! I forgot! I made that goal!).
I hope you have an awesome week and that you're able to remind yourself of the progress you are making towards whatever goals you have. And if you haven't made progress... What are you waiting for?! It sometimes sucks to start on a new path, but if it's something you want then take that first step... You have nothing to lose if you try, because you can't grab onto something that you never started to reach for.