At laaaaast

Cue Etta James. Tell her to start singing.

After a few months of struggling with a plateau, and then going over it toward New Year’s, I have finally, finally broken through. I’m a little weird about discussing my actual weight. I really hate doing that. Even when I was fit, I didn’t like to disclose my number. I’m sure that hasn’t helped me as I spiraled through various stages of unfit, overweight, and obese. But it is what it is. So, I’ll put it to you this way. My weight had ended in an 8.5 for a long time. Like two months. I wasn’t losing, but I wasn’t gaining, so at least there was that. Throughout most of the holidays, I stayed steady at 8.5. Not where I wanted to be, but I was stoked that I hadn’t gained. Then in the last week or so of the year, I managed to gain 3 pounds. Now my number ended in 1.5. UGH.

See, I’d already felt like a failure at 8.5. Because before that, I’d been stuck at 6.5, and then I gained 2 pounds to go up to 8.5. I didn’t panic too much. My weight can fluctuate 2 or 3 pounds in a day. It’s frustrating, but normal for me. But those 2 pounds just wouldn’t go away. So when I put on 3 more, I was pretty upset.

But after the first two weeks of January, I was down 2 pounds. Now my number ended in 9.5. Oh yeah, progress! And then I got sick, as you all have read, and I kind of stalled. I didn’t weigh myself very much. I know better. I’d been pretty inactive and although my eating wasn’t horrible, I knew all that sleeping and laying on the couch wasn’t helping me. So I tried to keep up with workouts, just trying to do something, even if it was only at half speed. I bounced up and down on the scale, but eventually another pound managed to drop. Back at 8.5.

That was good news, and bad news. Because that’s where I’d been stuck forever and ever. But, thanks to all the support from the awesome people in the Spark group, I didn’t worry about it. I saw all of you making progress and it inspired me to keep at it. One pound at a time, right? By Monday of this week, I’d just about completed Round 2 of The Crud. And of course Crud 2.0 is just a nastier, harsher version of original Crud, so I was feeling really wiped out. AND, just because Mother Nature has an evil sense of humor, I got my period, too.

Awesome.

OMG, cheekbones! What?!

But things felt different. I am noticing my cheekbones again.  I shared this picture with the group last week because I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. My jeans fit better. In general, I just feel healthier and more capable of doing this than I have in a long, long time. My wonderful gym partner, Barb, bought me a pedometer for Christmas. I’d had several over the years, but the battery always crapped out, or they got lost, or they would reset themselves, so I’d stopped using one. And I know that was part of my problem. She got me a nice quality pedometer that I use every day and if I notice I’m falling short on my step count, I get up and move. Even if it’s just a few laps around the living room. And that has been one of the biggest keys to my success.

I got on the scale this morning and was ecstatic to see my new number, ending in 7.5. I think the last time I saw that number was sometime in November. I wanted to jump up and down and start singing, “At laaaaast … that weight is comin’ off … ”

Of course, it was 4 a.m. and my husband was still asleep, and I’m sure he wouldn’t have appreciated that. I do try to be a little more considerate since I get up a couple hours earlier than he does. But it was all I could do to keep it inside.

So, that is 4 pounds down since the start of the year, or a pound a week. If I can drop one more pound by the end of this week, period and all, I’ll be really stoked. But I’m not going to be disappointed if I don’t. This is the steadiest weight loss I’ve had in months, so for now I’ll be happy with the progress and try to keep it going. Feels like I’m on my way. At last.