And now I'm 235 (that was my official Tuesday weigh-in, 27 pounds lost) which is exciting for me, but it also marks a very important time in my life. See, I'm not new to this "lifestyle" changing. In fact, I have lost about 25 pounds before- twice. Both times (once as recently as March of last year) I got to the 230's (233 last year) and hit a huge plateau. I fought the plateau as much as I could before I succumbed to defeat by way of bad food choices and lacking exercise. In fact, the measurements I am now (waist, bust, hips) are the exact same measurements I was when I gave up last time. When I realized that, I also realized that I gained 30 pounds in one year and it sickened me.
So I feel like I know what's coming. I feel like I know that within the next couple of weeks, my weight loss will halt. I feel the discouragement already building, although I just dropped 2.6 pounds last week. Frankly, I'm nervous. Scared, really. I've never beat that plateau before. I really tried. Well, okay, I tried as much as a person who has bigger goals than they do motivation would. I tried a little exercise increase, some diet tweaking, the norm. And nothing worked.
This time might be different, and I'm hoping that it is. This time I have a better understanding of healthy food. I know that calorie counting, while effective, is not a permanent solution. This time I am exercising a heck of a lot more... 5-6 days a week for 30 minutes to an hour at a time. Also, last year I lost 25 pounds in about 2 months. This time it has taken 4 months. While that sounds bad, I'm hoping it's a good thing. I hope that it means that I haven't been depriving myself of foods I enjoy, making it harder to follow the plans. I also hope that it means that my first big plateau will take longer to get to since the weight has come off slower and more consistently.
So in the coming weeks, I will be concerned, at best, about when the weight loss will stop. Another thing I am doing is setting small goals. My first goal was to lose 20 pounds by my doctor appointment (within 3 months) and I surpassed it by 7 pounds. My next goal is to lose 20 pounds by September 22nd (a good friend's wedding date!). That would give me about 3 months to lose 20 pounds, and would put me at 215 pounds- a weight I haven't seen since 2007! It's completely achievable and unbelievable that I could be so small that soon. Time flies!
