I bought shoes today!

Yeah, I know, big deal. What does buying shoes have to do with weight loss? Believe it or not, for me, it has A LOT to do with weight loss. Before this little "journey", I was a sloppy, sweats and a t-shirt, don't care what I look like, throw the Nike's on kind of girl. Since I have lost all this weight I have started to care a little more about how I look. Thanks to the generosity (and weight loss) of my little sister, I have clothes that are actually cute. I have gone back to wearing a little make-up. I even had my hair professionally cut (for the first time in my entire life).

BUT, shoes are expensive (and thus in my mind a bit more of an investment). Because I never cared what I looked like, all I had were flip flops, Nike's, and dress shoes. The flip flops worked in the summer. The Nike's worked for winter. And the dress shoes worked for church. I have not bought a pair of "regular" shoes in literally YEARS. I bet it has been AT LEAST 5 years!

My wonderful husband gave me his Christmas bonus because he was proud of me for winning AGAIN (oh yeah, today was our final weigh in and I won, more later). I decided that I was going to buy shoes! As weird as it sounds, my buying shoes is kind of a stamp of reality on all this hard work. I feel good and now it is time to LOOK good from my head to my feet.

MAJOR milestone!!!

I haven't posted in a while! We had another weigh in yesterday. I officially weigh in the 140's!!! I have stepped on the scale at different times and been there but this was an official weigh in! This is a major milestone because my husband has never (including our dating) seen me weighing in the 140's. When we met I was around 160. A week before I wedding, I did a crash diet and lost 10 pounds putting me at 150. So this is a major thing for me!

Oh, and about the crash diet - that is EXACTLY why I am so against diet pills, shakes, crash diets, (ie. supplements). Within a month of my wedding, I not only gained the 10 pounds back but an additional 10 pounds that I really never took back off! Not this time! This time I have worked too hard and too long to let it all go. I may fluctuate a little but I can't imagine gaining it all back after working so hard and knowing that it is possible to be where I am. And dang it - I FEEL GOOD!!!

I have to say, I think there is just a point where I finally got past my "I'm a fat slob" feeling. The first time I did this, I lost 25 pounds and I never really felt any different. Then I gained 5 back and have now lost 12 pounds and I can't believe the difference in how I feel! And I don't really mean I have more energy because I don't have all this excess weight I am carrying around. It is more of a feeling of almost liking what I see in the mirror. That is a huge motivation for me to stick with what I have done and keep it off.

So if you're just starting out or have been doing this on and off (I have been there too) KEEP GOING. DO NOT QUIT!! You will get to a point where all your hard work WILL PAY OFF!! I never, ever thought I would get to this point. I thought I would always hate my body. Just to clarify, I don't, by any means, have the body I wish I had, but what I have feels healthier and tons better than it has for a very long time.

YOU CAN DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!

Weigh in

Yesterday was another weigh in. I didn't do great, just 1/2 pound, but it was a loss! At this point, as long as I don't gain, I will be happy. I am actually surprised that I lost weight. We went out to eat twice on Saturday, and had a party on Friday at a friend's house!

So today, I decided I needed to have pizza for lunch. I need to work in the foods I really love (like pizza) a little better. I think that is part of my problem right now. I feel like I am eating the same crappy low cal foods all the time. The whole point of weight watchers is being able to eat foods you enjoy! And I actually did good today. I had pizza (dipped in ranch), chocolate milk, and a cookie for lunch and still stayed within my points for the day! So it is possible to eat the foods I like and still be "good." Granted, I had to keep myself moving the rest of the day so I didn't think about being hungry (and having fresh tomatoes from the garden that are zero points didn't hurt either).

I did something today that I haven't done in FOREVER!! I tucked in my shirt. I have ALWAYS worn big baggy clothes to hide my body and when I did tuck, I would blouse it out so it would still hide my belly! Well, today, I did a straight tuck with no blousing! Now, I am not going to say I looked great because I know I didn't. BUT even having the self confidence to do it was a MAJOR thing for me! I am not supermodel skinny but I am actually getting a little more comfortable with my body!

Happy Day!

My awesome sister just made my day!!! She called a while back asking if I wanted her clothes that she no longer fit in (she has also lost a lot of weight). I said sure thinking in my mind that there was no way they would fit but they would give me the motivation to lose weight so I could fit into them. I have always viewed her as super skinny and myself as...well...not so much! So I figured there was NO WAY I would fit into anything that she had fit into.

She dropped the clothes off today and guess what? They fit!!!!! So I got a double bonus. I have new clothes AND it really made me feel like all my hard work is paying off if I can fit into clothes that she has worn! Yipee!!!!

So now maybe I can start to accept that I am actually not big anymore. I can't believe how hard it is to change that mindset! I walk into a clothing store and automatically go to the women's section because that is where I have always shopped. But I can't get clothing there anymore that fits!

Waist not....???

I've always felt like I had a rather large waist. It is the part of my body that I hate the most. But it seems like I am finally starting to chip away at my waistline! Last time I did a competition, I went and got some size 12 pants. I haven't been wearing them because I have been lazy and have been lounging around in sweats. I put a pair on today and GUESS WHAT? They are too big!! They fit when I bought them! So, I got my trusty old belt out. I have never really worn a belt but had to buy one a couple of months ago to keep some of my pants from falling off. When I bought the belt, I could only do it up on the first hole. Well, today, I used the FOURTH hole!

I remember the last time I could squeeze into a size 8 pair of pants. It was about 16 years ago! And I remember being shocked that I fit into them! So if I can get down to a size 8.....WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

I think the hardest thing about weight loss is the first part. For me, I was already wearing clothing that was either snug or had elastic waistband so I didn't really notice a difference in my body size. But now, it seems like I am noticing change fairly regularly and it has been great! So if you are just starting and getting frustrated because you don't notice a difference, KEEP GOING!! You will start to notice change and it is the most AWESOME feeling in the world to know that all your hard work and determination are finally paying off!