Squee!!!

[fenchurch]

Mondays are my weekly weigh-in day, so today I headed up the YMCA to hit the scale (it's way too nice out right now to be working out indoors, so I've been walking down at the local park instead). I stepped on, checked the weight, boggled, stepped off, stepped back on again, checked the weight, boggled... (okay, you get the idea -- I did re-weigh myself three times though, just in case there was some sort of error involved).

As of today, I've officially lost 40 pounds since the first of February.

I still keep waiting for it to turn out to be some sort of trick... that maybe I've been using the scale wrong and someone has secretly been sneaking into my house and letting all my clothes out so they're too big to wear. Which obviously isn't the case... but it's all been way too easy and weight-loss isn't supposed to be easy! I'm supposed to, you know, *suffer*. I'm supposed to agonize over the fact that I can't eat anything good and I'm supposed to feel like I'm constantly starving. Instead, I'm plotting my day to make sure I eat enough food so I don't lose too quickly! And I've gotta say, I'm really hoping it stays this way.

So, in review: Squeeeeeeeee!!!!!!

Comments

[gillo]

Wow. Count me hugely impressed!

Way to go, gal!

[http://users.livejournal.com/opalescence_/]

Oh, my gosh! You are awesome!!!!

[sp23.livejournal.com]

Congratulations! You're doing Weight Watchers?

[fenchurche.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I was actually losing weight without it, but VERY slowly. I had a ton of friends who were doing really well on the WW program, so around the time my surgeon finally cleared me to start really exercising again, I figured I'd sign up for a few months and see if it helped. And, obviously, it's helping a LOT. I'm just doing WW Online, so no meetings or anything. I'm mostly just paying to use their databases and get a basic framework for what I should be doing... but it's working really well.

[jeffreycornish.livejournal.com]

Congratulations on your progress!

By the way, still interested in that satellite receiver?

If you could email me your address (jeffreycornish at gmail dot com) I could try to get it to you here in the next week.

Jeffrey

[agilebrit.livejournal.com]

Yay! Go, you!

[pmgoose.livejournal.com]

That is beyond AWESOME! You ROCK! :)

[fenwic.livejournal.com]

You GO, fen! What an inspiration :)

[petzipellepingo.livejournal.com]

I've officially lost 40 pounds since the first of February.


GO you, you tiny thing you!

[rahirah]

Yay you!

[cindergal.livejournal.com]

That's awesome! Go you!

[dawnofme.livejournal.com]

I am so happy for you. And jealous at the same time. I have a good thirty pounds to lose. But, I'm not highly motivated and I live a very sedate life.

You are an inspiration. I hope to hear more about what you've been doing. It may get me off my duff and use my exercise equipment that doubles as a clothes hanger.

[fishsanwitt]

That is *fabulous* news :) Congratulations!!!

[saifai.livejournal.com]

Congrats! How wonderful for you. Glad to hear you didn't have to suffer too much for it. :)

[lage-nom-ai.livejournal.com]

Wow! Congrats!
*admires*

[queenofattolia.livejournal.com]

Wow. Congratulations. You rule at weight loss. I will use you as my inspiration as I try to lose my final ten.

We need pix!

[hollywdliz.livejournal.com]

Congratulations! You are rocking the program. I'm doing online-only too and I like it much better than the meetings I tried for a few weeks.

Every time I hit a new low, I boggle at the scale and re-weigh myself three or four times too! I did it this morning! (That is a surprise of the best kind!)

[ayinhara.livejournal.com]

That is well worth a squee.

[kazzy-cee.livejournal.com]

OMG!!! 40lbs is an enormous amount!!! Well done!!!!!!

[fenchurche.livejournal.com]

Hee! I know!!!! Now I need to follow up with the thing I like to do on these occasions... put 40 pounds of weight in a backpack and carry it around for a bit. It really does make the whole thing seem that much more real... a concrete way of experiencing exactly how much the weight really represents.

[gab.livejournal.com]

Woo hoo!!!! Congratulations!!!! :) So how did you do it, anyway? What is your weight loss story? :D

[fenchurche.livejournal.com]

Well, I actually managed to start losing weight awhile ago... but it was slow. Like around two years to lose 30 pounds. The thing is that I wasn't particularly trying to "lose weight" at the time. I had just started up a routine of exercise and had changed what I ate a bit based on the suggestions of my naturopath, and the rest had simply fallen into place.

Then we were in the car accident and that all got derailed (with no exercise and a fairly lengthy stretch where I couldn't prepare my own food). I gained back a bit over 10 pounds over two years, which isn't too bad, all things considered. And then this February my surgeon finally cleared me to really start in on exercise again (being really cautious with my shoulders). I figured the time was right to really work on losing weight again... and I had a bunch of friends already doing Weight Watchers Online, so I figured I'd give it a try for a few months.

I really can't believe how well it's worked. I think a large part is that I was simply ready to lose the weight -- ready to change how I was eating (because there ended up not being a lot of changes to make) and definitely ready to start exercising again. Plus it helps that WW lets me still eat the way I want... I don't have to eat crappy food with artificial sweeteners and icky "light margarine" if I don't want to (and I definitely don't).

I think the three biggest changes are:

I'm exercising on a VERY regular basis (I do a minimum of 40 minutes a day -- but that includes things like yardwork).

I'm eating consistently -- the big surprise for me has been how difficult it's been sometimes to eat all the food I'm supposed to in a day. Near as I can tell, I was so erratic in my eating habits (way too much one day, nowhere near enough the next) that my metabolism never had a chance to settle down and do its job.

I'm making better choices when I go out to restaurants -- I now know that it IS possible to get good things even at places like Taco Bell... it's just that some of the stuff I thought was good, really wasn't.

I'm eating more fruits and vegetables. It's not that I dislike them... it's just that I used to reach for things like cheese when I wanted a snack and now I'm more likely to grab a banana or chop up a cucumber and sprinkle it with a bit of salt.

I'm eating smaller portions of meat. I love the fact that local grocery stores are carrying "thin" cuts of meats now... so I can have a "thin steak" or a "thin pork chop." Absolutely perfect!

Oh! Nearly forgot this one... I'm eating a big breakfast. For some reason, if I start the day off with a good sized meal, I'm a lot less likely to want to snack.

And that's about it. Honestly, it hasn't been a big change... just a few slight things. And the exercise, which actually HAS been a big change. I never wanted to do this much because I assumed that I'd be losing the time it took... but I have found that I have so much more energy now that I get MORE done than I did before I started taking the time out to work out.

[zola.livejournal.com]

That's just great :)

[bendy1.livejournal.com]

That's really cool, congrats :D

[deborahw37.livejournal.com]

That's wonderful! Congratulations \0/

[wildrider.livejournal.com]

Hooray!!! I obviously need to emulate YOU!

[silmaril.livejournal.com]

*squees along*

[jerusha]

*does the Dance of Joy* You rock!

[missmurchison.livejournal.com]

Congratulations! Sounds like you're getting healthier as well as thinner.

[lianhanshee.livejournal.com]

Wow, that's awesome! Congrats!

[zotel.livejournal.com]

congrats hope it continues to go well...