15 pounds gone!! (well, 16.4, but who's counting?)

I lost 2.6 pounds this week!!  O.M.G.!  That brings my total loss since June to 16.4 pounds.  I am, of course, quite pleased with how things are going.  And I am reminded about why the weight loss part of the journey can be so much fun.  I am fitting into some clothes I haven't been able to wear in a while, getting dressed in the morning feels good again.  I have yet to face long term maintenance but I am ever-reminded of maintenance as the real challenge, the real purpose of what I'm doing.  In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy the losing ride!!

A couple more numbers.  At 182.6 pounds I am 4.6 pounds from my mini-goal of 178.  The new year is about 10 weeks away, so if I lose roughly .5 pounds a week on average I will reach my mini goal by the end of the year, which is so exciting.  I will be so happy to bring in the new year having reached that goal!!  I need to be clear with myself that this isn't a deadline to lose that weight by 1/1, but if it happens that will be great!!  And if I simply keep doing what I'm doing I think it will.  Woo-hoo!! 

So I have a small confession to make.  You might know that my weigh-in day is Friday and that I take a strong position on weighing myself once a week and once a week only.  My confession is that I've been cheating.  For the past few weeks I've been taking a peek at my weight midweek, usually on Tuesday or Wednesday.  I justify it by saying I need to know where I stand so that, moving forward in the week, I can tighten up on the eating if I need to.  So far I have been down from the Friday weigh-in and I find the lower number motivating.  I see that lower number and I am motivated to retain it until Friday.  I know many of you are not on my once-a-week-only bandwagon, and that some are even (gasp!) daily weighers.  This idea of a midweek peek of the scale might not worry some of you but it sort of does me.  I have been a firm believer in the once a week for a while now - Am I going to make this a regular thing?  Will it keep working even when the scale might not be down?  Will it lead to daily weighing?

Why am I so afraid of daily weighing?  I know why.  For me, I think it would make me crazy.  Weight fluctuates quite a bit on a day-to-day basis and I think if I followed the changes that closely I'd go nuts.  But maybe twice a week is ok, at least some of the time.  I admit, I don't want to make this a regular habit but I also find that little peek so alluring I don't know how I'll give it up now that I've given in.  I know, I know - I seriously overthink all this stuff sometimes.

On the exercise front things are cruising along well.  I have been doing my runs and bike for cardio and weight training, core work, stair climber and stretching.  I added 5 pound barbells to my lunges yesterday and while it definitely added to the challenge I was able to do it and look forward to mastering lunges with weights.  I'm on course to go 5 days this week and have almost 100% recovered from my cold (still have a lingering cough but it's almost gone).  I am still completely loving my gym time.

I'll close with a picture or two.  We had some family pictures taken and here's one of us with little Ms. M and one of the two kidlets together.

Crazy Busy Life

Whew!  Still catching my breath after a weekend packed full of fun.  I feel like I've crossed some kind of line when it comes to my weight and body.  I was a size that I was very uncomfortable with, it was hard to move and do the things I wanted, and I felt like I looked really big.  Now that I'm less large I can move easier and don't worry that much what I look like.  Clearly I'm still overweight but I don't feel like the blob I was feeling like, if that makes sense.  I guess now I feel like I'm in the more "normal" overweight category.  And that reminds me, I just checked my BMI and I'm very close to moving from the "Obese" category to merely "Overweight" so in a way, I guess this bears out how I'm feeling. 

On Saturday we took the kids to a pumpkin farm with tons of kid activities.  It was a lot of fun watching the kids explore and run and be happy, active kids.  And my being able to get down on the ground with them, dance around while holding Myra, or squat down to get a photo - well, that's easily 1/2 of what this is all about.  I had so much fun and SO enjoyed having the energy (and enthusiasm) to have that fun. 

Sunday was mostly a home day.  Miguel went to play soccer and I played with the kids all morning.  In the afternoon I did some cooking and then headed out to the gym.  I did my run outside because it was just perfect running weather (those Nike marathoners struck gold with the weather!) and felt like I was moving a tad faster than in the past.  My heart rate was a few ticks higher but I didn't have my garmin on so I don't know for sure if I was faster.  Either way, my run felt great.  I can't believe I'm running 28 minutes without a hitch!

After the run I did legs/shoulders.  The thing that is going so well right now are the walking lunges.  Love them!  My balance is improved and my strength is solid.  I am so happy, feel so rewarded, to be able to do them again.  It may even be time to add a little weight to the mix and hold some 3 or 5lb dumbbells.  I mixed in my core work and ended with 5 minutes on the stair climber.  I did most of it at 43 steps per minute but revved it up to 60 steps per minute for the last 30 seconds.  That was fun. 

My food intake this weekend was pretty good.  I am planning to eat healthy this week and maintain the weight I've lost so far, maybe even lose a bit more.  I'm just so pleased with where I am right now though I'm not too focused on the future, which feels good.