Pounds lost and confidence gained May 8, 2008

It’s really amazing to me how just losing weight can have such an impact on my life.  Not only do I feel better physically and mentally, but i have regained the self confidence that I had lost along the way.

Although I’ve only lost 1 pound so far this week, I still feel great!  I keep telling myself that 1 pound is still 1 pound and it’s nothing to sneeze at!  I used to feel so discouraged when i would only lose 1 pound or half a pound, but now I realise that it’s OK, because it may only be a small amount, but at least the pounds are still coming off and that is what matters most.

I think that a huge motivation for me to keep going has been the amazing positive responses I have been getting from all of my friends, family and co-workers!  Everybody is just amazed at my transformation and everybody has been giving me incredible compliments!  I’ve even had people tell me that I am an inspiration!  Wow, imagine ME being an inspiration to other people, that is extremely flattering and so rewarding.  I never anticipated such a huge outpouring of encouragement,  but I am so appreciative of it, I can hardly put it into words.

Another big motivation for me is the fact that I can now shop in regular stores again…Not so good for my wallet, but SO good for my confidence!  Just to be able to go into any store i want and try on anything i want and have it actually fit, is one of the most exciting results of all this weight loss.  A friend of mine introduced me to Banana Republic a few weeks ago, and I fell in love!  I have never set foot in that store before because I knew that I would never fit into anything in there.  I was amazed at all the lovely things they had, and that I was able to try on!  I even tried on a skirt and it was surprisingly too big!  I think that was a first for me in about 15 years!  Not only that, but i ended up buying a top and the size is a Medium!!  Again, the last time i fit into anything medium i was in my late teens!  All that was a total confidence booster for me and just fueled me to not give up and keep going and pushing myself to reach my goal.

So for all you people out there looking for motivation or inspiration to lose weight, look around, it’s everywhere.  Even if it’s just to be able to go shopping and buy cute clothes or just to have more variety in your choices of clothes, that alone is a big help…Happy Shopping!

6 Dress sizes in 6 1/2 months! May 2, 2008

Wow, I think yesterday was one of my proudest moments since I started this weight loss journey.  I went shopping at a nice clothing store, something I haven’t been able to do in many years…when you’re a size 18, the places to shop are pretty limited.  Anyway, I went into this store and saw a ton of cute clothes that I wanted to try on, but the biggest size that they carry is a size 12.  I honestly didn’t think any of it would fit me, I mean I was a size 13 for the last month or so and 12 was just too tight.  Well I took a chance and tried the 12 on and low and behold…IT FIT!!  I was so excited I can’t even put this into words!  The last time I fit into a size 12 I think I was about 18 or 19 years old, so this was an extremely defining moment for me!  All my hard work in the last 6 1/2 months has totally paid off.

And not only am I finally a size 12 again, but as of this morning my total weight loss so far is 59 pounds!  I can feel the 60 lb mark and it feels fantastic!

In my first blog entry I wrote that I didn’t use a food diary, but last night I just remembered that in the beginning, for the first month or two, I actually was using a website called www.my-calorie-counter.com which i found brilliant.  It allows you to keep track of everything you eat, they have a list of thousands of foods and their nutritional values, so that when you start off, and you are counting calories, this helps you stay on track.  I found it great because not only was I able to better track my food intake, but you can track your progress too.  You enter your starting weight and a target weight you would like to achieve and every time you log in you can enter your new weight.  This way you really see, in writing your progress which I found very encouraging and it fueled me to keep going.  I loved this at first, because it really helped me stay within my alloted calories for the day and it helped me see how many calories i burned with all the exercise I was doing.  The only draw back is that i found it a bit time consuming to look up all the foods, so i stopped using it because i just didn’t have the time to put into it anymore, but after a while, you get so used to your new eating habits, that you don’t really need it.  I knew what a portion was and what 4 ounces was (the kitchen scale that i bought really helped with that).  But I still recommend it as a starting tool to lose weight, because it really helps…trust me!