… which is to say that I’ve lost half my original body weight now!
It’s not a particularly special number, but kind of a cool milestone to note, so I thought I might! Plus, it’s been awhile since I last wrote a post, so I thought I was due for a check in. If you like the numbers talk, then here it is: when I started losing weight, I was 335 lbs. As of yesterday morning, I weigh 167 lbs, with a projected 17 lbs to go. Or so: we’ll see what things are like when I get there! It was never about the number itself; that was just a way of tracking things.
In the past few months, a lot of people have been asking me whether or not I’m “done” yet (and we’ll come back to that one in my next post!), and when I say no, that I’m still actively losing weight, they’ve frequently asked me why. At that point I generally shrug and say something like “I’m not at my goal yet” or something along those lines. To be clear, I never mind discussing this with anyone, as long as their interest isn’t malicious. It usually isn’t, and I’m all for helping people understand how weight, metabolism, hormones, and food are all connected. That said, in these conversations about whether and why I’m still going, people often say “but you look great!”, as though that should be enough reason for me to decide that my current weight is fine. I appreciate the sentiment, but how I look isn’t the main point here.
It’s definitely a big perk. I’m a whole lot happier with the way I look than I was before I started, and I wasn’t wallowing in self-hate even then. What I’m even happier with, and what matters more to me, is how I feel. What things have become either more possible, or vastly more enjoyable. I was always active, but I didn’t enjoy it the way I do now. I always walked a lot, though nowhere near as much as I do now, and it takes me a whole lot less effort than it did before, even if I didn’t notice it per se. I was always health-conscious in the way I ate, but I didn’t understand as much about nutrition as I do now. People who haven’t been overweight don’t realize how much more difficult it is to be active when you’re literally carrying the weight of another adult around with you. I took the joint pain, constant fatigue, limb chafing, overheating, all of it, for granted. I didn’t actively realize that they were things that don’t necessarily come with life, that not everyone experiences when they walk, run, swim, hike, etc. And beyond this, I just feel better in every possible way. My moods are better. My skin is better. I sleep better. I feel more alive. It’s amazing.
Taking a step back to reflect a bit, it does feel amazing to think that I’ve literally lost half my original weight. The weight of another other human adult. That’s pretty cool. 🙂
Taken at my bestie’s wedding two weeks ago:
The Fasting Life 