My last week in the 300s

I knew Thanksgiving was going to be a challenge. Seriously, who designs a holiday entirely around the mass consumption of deliciously unhealthy foods? So, after my meeting the weekend before the holiday, I planned out my strategy of how to survive the turkey, ham, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, rolls, stuffing, and countless desserts at two different families' homes on the same day. My plan: stay on program all week and work out every day (including the morning of Thanksgiving day), and on the day of, I decided I would limit myself to only one plate (whereas before I would probably have gone back for seconds and even thirds) while still getting to enjoy all my favorites, and to be sure I left a little of everything on my plate.

How did I do? I stayed on program all week. I made it to the gym every day, and on the morning of Thanksgiving, I got in one of the best workouts I've had to date. At my grandmother's place on my father's side, we ate at noon. I managed to limit my pre-meal snacking to the vegetable tray. I got a little of all of my favorites, focusing on getting a little of every vegetable and limiting myself to 3 ounces of white meat, and when I pushed my plate away with a bite or two of everything still on it, I felt satisfied without that ever-popular bloated feeling to which I had grown so accustomed at past Thanksgivings. 4 hours later, I was at my aunt's house on the other side. I decided to use a plate that had been intended for desserts since it was about half the size of the dinner plates. I got a little bit of this and that and once again left a couple of bites of everything on my plate when I pushed it away. I also decided to have my one dessert food of the holiday this time. I grabbed the smallest cinnamon roll I could find and cut it in half, sharing the rest with one of my cousins' children. I was very pleased with my self control throughout the day, and never felt like I was really depriving of myself anything. Oh, and throughout the day, I drank nothing but water: over 100 ounces.

It was so great getting to see my family, some of whom hadn't seen me since mother's day, just after I'd started Weight Watchers. I made it through one of the two biggest eating holidays of the year and managed to lose 2.8 pounds that week, leaving me within 1 pound of the 200s. Did I want to see that 2 in the front of my weight this weigh-in? Of course! Did I think I'd manage to make it in spite of Thanksgiving? Not really. So what? I'm making awesome progress, and I know that I'll make it to that landmark next time. So here I am this coming week. In the 300s for the last time in my entire life. It's great knowing that not only am I the lightest I've been in 6 years, but that I will never weigh this much ever again.

Progress so far: 57.2 pounds.

I completely punked out all of October

So October came. I knew it was going to be a busy month. My practicum wrapped up, I presented a poster, started a new practicum site, started a new class, went to a wedding, went to an amusement park, did the Halloween thing...

Did I stick with the plan? Nope. For the first time since I started this weight loss journey, I let myself slip. I didn't go to a single meeting all last month. I didn't count more than a few days here and there until the end of the month. I didn't go to the gym for the first three weeks of the month, coming up with excuse after excuse. I weighed in from time to time and (while a lot of it was water) at one point I was up to 323. Ugh. How easy it could be to lose all this great progress I've made. It's sickening.

The wedding was fantastic. We hadn't had a real gathering like that in a while. A lot of people I hadn't seen in a while were really noticing the changes in my body. My girlfriend and I had a really fun time. The following day, we got up early and drove to Lawrence to see the Jayhawks play Colorado. Once the hawks got their win, we headed back up to KC and met the newlyweds and some out of town friends (along with her brothers and sister from Malaysia) at Worlds of Fun, the local amusement park, deep in it's celebration of Halloween with fog machines, hundreds characters in costume, and little haunted houses scattered around the rides.

Before this trip, I hadn't been there in at least 8 years. There was only one roller coaster there now that was also there the last time I had visited. In that time, I've put on a considerable amount of weight (even with the success I've had this journey, I was at last 50 pounds less last time), and I was nervous that I might not fit some or any of the rides during the month leading up to this event. Well, I am happy to say that I was able to ride everything. There were a couple of tight fits, but I managed. Now, I am looking forward to going next year and fitting much better.

The weeks following this were moderately stressful as I mentioned before. I let myself slip, and I am disappointed. In spite of that, I managed to get my butt in gear at the end of the month (even while enjoying some pizza and candy on Halloween night) and get back to the meetings the following morning. I came in at +1 pound from the previous September 27 weigh-in. It's a bit frustrating that I let a whole month go to waste in terms of weight loss, but I am glad that I got back on track and kept myself from doing more damage than that one pound.

The following week I hit another milestone. As of November 8, I've lost 50 pounds on this journey. I got another trinket for my keychain, and I look forward to getting my 75 pound trinket early next year. I'm not giving up. I will get to my goal weight.

I know now that on this road there will be stumbling blocks and detours, but as long as I always manage to find my way back on track, I'll never fail.

I had my girlfriend take a picture of me to commemorate my first 50 pound loss. I can definitely see the results now. I can't wait to see what I'll look like at the next 50 pound mark.