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.