Losing 7% never felt so good!

Today was the last day for the challenge Mike and I were doing from the Tri-City Court Club called "I Lost It At The Club". It was an 8 week challenge to see who could lose the most % body weight and receive monetary rewards at the end. It has been a difficult 8 weeks especially for my kids. They are used to baked goods at least a couple of times a week and good full-on fat dinners. Heck, it's been a difficult 8 weeks for ME!

Although looking back it really wasn't that hard because my focus was not on following a "diet" (remember DIE is the root word in diet), but to follow a different lifestyle. I mean, Mike and I still went out to eat on occasion (especially before fast Sunday) and 4 weeks ago I made sugar cookies in celebration of Valentine's day. We just watched what we ate before, during and after those "extra caloric moments". I really didn't say NO to everything and I think that made all the difference. I did write down everything I ate, counted calories, tracked my water intake and the workouts I did (I realize now that Wednesdays are the hardest days for me to workout. Hum, didn't know that before!)

Anyway, all that "paying attention" paid off in that I lost 14 lbs or 7% of my body weight. But better than that - I lost 10.5 inches around my body. NICE. I used to think that my clothes were just shrinking in the dryer (stupid clothes), but now I realize it wasn't shrinking clothes that were the problem because now my clothes fit better. That is nice.

I am happy with my progress. I would like to lose more weight, but what I'd really like to focus on is the clothing size I want to be in. I think that scale weight is a terrible indicator of what you are doing great for your body. It can't measure your body fat loss, your stronger cardio system, the density of your bones, etc. Keeping track of my eating, working out and inches lost is much more gratifying for me.

14 lbs lost or not, I am still the same bubbly, fun-loving and talented person I was before (how's that for blowing my own horn?), but I LOOK more like that person I see in my head. If you could see in my head, you'd say, "She's NICE LOOKING!" My psyche had to throw that in. Sometimes when I have lost weight in the past, it seems like that weight loss is the only focus. It's like NOW I am actually someone to compliment or notice because I look thinner. That (for some reason) has really thrown me for a loop. I am still the same person with the same talents and abilities I had before I lost weight, why only compliment me now? Maybe that is a sore point for me and I am the one with the problem. Maybe those other compliments were there all the time, but now, because what I have done is SO visual, compliments are more apparent and constant. Sometimes, maybe I am just a head case. I guess that is something I will have to figure out for myself.

But ANYWHO, Mike and I will start again in a few days really watching what we eat etc. Even at a lost of 1 pound a week, after a few weeks the inches lost really add up (it seems for me that every 10 lb loss = 1 smaller dress size)! Right now, just to appease my kids of course, I am going to make Chocolate Chip Cookies! Yea for me! I mean them, poor underprivileged them!