About 6 weeks ago I bought a new scrub top online in my normal size from a brand I haven't worn before. When it arrived I tried it on and looked liked a stuffed sausage ready to burst! It was one of the motivating factors for starting Keto and IF (also the fact that all of my scrub tops were getting uncomfortably tight and I'd gained 15 lbs since start of pandemic).
Skip ahead to yesterday- 26 days since start of Keto and I try on the top again. It's now really blousy and loose! I felt comfortable and cute in it. It will probably be too loose on me in another month. Oh well, it was only $9.99 on sale and I'll donate it when I can no longer wear it.
My comfortable, relaxed fit jeans are way too loose and would fall down without a belt. They're looking pretty worn and I can't go to a store yet to buy new ones. So I decided to try on another pair (the same size) that always were too tight at the waist. They now fit better than the relaxed pair!
I have been feeling discouraged because I haven’t seen any changes since my weight loss journey started 2 months ago. Today as I was walking toward a mirror, I noticed I could see my collarbone a little. It’s not much, but it’s enough to keep me going.
After 2 weeks off I went for my w9 C25K run the other day. 5 minutes in my Bluetooth headphones signal low battery. Now I have always been a Mandatory Music Runner in the past but it was a lovely day and I knew if I went back to charge them I probably wouldn’t get my run in. So I turned them off and jogged the full loop since I knew there was no walking intervals anyway.
Imagine my surprise that it was actually OK to run in silence? I didn’t even feel like I was making too much noise (heavy footfall, heavy breathing etc). A NSV for sure.
I ordered some size 6 jeans in my favorite brand from Ebay as goal jeans. They arrived and they fit. I assumed it was a happy fluke. My sister (who has always been thin) is staying in our guest room which is also my work-from-home office. Her clothes were sitting out so I tried some on just to gauge where I am. Both her size 6 jeans and her size 4 jean shorts fit. I am still in shock. I might be able to share clothes with my sister!
Yesterday I ran at a speed of 7kph on the treadmill for a full hour, for the first time.
I started C25K at the end of November last year, with jogging intervals at 6.3kph, and I've been working on my speed ever since being able to run a full hour non-stop.
Next goal: a full hour at 7,5kph, but in due time I really want to reach a full hour at 8kph.
I had been in maintenance for about 18 months or so, then when life changed in late February, something must have changed in me, too. I started slowly gaining for March and April. I mostly kept from gaining any more in May, but just was having trouble getting back down to my goal. It was in late April that my trending weight bumped up outside of a six-pound maintenance range I try to stick to. I have a larger (10-pound) range that's my absolute range, and I didn't QUITE bust out of that, at least not my trend. Some daily weights did.
Around mid-May, I started moderating again and slowly bringing the trend down. It bounced around. You know how that works. I was getting flustered. It's moving down fairly steady again now, and soon I expect to get back to goal. My trend finally got back inside my "ideal maintenance range" today.
Then there's this:
I ate some goodies after closing my diary last night. I entered them this morning expecting the numbers to turn red. To my delighted surprise, they did not!
I got up a few hours before I get up and chugged a couple pints of water because I was SO thirsty. Way lots of salt yesterday. I got up again and had another pint. I kind of expected the scale to be up this morning, especially since I'm dubious of the over three pound loss I had over one day and kept it the next day. So when the scale ONLY bounced back one measly pound, I though, OH YEAH! All my weight TRENDS are still going down, so today the scale doesn't even phase me.
The number on the scale doesn't even phase me. I had to write that again. This is my NSV. It relates to the scale, but the victory is in that dark cobwebbed space between my ears.
This is the mental state I was struggling with for a while. I think it really helps to have the trend solidly down, and I think it is. Now I just have to stay motivated to burn off the last little bit and stabilize there. When I have the inevitable bounce up, I need to remember - the trend is back to where it needs to be.
This year I am handling the heat well again. When it's over a hundred out I'm all right - hot, yes, but not having trouble breathing or anything like that. I can carry the groceries in without breathing heavily or having my heart pound in my chest like a drum. It's so nice to have a lot of my insulation gone.
We celebrated Father’s Day today since my brother was in town, and had pizza. I told myself I was going to eat three slices, since I knew that would satisfy me without overeating, and I stuck to it. It felt really good because I ate to satisfaction and didn’t feel like I deprived myself, but at the same time I didn’t feel a need to go overboard just because it was available. It also helped that my brother took the rest.
I laid out in the sun the other day and exposed my stomach for maybe the first time ever. I was in my backyard and mostly secluded, but there is no way to get complete privacy. I didn’t even mind that my kids saw me. 40lbs ago this would NEVER have happened.
I think the NSV is two things. 1-feeling like I looked ok enough to do it and 2- not caring that I don’t have perfect abs! As my 11 year old noticed...my stomach has “cracks” in it. Yeah, those are old stretch marks from carrying her around! 😂
Now on the flip side, since my stomach had never seen the sun before, it didn’t take long to get a burn! Oops! ☀️🔥
I have had a weekend of sorting through my wardrobe to throw away all the things that don't fit (or at least to put them in a charity bag for when things reopen) and work out where the gaps are to buy stuff in smaller sizes. Some of my more optimistic past purchases are now wearable and a lot of the things I saved for now aren't far off being too baggy but wearable with a belt or as oversized tops over leggings etc.
The main problem is that although I have a wishlist of things I'd like to buy, I'm not confident enough in my new sizing to take the plunge and order stuff in a UK size 10, even though the sizing charts say it will probably be ok.
I’ve done another closet dive and found a summer shirt that now fits! Last time I tried it on I remember there being at least a 10cm gap - today it did up easily.
I've realized recently that I feel better now than I did when I was 30, which was 11 years ago. This time last year I'd started feeling just a bit old... a little slower, more joint pain, feeling bad when I woke up, that kind of thing. Now I feel great even though I'm only halfway to goal weight, and I look younger too. It feels like I got younger.
I can jog a little. My stamina isn't great but my knees used to scream on the first step. Same thing going down stairs. They still creak a bit with stairs but no attitude when I walk or jog. They are never going to be perfect, a consequence of childhood injuries being dismissed as just soft tissue or growing pains, but I don't feel like knee replacements are in my immediate future anymore.
Replies
Booya! the tables have turned baby!
Skip ahead to yesterday- 26 days since start of Keto and I try on the top again. It's now really blousy and loose! I felt comfortable and cute in it. It will probably be too loose on me in another month. Oh well, it was only $9.99 on sale and I'll donate it when I can no longer wear it.
Imagine my surprise that it was actually OK to run in silence? I didn’t even feel like I was making too much noise (heavy footfall, heavy breathing etc). A NSV for sure.
I started C25K at the end of November last year, with jogging intervals at 6.3kph, and I've been working on my speed ever since being able to run a full hour non-stop.
Next goal: a full hour at 7,5kph, but in due time I really want to reach a full hour at 8kph.
Around mid-May, I started moderating again and slowly bringing the trend down. It bounced around. You know how that works. I was getting flustered. It's moving down fairly steady again now, and soon I expect to get back to goal. My trend finally got back inside my "ideal maintenance range" today.
Then there's this:
I ate some goodies after closing my diary last night. I entered them this morning expecting the numbers to turn red. To my delighted surprise, they did not!
I got up a few hours before I get up and chugged a couple pints of water because I was SO thirsty. Way lots of salt yesterday. I got up again and had another pint. I kind of expected the scale to be up this morning, especially since I'm dubious of the over three pound loss I had over one day and kept it the next day. So when the scale ONLY bounced back one measly pound, I though, OH YEAH! All my weight TRENDS are still going down, so today the scale doesn't even phase me.
The number on the scale doesn't even phase me. I had to write that again. This is my NSV. It relates to the scale, but the victory is in that dark cobwebbed space between my ears.
This is the mental state I was struggling with for a while. I think it really helps to have the trend solidly down, and I think it is. Now I just have to stay motivated to burn off the last little bit and stabilize there. When I have the inevitable bounce up, I need to remember - the trend is back to where it needs to be.
I think the NSV is two things. 1-feeling like I looked ok enough to do it and 2- not caring that I don’t have perfect abs! As my 11 year old noticed...my stomach has “cracks” in it. Yeah, those are old stretch marks from carrying her around! 😂
Now on the flip side, since my stomach had never seen the sun before, it didn’t take long to get a burn! Oops! ☀️🔥
The main problem is that although I have a wishlist of things I'd like to buy, I'm not confident enough in my new sizing to take the plunge and order stuff in a UK size 10, even though the sizing charts say it will probably be ok.