What's Your Most Recent NSV

- talking clothes at work recently and someone asked me, 'well what are you anyway - size tiny?' i lol'd because i weigh 135 at 5'3" and that's 'normal' weight range but it's sure not tiny. i wanted to tell her 'i'm not tiny - i just maybe look like i am because strong' but i didn't want to be too braggy so i didn't.

- scored an mri requisition from my gp to find out exactly what is so off about my left hip that it never goes more than a month or two without a soft-tissue injury of some kind, when really really really really TRULY, this is just not a reasonable or normal rate of reward for the amount of attention and effort and work and research and intelligence i've put in on my own, to try and find a way to not get it hurt. victory because a) i made the appointment in the first place, b) she bought it instead of telling me 'get [more] physio' - i think it helps to be 52 and within hailing range of 'i've fallen and i can't get up' turf and c) turns out what i assumed would be a two-year wait is more likely to be two to four months, according to her. so i feel like i've taken care of business by taking this step. even if my hip does get well on its own, something is up, i'm quite sure. and i want info because with info you can do things like figure out how to help your own self.

- i can separate ALL the toes on my left foot. all the way. still can't isolate the big toe from the others in other ways - can't raise that one and keep the other ones on the ground, or put that one down and lift up the otehr ones. but this part of it i can do almost as well on the left as the right. this is way more progress more quickly than my first beginnings led me to hope for. i've added a foot-and-ankle-strength physio thing for balance and lateral stability while standing just on that foot, and that's helping too.

- and all of it means that in spite of the hip i did 100-pound squats today for 5x3 reps, for the first time ever. and i don't feel like i've re-hurt the current vulnerable zone. in the past three years, i have tapped 95 pounds for a single workout before falling way back down to the bottom and having to re-start all over again trying to locate a non-harmful form. i'm still touching all the wood i can lay my hands on, but this time so far i've reached 95, repeated it before adding weight just to make sure, and gone past. at the moment i don't feel like i'm about to drop all the way back down again. sure do hope not.

once a month i volunteer on a farm sanctuary. And yesterday instead of being tired halfway through i was a) not hangry (i always get cranky if i'm hungry) after a morning of hard work and b) i was able to jump most fences and clear out stables with endless energy.

My Grandma didn't recognize me!

The last time I saw my grandma was at Christmas last year because I live far away. I was 40lbs heavier at the time...I visited home this week and went to surprise her when she thought just my brother was going to her house. I walked in with my brother and she gave HIM a hug but just kind of smiled at me. She thought he had brought home some new girlfriend until I took my sunglasses off and started talking! Lol She then proceeded to give me a big hug and gush about how good I look and that she didn't know it was me at first.

This was a big NSV in my book!

Nothing too major to report for me today, except that I was able to go down another belt loophole. Still nursing too many injuries to push it hard in the gym. I did get a decent dumbbell bench in last week I maxed out at a pair of 60 pound DB’s for 6 reps, which was my fourth set (35x12, 45x10, 55x8). A year ago I was able to hit 80pnds( x8) in a five set rotation. So I do feel good about the 60 but I got a long was to go to get back to where I was.

I wore shorts this weekend. 3.5" length shorts!
With confidence.
And my inner thighs didn't pull them up in between my legs.
All because I found MFP, made a plan and I'm sticking to it!

I wore some new jeans to church yesterday that wife bought for me.....13 years ago.

I couldn't get into them then and swore I was not going to return them. In the meantime I kept on gaining weight over the years until February of this year. We have gone through several spring cleaning purges over the years, and donated clothing and things each time, but I always kept those jeans. When I finally understood that working out wasn't enough and that "eating healthy food" wasn't enough (each by themselves), and learning that it's 80% diet and 20% exercise - in my case - everything clicked.

44 pounds later, the jeans not only fit, but fit comfortably. [ETA - if it wasn't clear, yesterday was the very first time I ever actually wore them; my wife didn't even remember buying them - it's been that long.]

Meanwhile, my work pants are loose enough to pull on while completely zipped - and my belt is now on the furthest notch in (3 notches from when I started), and I still have to pull them up when I move around. I'm too cheap to buy a new belt when this one is in such good condition, so I'll probably just drill another hole into it....

Silentpadna wrote: »

When I finally understood that working out wasn't enough and that "eating healthy food" wasn't enough (each by themselves), and learning that it's 80% diet and 20% exercise - in my case - everything clicked.

It took me 23 years to figure this out! I exercised faithfully, never ate processed food, and drove right past those evil fast food places. But in retrospect, my portion sizes were sabotaging all that good effort. Once I realized that, I was able to lose 90 pounds. Who knew???? LOL Great win on the jeans

Tried on the hiking pants (M) I bought while dating my husband (so 12-13 years ago). They fell off. Felt good after feeling pretty bloated and ugh after way too much vacation and partying this summer to see that my 3-4 lb rise on the scale still leaves me way below where I was when hubs fell for me

Took measurements at the end of March and then about 2 weeks later I weaned the baby...I've had this hunch that the hormones form breastfeeding were slowing things a bit...

Retook measurements yesterday.

I've lost...
3in at my chest (expected)
1.5 on my inner thighs, AND from my lower abdomen/muffin top
1in off my hips
About .5 from my arms
And another 1.5in off my waist!

now, I've been diligent at getting rid of clothes I was waiting to fit me again, unless I absolutely LOVED them. Well. I am PROUD to say that everything in my closest FITS. A piece or two may be a touch tighter than before the kids but they FIT, and they fit well enough that I would wear them out of the house.

I'm in such disbelief! YAY!

And the best part of all of this is that I SEE it!! Ther have been so many times before when I'll see a pic of myself and think "I thought I looked better than that." Only to see the same pic years later and think "what was my deal!? I look AWESOME! How come I didn't see it then??"

I have this distinct feeling that the above narrative is over. It may show up again from time to time but I really do think it's done being the norm for me. I've been checking myself out alll week and thinking "there she is" there's that women I've been waiting to see in the mirror! And get this. It's period week. I feel awful. I'm bloated. And I STILL SEE IT. WIN.

Two days ago, my son and I knocked three minutes off our 5k time. I was impressed but felt it was a bit of a fluke, probably due to where we were running (flat circuit, no roads to cross/other interruptions).

Tonight, whilst fighting and dodging darned flying bugs (great big huge flying ants mainly) in hot conditions, we ran a route that had lots of roads to cross, up and down hills (we like to go slowly down the hills), along all sorts of tracks and roads, the usual sort of route we take. Despite all of these "obstacles", my boy and I knocked another minute off our time from Saturday. So that's four minutes off our "usual" time.

I'm doubly impressed. Even my son was impressed (and, typical teenager, it takes a lot to impress him).

It's the small things that bring so much joy.

Oh, and I knocked a minute off my time for my 12-mile cycling route

Like I say, it's the small things.

Losing weight and being healthy has made my confidence so much higher than previously. I have a good career and do well, and got a professional certification in my line of business last year. I have always been vehemently against going back for grad school. Well...I just submitted my application to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign today for the MBA program. My personal statement was about my journey with health and how it completely changed my life and gave me the confidence to know I can do anything I put my mind to!

Went into a store that only goes to a size 14 (New Zealand) today, 6 months ago I couldn't fit into their size 14 and today I zipped up easily a size 10!!! Didn't buy anything cause it wasn't that cute but felt darn great about it, bought a saucy new bra instead

I can now paint my toe nails with ease, no big tummy in the way

No spanx today. or yesterday, for that matter!

A little background: as I started losing a noticeable amount of weight, I was confronted unexpectedly with a range of issues with which I had not been dealing. This was a shock to me as I consider myself to be thoughtful and "tuned in," but I realized that, for me, food was my drug. I've been dealing with all that (therapist, etc.); and it's not been easy, but I'm committed to my health.

Fast forward over a year ...

For the last month, I've been hit hard by those issues and feelings, and there were plenty of times I was at maintenance calories or have gone over -- and my goal is to keep losing a bit more. So, triple whammy: I don't feel well; I'm terrified that I've slipped back into old habits and can't stop; and I've not lost weight. I've definitely had other NSVs, but I also want SVs -- and certainly don't want the scale to go in the "wrong" direction.

Anyway, all that to say that today I feel better, in control, and back on track. Rather than conquer my body / myself (like, at war), I have thought about it as supporting myself, and that's made a big difference and I feel a lot better. Not sure if that makes any sense ... but feels like a relief and "victory" to me.