Whoosh...

When you are working on losing weight and hit a bit of a plateau, you hear a lot of this: "Well, you will probably see a large weight loss at some point to make up for it!"  And when you are on that plateau and can't see to the edge of it, this is small comfort, especially if you are doing EVERYTHING right.  I have been honest in saying that I have been a bit more lax in my eating recently, and I attributed some of my plateau to that.  However, I am working out more consistently and for more time than I ever have, and I sort of thought that would make a difference.

Well, it turns out that those people who recommend patience are right.  This morning, I weighed in at 232.2 pounds, thereby being rewarded with a weight loss of 3.4 pounds this week!  I am now PAST the 40-pound mark in my weight loss (42.4 pounds to be exact), and I feel AMAZING!  After a couple of weeks of playing around with the same couple of pounds (some of which might have been water weight and some of which might have been my body adjusting to my workout regimen), I am moving down on the scale again.  I now weigh less than I have at any point since my husband and I got married about 3 1/2 years ago.  Previously, my lowest married weight was 235 pounds, which I achieved after several months using Weight Watchers.  I have also more than lost the 35 pounds that I gained while in nursing school, and that feels great as well!

A personal victory this week was that someone at work who I never expected to comment on my weight loss (one of the doctors I work with) asked if I had lost weight, complimented my progress, and told me I looked noticeably thinner.  He is very busy the entire time that he is at work, and the fact that he both noticed and thought to mention it to me made me feel really good.  My coworkers have all been very supportive of my efforts, and it's so great of them to encourage me so much.  My mom and sister have also been great sources of encouragement, as has my husband.  I am fortunate to have so much support!

Another personal victory this week is that I got rid of several pairs of jeans and other bottoms that I can no longer wear because they are just too big.  Most of them were size 20, although I had a couple of 22s mixed in there as well.  I am still wearing some of the stuff I have in size 20, either because it is cut smaller and still fits fine or because I haven't purchased a replacement yet, but I am quickly heading into 18s exclusively, which is a size I have not worn since being married.  Today I ordered a replacement for a pair of boyfriend jeans that I loved, and I actually ordered an 18 and a 16 because I am afraid that they will be discontinued before I get down another size.  I will stick those on a shelf and use them to gauge my progress toward size 16!

I am continuing to love the elliptical at the gym, and I am going to be on the lookout for a Rodney Yee DVD to supplement my yoga practice at home.  I have a beginner yoga video by him that has 20-minute workouts in it, but I would like something a little longer.  I don't often do yoga at home, but since I haven't been lifting at the gym, I would like to utilize yoga for some strengthening.  Our class last night was AWESOME and really worked both my arms and legs (our instructor was at a yoga conference over the weekend and brought back to us some new stuff she learned), and I would like to use that more.

Tonight, some friends and I are going to see the new Twlight movie at midnight, and we are going out to eat first.  I am really looking forward to it!  I never would have thought I would be going to see a movie like this at midnight on opening night, but after reading them (we were big fans of the books in the unit I work in) and seeing the first two movies (the first on-demand and the second also at midnight on its opening night), I am totally hooked.  And a girls' night out is never a bad thing!

Make it a great day, everyone!