Friday, July 22, 2011

Some thoughts about the last 5 months...

As you all know, I'm less than 10 pounds from reaching my goal weight (assuming, of course, that I don't adjust it AGAIN, in which case I'm probably even closer).

Another thing that you probably know about me:  I reached a goal weight of 144 pounds several weeks ago, and tried out Intuitive Eating as a method to maintain that loss... only to gain back 9 pounds in 6 weeks.  Back up to 153...

And I have ZERO regrets about that.  It was a learning experience.  I learned that although I may really want to be an Intuitive Eater, I'm just not ready for that yet.  Maybe within a couple of years, I'll try again.  But for now, and for the foreseeable future, I need to track my food if I'm going to even maintain my weight.  That thought does not depress me, it empowers me.  I'm thrilled that I know what I need to do, and I'm also pretty happy that I'm not alone in this.  Many people need to keep on tracking their food to maintain and to lose weight. 

I just looked back at a weight tracking chart of mine, to see exactly when I crossed the threshold from "Overweight" to "Healthy/Normal Weight" and it was on February 12 of this year.  That is when I weighed in at 153.4.  My original goal weight was 135, so when I got to this normal weight milestone, I thought that I still had about 20 pounds left to lose, and probably assumed that I would keep on losing about a pound a week and would weigh about 135-ish by NOW.

This weight-loss thing has definately been a huge learning experience for me.  I never thought that I would be okay with basically maintaining for 5 months while trying to lose the last few pounds.  But I actually am okay with it.  No big deal.  I'm happy with my body and I'm happy with my life, and losing the last few pounds has just not been the number one priority in my world, and THAT IS AWESOME for me, since there have been scary times in my past when thoughts about my body and my weight literally ruled my world.

Now that I've found My Fitness Pal and am back to full-time tracking, I'm not worried that I'll keep on maintaining.  I'm sure that I'll get to my goal weight of 140, and then I'm sure that I'll be able to maintain at my goal range of 138-142. 

I've been on MFP for 1 month, and have lost 4.4 pounds.  I'm back to my 1 pound a week average.  Does that mean that I'll lose the last 8.6 in the next 8.6 weeks?  Who knows.  It's a journey, and I'm pretty happy with how it's going.  Here's a picture of my MFP tracker.  And yes, those are Alyssa Milano's abs that I'm using as motivation, bwahaha!  It's mostly a joke, since I have a completely different body type from her.
 
 

Where are you on your weight loss journey? 
Still losing, maintaining, happy with your progress?


9 comments:

Amanda said...

I'm using MFP too. Started on Saturday and as of today I'm up 1-2 lbs. I was at 163/164 last week and today I was 165. Now I've worked out harder this week and burnt about 1800 cals in the gym so I'm not sure why I've gained other than water or sodium. I'm going to keep going with MFP and give it a good month to see how it goes. I do like how it tracks food and the app on my phone is pretty cool.

Congrats on your WL success!

Leah: Not Otherwise Specified said...

@Amanda- I don't know what the issue is with your weight... Are you eating your exercise calories? If you aren't, I definately recommend eating them. That's supposed to help with the weight loss.

Jill said...

First- I can't help but jump for joy for you for being ok with where you are in your weight loss journey. You are confident in getting to where you want to be and you are not in a rush. What a freeing feeling that must be for you!!!
I remember when you started IE. That is when I started following your blog. I too wanted to try this route, but didn't have the courage! So another BRAVO for your courage to try. You saw it as a learning experience when it didn't work rather than a reason to throw in the towel. Awesome!
I look forward to sharing this journey with you! You are truly an inspiration to me!!!

Leah: Not Otherwise Specified said...

@Jill- Thanks for the joy-jumping! I'm so glad that my journey has inspired you. :-) "Throwing in the towel" is just NOT an option anymore! I know that if I do, I'll weigh 220+ again rather quickly.

Amanda said...

Yep this week I ate all of my exercise calories. It was the only way to go with only getting 1280 a day.

I don't know what it is either. I remember when I hit 175 I was stuck for 6 months. I pray to god I'm not stuck at 163-165 for that long. I know it has to go down eventually. I'm not giving up though. I'm gonna keep on going!

Megan said...

Patience. It's hard, and I'm struggling, too, but it will all balance out in the end. It's a long journey, and it gets frustrating. You're doing really well on MFP though! I'm really proud of you!

Leah: Not Otherwise Specified said...

@Megan- Thanks for the support! Patience really does not come naturally for me, but with weight loss, I've learned that patience is KEY.

Emma Shilton said...

Just found your blog and wow, you've done incredibly well! Fantastic achievement, love your progress pictures! Can't wait to be where you are now :)

Mrsshilts.co.uk

Leah: Not Otherwise Specified said...

@Mrs. Shilts- Thanks for reading and thanks for the compliments! You'll get there, I promise. :-)

I'm off to read your blog now!