When I think of 17 weeks, it doesn't seem very long to me. However, I started counting calories and doing the Couch to 5K plan on May 23, which means it's been exactly 4 months. Four months sounds like a long time! When I lost 125 pounds in 2009-2010, it took 16 months. My entire life completely changed in a little over a year.
Thinking back on that, I remember it feeling like FOREVER. I was so impatient to get to my goal weight! In retrospect, 16 months is such a relatively short period of time in the grand scheme of things. I spent over 15 years trying to lose weight. I was always too impatient to do it the "slow" way, so I tried all the fad diets with no success. It wasn't until I did it the slow way that I finally lost all the weight!
That was now 11 years ago. It's now hard to believe that I thought 16 months was a long time. I also know that there is no "finish line" waiting for me--whether it's 6 months or 16 months or 16 years. That's the biggest lesson I've learned since losing the weight: to be successful, I can only make changes that I'm willing to do for the rest of my life.
I'm not even sure where this whole tangent came from! When I typed the title of this post, I just started thinking about how "a long time" is completely relative.
It's a good thing I'm not in a hurry, because the scale barely budged again this week:
I was at 163.2, which is down 0.6 from 163.8 last week. So I'm down a total of 33.8 pounds in 17 weeks.
While I would love to snap my fingers and be at my goal weight tomorrow, I know that if I just keep doing what I'm doing, I'll get there eventually. And then next year, I'll say that the time flew by ;)
I really wanted to get some new clothes over the weekend; I've been wearing black yoga pants and hoodies for pretty much a year straight (COVID lockdown made me choose comfort over looks for sure!). I still plan to dress comfortably in my "uniform", but I figured I should at least get some new yoga pants and hoodies (or any tops). And by "new", I mean new to me--I went to Goodwill.
I got a few pairs of good quality black pants that looked brand new, and a few random shirts. My very favorite thing that I bought, however, was this cardigan:
I have always LOVED cozy cardigans. Since I'm cold all the time, I like to throw on a cardigan at home--Jerry jokingly refers to it as my "house coat". I had to get rid of two of them recently because they were just really worn out. So I bought this one (I adore the colors) and I bought another that's cream-colored.
Today is the first official day of fall--and this cardigan screams "fall" to me. It was only 55 degrees today, too--I'm so excited that it's finally here! :)
That is so cute!
ReplyDeleteMy husband has that sweater! He is a teacher and I call it his Mr. Rogers sweater :). It looks super cute on you! I can’t wait to be comfortable in jeans again. I have a while as my third and finally baby is due this spring. Great job!
ReplyDeleteI adore fall! I was so happy to wear my new cozy warm ginger cardigan yesterday : )
ReplyDeleteOooooh - what a cute cardigan!!! Awesome find 🥳
ReplyDeleteLove that cardigan!! You look great. Your efforts are inspiring!
ReplyDeleteI love the cardigan. What a find! I never get that lucky at Goodwill.
ReplyDeleteThat cardigan is really cute! I do the same thing. I have a cardigan that is always out at home that I wear most of the time I am home because I'm always cold.
ReplyDeleteIt’s interesting your scales didn’t move much this week as when I saw your picture I thought wow you can really see a difference.
ReplyDeleteLove the cardigan and the reminder about there being no "finish" line. That illusion that we'll get "there" and then it will be easy dupes me every time. I appreciate your honest sharing.
ReplyDeleteYou look great and happy for you that you are moving back to your goal weight. You can do it!
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