Progress

I haven't mentioned much about my weight loss efforts lately, but I am still going at it. I have been a bit frustrated over the past couple of months because I've hit a massive plateau - one that involves me either losing no weight at all for weeks at a time or losing & gaining the same seven lbs over and over. It's quite annoying, but I haven't given up. I know that after losing almost 70 lbs, my body has gotten used to my workouts and needs to be shaken up a bit. In an attempt to move past that plateau, I've recently added running to my workouts (which I hate - it's sooo boring compared to kickboxing!) and I replaced my morning trip to Starbucks with Shakeology (which I love).

I also realize that although I'm not consistently losing weight right now, my body is still in the process of reshaping itself (in a good way). Around time that I hit the 50 lb mark, I had a ton of people constantly remarking and inquiring about my weight loss (which is flattering, but can sometimes be a little awkward, depending on their reasons for asking). I didn't hear much for a few months after that, but within the last month, people have started to notice and make comments again. I've realized that's because my shape is changing again - this time, it's not so much a visible loss of pounds as it is the addition of new muscle tone and much more defined obliques.

So although I am struggling a bit with the actual numbers on the scale, I am able to still see progress in other ways. One of my favorite markers comes in the form of my clothing size, as I think it gives a nice reminder of what I've accomplished during the past year & a half...

What I was wearing around this time last year (click to embiggen)...
















And now...
















I'm currently about 15 lbs away from where I was when I graduated from college in '99 (although if I still had my clothes from back then, I wouldn't wear them because most were either from my super-weird-pseudo-preppy-looking-for-a-job collection or my super-slutty-I'm-single-and-clubbing-every-weekend stash). Ultimately, my goal is to get out of the sizes with an X in them. Realistically, I'll probably never be much smaller than a Large as I'm all boobs, hips, and booty no matter how much I weigh, but that's cool with me. I'm a fan of the T&A. :-)

In the meantime, I'm just trying to take it one day at a time in my quest to be a healthier person (inside & out!). It's slow going, but I know I'll get there eventually... if only I could get there without having to torture myself with the most evil and boring exercise ever (aka running). ;-)