Week 47 Weigh-In: The Day I Reached Goal

I reached Goal yesterday, reclaiming my Lifetime No-Pay status with the Watchers of Weight.

And to be truthful, it was a little anti-climactic.

First off, I couldn't stay for the meeting. I had to get my kids to a 10:30 am event, so it was a quick, weigh-and-go. We'll celebrate at the meeting next week.

I knew this week was supposed to be a big weight-loss week, according to the schedule on which my body operates (small loss, small loss, small loss, big loss). After losing just 2 lbs - total - over the past 3 weeks, I was due.

I stepped on the scale and heard the receptionist say, "You continue to rock and roll."

She finally told me a number, -3, which means I just limboed under my Goal weight of 175, coming in at 174.6.

I thanked her and scooted out of the meeting. I saw my leader quickly and didn't even tell her, I didn't have time to really talk, sadly. But, again, I'll make a big deal out of it next week.


So, where to now?

Well, 175 is my goal set by my doctor when I made Lifetime in 2003. According to Weight Watchers, for my height (5'7"), the most I should weigh is 160. They base their goal range on BMI (regardless of whether you agree with the BMI concept), and 160 is the most you can weigh and still have a BMI in the Normal weight range for my height.

However, my doctor argued that for my build, 175 was reasonable. Personally, I think it's high, I could stand to lose more. So for my personal goal I'm going to try and hit 160. I want to see if I can do it and, most importantly, if I can maintain it.

But if I find I can't hit and/or maintain 160, I'm not going to beat myself up about it. I'll just find the lowest healthy weight I can maintain and go for that. But for now I like having another number goal to shoot for.

So it's continued onward and downward, but I want to reflect a bit on this milestone.

I'm pretty surprised I was able to get back to Goal in under a year, which worked out to losing an average of 2.3 lbs a week. But thanks to bootcamp and Points+, I'm losing weight more quickly than I did when I was younger and pre-kids. I'm still astounded by that, I expected the pregnancies and my age to affect my metabolism, but again, what do I know? Apparently little.

In these past 47 weeks I lost a lot of weight and inches, but I greatly gained when it came to self-esteem, self-confidence and pride. I built muscle and good habits.

It's all still a work in progress and for me there truly is no finish line. I have a lifetime of bad habits and bad thoughts to undo and remedy. I don't think they'll ever completely go away, but I will continue to get better at managing them and making good choices.

To be honest, I don't think it's all fully sunk in yet. Driving home, I was mentally planning stuff in my head (unrelated to WW) and suddenly I realized: You don't have a weigh-in next Tuesday.

Sure, I will attend the meeting, but I don't have to weigh in. As a Lifetimer At Goal (I like typing that) I only have to weigh in once a month. With August done, I won't weigh in until September 6.

Sept. 6 is cool for two reasons:

1. It will be my one-year anniversary of the day (Tuesday) I joined (Sept. 7, 2010).

2. I have a 5K on Aug. 28. There's free BBQ after, so I can enjoy in moderation and not worry about sodium bloat and an official WW two days later. Seriously, this is how I think. All the time. Completely mental.

Then that lead me to another train of thought: Weigh-ins. For the past 47 weeks, I've weighed in on Tuesday mornings. I decided I'll continue to do so, once a month for my official WW weigh-in and the other three Tuesdays at home, first thing in the morning, on my scale. That will give me a good indicator of how I'm progressing. I've toyed with the idea of weighing daily, but it still messes with my head too much. I'll continue to report the results every week here, as usual.

So even though I'm a Lifetimer at Goal (woo!) I'm still in the losing mindset to hit my personal goal. So, really, nothing has changed. Except I set a big goal and I made it. And I don't have to pay WW $40 a month anymore.

Next mini-goal: 169. I want to get rid of that 7 middle digit.

Tuesday was a hectic day for a lot of reasons, so I did not get a chance to get a Goal picture. I will remedy that this week and post.

In wrapping up, when people learn of my weight loss, many (strangers and friends) have talked to me about their issues or struggles. Many folks seem overwhelmed by the scale of what they have to do, regardless of how much they have to lose, be it 25 lbs or triple digits.

I agree, it is overwhelming. But the key, for me, was taking it one step at a time. Making one change at a time.

When I started on Sept. 7, 2010 my only goal was to just eat within my Points. That was it. It was all I could handle. Weight Watchers has a host of what they call Good Health Guidelines (eat 5 fruit and veg a day, drink at least 48 oz of water, etc). But I pushed them all aside. I knew that if I wanted to be successful and not burn myself out, I had to go slow.

I just concentrated on eating the number of Points I was supposed to eat. I didn't care if they were all carbs, I didn't care if I ate one vegetable. I just focused on the number and got through as best I could.

About a month in, when I felt that was under control, I focused on adding in exercise a few days a week. After I felt like I could juggle the Points and the exercise, I started to refine my diet to eat more protein and fruits and vegetables and find a better balance. Finally, and this was around December, I felt like I could tackle drinking more water.

Slowly but surely I built up momentum and that is what drives you through. One good decision leads to another good decision and the numbers on the scale continue to drop. One workout leads to another workout and you get lighter, faster and stronger.

It is not easy. If it were, everyone would be fit. But it is doable. You don't have to go on Biggest Loser and spend 6 hours in the gym everyday while a trainer screams in your face. You don't have to eat food you don't like because you "think you should." You can go to a party or a cookout or a restaurant, enjoy and still be in control.

You can change your life with moderation and consistency, one Point, one meal, one day at a time. And pretty soon, you look in the mirror in an Old Navy dressing room and you're wearing loose Size 12s and a Medium shirt (horizontal stripes, no less!) and you realize, "I did it. That's me. It's really me."

That day you waited for, worked for, dreamed about is right here, right now.

If you take anything away from this blog, I hope it is this: You can do it. It is doable and, in the end when you even it all out, it's not really that hard.