Still Shrinking

As you can see from the sidebar from MyFitnessPal over there on the left, I'm still shrinking away. 83 pounds now. Pretty certain that unless I have a leg amputated between now and 12/31, my unrealistic goal of 100 pounds lost in 2011 isn't going to happen - but 90 would make me crazy happy...and I'm pretty sure I can do it!

Medifast is easier than I thought. For as much as I'm paying for it, it damn well better be, right? I've lost 15 pounds on the plan since I started on November 4th. That's pretty friggin remarkable, if you ask me. It definitely knocked me off of the plateau I had been on (I was losing less than a pound a week - which wouldn't be an awful thing if I didn't have so much left to lose).

I've been working out at about 85% of what I had been doing before -- since my calories are so reduced, I don't want to go into starvation mode. Honestly, for as much as I really don't enjoy working out - it's been a nice reprieve. Plus, it's what I'm supposed to be doing, so I can't feel the least bit guilty either.

Giving up alcohol is also not nearly as tough as I thought it would be. On the plan, you just can't drink. It makes sense, since booze are so carbolicious and the calories are empty. I go out a LOT since I manage my boyfriend's band - every weekend on average. Plus, we usually get free drinks at the gigs. It's a lot of temptation to live down - or so I thought. That being said, on New Year's Eve, I'm having a few beverages. I'll have to be careful though, since my tolerance just isn't what it used to be.

The Half Pound That Changes Everything

Today, I surpassed 75 pounds of weight loss...by a half a pound. Now, 75.5 pounds is accomplishment enough, but that it signifies the single largest amount of weight I've ever lost in one diet/lifestyle change/unified attempt...that half a pound means everything.

next stop: saddlebags!

289.5...and more revealing pants. 

I now enter new and unchartered territory. Each new pound lost signifies a new accomplishment that I have never achieved. That's not to say the last 75 haven't been gratifying - but there's something about doing better than you've ever done before that really tickles the psyche. 

I am not going to allow the fact that this hurdle was overcome thanks to the help of Medifast - something I started on Friday - take away from this achievement. I lost those first 74 fair and square.  I learned the lessons. I changed my habits, my attitude and my body. Frankly, I just don't want to spend the next 2 years losing what's left to be lost. I'm ready to start living the rest of my life now -- I know I'm ready! So, hopefully Medifast will push things along. 

I thought about Medifast throughout the past two years and could never bring myself to do it. I wasn't ready to give up alcohol. I didn't want to give up my snacks (even the healthy ones). I didn't want to surrender the bits of pieces of control and, honestly, the cheating (however small those cheats were). I wasn't ready to accept my food addiction - not completely. Now I am. And, because I have so many fewer hangups about food/control over food (and food's control over me), I'm ready for Medifast. The plan meals actually taste good and I still get to cook one healthy meal every day. I feel fueled and satisfied. I feel my new attitude about food as fuel taking a solid hold in my mind. 

Here's to the next 75!