Down 10 Pounds!

So, today is Wednesday, which for me means a Weight Watchers meeting complete with my weekly "weigh-in." Of course, I pretty always wish I lost more than I do in a given week, which was the case today, but I was still down 1.6 pounds, which is pretty awesome considering they say you shouldn't lose more than 2 a week anyway. Well, that 1.6 pounds put my total weight loss since my first meeting at exactly 10 pounds! Woohoo! Today was my 7th meeting, meaning I've lost that over a 6 week period, or an average of 1.67 a week. Which actually makes me pretty excited, because it means I'm on the right track to meet my 10% goal by Labor Day. Speaking of goals, this also means that I only have 2 lbs to go before I meet my 5% goal. So, keep your fingers crossed for me and maybe I'll meet that goal next Wednesday! It's definitely great motivation to work really hard this week. And perhaps once of the best parts is, I really don't feel deprived of eating what I enjoy, even though I know I'm making positive changes to my diet. I just eat less of the really unhealthy stuff, and I've learned to really savor it when I let myself have it.

I'm also really enjoying going to our rec center and working out, which isn't really something I think I would have ever said before. But it's true! Jacob and I joke that I am becoming a "gym junkie" because I pretty much want to go every day, whether Jacob wants to come with me or not, I also generally want to stay longer than him when he does come, and sometimes I even want to go two times a day! I'm not saying I haven't been sore or in pain at all, but I actually enjoy knowing that I'm sore because I'm finally trying to exercise regularly. The last few days I've gone I've had a great hour long workout spending 20 minutes each on a treadmill, stationary bike, and treadmill. And I am tired by the time that I get on that last machine, but I just feel so good about it! And the best thing is, even though I don't really look or feel any skinnier yet, I can already tell that I'm healthier just from the two or three weeks I've been going. I am slowly increasing my speed on the treadmill, and my heart rate has been slowly decreasing from where it was hitting the first few days. It's really helped to have my ipod with me, and about a week ago I had the genius idea to take my kindle with me and prop it up on the little stands they have for magazines on each machine. It's been fantastic! And luckily, it will also be a great way to get me to read some classic literature, since I already have a whole bunch of classics on my kindle that didn't cost me a thing.

Also....I've pretty much secretly decided I want to try a 5k towards the end of summer. I know I won't be able to really run it, but even now I can walk an 18 minute mile on the treadmill. I tried upping my power walk to a jog today, and sadly I still weigh too much for the joints, etc in my legs to be able to handle that for very long quite yet, but hopefully that will change soon. And, Jacob and I are thinking we might actually go backpacking in the Windrivers with some of my family this year. A couple of my uncles are taking their oldest kids, so they're doing a shorter 6 mile hike, and I actually am starting to believe I could handle that, even with a 40 pound pack on my back. :)

I guess what this all really comes down to is that I am really enjoying my weight loss journey so far. I think I finally hit that point where I was so disgusted with my weight that it was enough motivation to finally do this for me and to be willing to spend the money to make it happen. I've also had a lot of really great examples in my family lately of people working hard to lose their extra weight, and I owe a lot of you my gratitude for being examples to me. I hope this weight loss update didn't bore any of you, because you can totally expect more.


P.S. Thank you to Aubrey for being the ONLY person who commented on my shop/crafting blog when asked for suggestions of what you guys want to see in my shop. If the rest of you love me at all, you might want to consider proving it by following her example. Here's a convenient link for you --> Lydia's Craft Blog