scale victory, y’all.

height: 5’9″
bone structure: large
weight: 199.4!
i have lost enough weight where i feel a little comfortable talking about my weight. at this point, i am merely “overweight” and only about 30 lbs. so. that’s reasonable enough.
fall 2010 nate bought a scale. i’d never been a believer in scales, except when i went to the doctor’s office. he was on a health kick, though, and wanted a fancy one. ok. i avoided it for a while, then got on and started weighing myself occasionally. one day in spring 2011, i got on and weighed 268. it was like a moment of clarity – at this point, i realized that 268 was way too close to 275, and 275 was way too close to 300. and 300 was too much. i had to do something. i didn’t really know what.
i’d  been corn syrup-free for a year, but that really hadn’t changed my eating habits – just what i ate. i still ate sugar, just not as much and only things made with actual sugar. i grazed after supper all the time. and no real activity.
at the same time, liz had mentioned doing couch-2-5k, and i read through the program. i had never considered myself a runner, even the summer after my first year at csb when liz and i ran every night. but this looked intriguing and relatively easy. so i decided to give it a try. in addition, i did my best to stop eating after supper.
over the summer, i sort of did the third week of c2-5k over and over, until mid-september when my knees started to hurt. but i had lost 15 lbs, just from not eating after supper and doing the piddly third week of c2-5k. but i needed to wait until i saw the doc.
once the doc gave me the ok, i went forward and even took out a monthly membership to the csb fieldhouse. and that’s when i really got going with c-2-5k. the fieldhouse had a track where i could measure exactly how far i ran. i went full tilt starting the beginning of november.
by christmas i’d lost almost 30 lbs. and was able to run a mile non-stop. in march, i finally ran a 5k non-stop. in july, i was down 50 lbs. summer was a little weird with events and stuff, and my weight was a little stagnant until september when i was down 55.
i didn’t count calories. i tried to eat a little less, ate more veggies and fruits, tried to eat less carbs. but stuff happens – i ate my seafood lasagna at ciatti’s over my bday and thoroughly enjoyed it. someone brought cake to work? i had a piece. there’s a brownie at my grandma’s house she offers? yes, please.
but i was pretty much only drinking water and iced tea. still no hfcs. trying to eat a little healthier. and i ran.
and now here i am, below 200 lbs for the first time in probably 14 years. i graduated from high school at 180, yo-yoed through college and left st. ben’s at about 220. when i started hanging out with the gays, i gained 10-15, then another 10 or so when i met nate (date nights…fancy supper). when i got married, i was about 245. somewhere in there, i gained another 20.
when i got bloodwork done at my high weight, my triglycerides were getting close to the warning level. a year after i’d started running, they were so low they couldn’t get a count on them. how awesome is that?
and the nice thing is that as i’m losing weight, i’m also gaining muscle, which means that the last time i weighed what i do, i wore a size or so bigger, so i look like i’ve lost more weight than i have. my legs have muscles! i can see my arm muscles! look at my somewhat visible collarbones! holy cow i can actually SEE my rib bones on my chest! (above the boobies, people.) people mistake me for liz all the time now and vice versa.
but here’s the thing that you have to know: i never had any self-image issues. i never hated my body or myself when i weighed 268. being that size was more of a nuisance than anything else. clothes didn’t fit me the way i wanted them to. some seats got clausterphobic. i actually had my hip fall asleep in a theater seat once. my boobs were ginormous and spendy (large-cup bras cost a pretty penny) and got and in the way ALL THE TIME (well, the boob stuff all still kind of applies…).
and i actually wonder if my weight was a detriment when i was looking for jobs in 2006 – 20 interviews and before getting a job? then in 2012 (after losing 50 lbs) i have ONE interview and get it?
NEITHER HERE NOR THERE. onward and upward, i say! i don’t FEEL different on the inside, but when i see pictures of when i was my heaviest, i say, holy cow. i look like a different person.
everyone always asks what a goal is, right? (although i haven’t had anyone ask me that personally, the loseit subreddit always asks.) BMI tells me the high end should be 168 or so. that sounds reasonable – that’s what i weighed in 11th grade. even if i don’t get to that, i’ll be happy. i’m happy NOW. i was happy at 268! but now i’m happy, healthy, and definitely more comfortable.
(ps – here’s a PSA for c-2-5k. if you are wanting to get in shape and have a penchant for beating self-goals [i was never a team-player, myself], couch-2-5k could be the way to go. check out my post on how to do it.)