They fit! They fit! They fit!

When I stepped on the scale today - my official weekly weigh-in day is Friday - I knew my progress would show signs of slowing (after all, I unofficially weigh myself every morning!). So I wasn't surprised to find that I'd only lost three pounds since last week. I now weigh 358. But despite the fact that I have been losing at least five or six pounds a week since week two, I'm not disappointed in the least.

Why? Well, there are a couple of reasons. First, even though my weight didn't drop much this week, my clothing sizes did (as I mentioned in my last post). After finally realizing that I had no more holes left on my smallest belt and that I was swimming in my smallest pair of jeans I went clothes shopping and was able to fit in jeans that were about 6 inches smaller than my previous size. So I bought a new pair of Levi's that was on sale at JC Penney. Then, when I got home I dug out a pair of Ralph Lauren corduroy pants that I had bought on sale about five years ago but was never able to wear (because I'd bought them a size too tight in a then-failed attempt to encourage myself to lose weight). To my surprise, they fit perfectly! I was shocked. As I buttoned them in front of the mirror I looked down at my legs, then up at my face, and I immediately smiled as I screamed (in my head, so as not to scare my puppies), "They fit! They fit! They fit!"

Second, it's because this week I decided to give myself some liberty in my evening meal. I met someone this week who invited me out to eat a couple of times, and while I didn't go over on calories too badly, my choices included more overall sugar and carbs later in the day than I'm used to. For example, on one night I had two poached eggs, toast and a fruit cup (oh, and a bite of my friend's coconut cream layered cake) at around 9 p.m. even though I'd already eaten a 220 calorie Nutrisystem entree around 5 (but by eliminating my snack I still only ate around 1800 calories for the day). And on another occasion I had a couple of hand fulls of German gummi bears, a few Swedish fish and a piece or two of white chocolate to indulge my sweet tooth (after nearly two months exerting strong willpower to overcome nightly cravings).

I'm glad I did enjoy myself this week, but it will probably be a long time before I do that again. On both occasions, actually, I got a stomach ache after treating myself, which is no treat at all!

I can shop at the mall again!

I've been on this new health regime for nearly two months now, so it's time to revisit some of my goals. This is what I wrote in the beginning of January:

I want to be able to ride rollercoasters again, feel more comfortable in airplane seats, be able to sit in those tiny chairs on the patios of cafes, not cause the tires in my tiny compact car to wear unevenly, start my 40s in a year and a half with the same healthful optimism with which I started my 20s, let my parents grow older without having to worry about my health, be able to shop for clothes at the mall again, rollerblade without pain again, and dance the night away again without having to sit the next one out!

Well, I've lost about 45 pounds since writing this, and already I've achieved two of these! I'm now able to fit in the chairs on the patio at Starbucks, Panera, and my favorite French cafe, Rendez-Vous. Also, just as of this week, I'm now able to shop for clothes at the mall again! Only a few stores in the mall carry clothes for bigger guys, but even these top out at 3XL. I was pushing 5XL, so I was relegated to shopping at specialty stores and online. This week I even found some stuff at Marshall's that fit me. Very cool.

It may sound funny that I care about these little details, but someone out there must relate. Anyway, I'm very pleased with reaching these milestones on my way to getting fit.

Here's a pic of me in my new mall-purchased Levi's at 359 pounds: