I have been stuck in the 180’s for MONTHS! The first day I saw a 180 number was April 19th…today is AUGUST THIRTIETH and it’s the FIRST time I’ve seen a number in the 170’s! That means it’s been FOUR months of going up and down within the same 10 damn pounds.

If you were following me back when I was SO close to getting under 200lbs, you might remember the ridiculousness of those 33 days trying my hardest to lose 4 measly pounds. The scale would go up and down and up and down within those same four pounds. In fact at day 10 of those 33 days I actually weighed almost 2lbs more than at the beginning despite a 2lbs loss just a couple days before! That means that within those first 10 days I had lost two pounds and GAINED four! What the crap!?

Check out the 2013 Weigh Album on Facebook

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…BODIES ARE WEIRD!

Fast forward to today you’ll see that I’ve made great progress but it has not come without major fluctuations. By April 19th I had gotten down to 188, that means it took me almost 3.5 months to lose 10lbs. Four months later, today, I am down another 15lbs. That’s a total of 25lbs in almost eight months. That doesn’t sound like a lot, does it? Nope. It doesn’t. But if I hadn’t stayed focused, if I had given up- stopped eating right, stopped exercising and just thrown in the towel…where would I be? So even though it’s been frustrating, it’s been worth it.

The blog is feeling really disjointed…ugh.

Anyway, when I weighed myself on August 2nd, I decided I was done with the weekly weigh-ins and that I was going to avoid the scale for the entire month so needless to say when I got on the scale this morning and a TEN POUND loss, I was beyond thrilled!

I really can’t say that I know what I did differently this month versus the last four months. I did try to cut down on cheese (I LOVE CHEESE) but I didn’t cut it out completely. I also added in more carbs by way of rice and oats because I had four races this month. I also made sure to eat more fruits and veg. I exercised/trained/worked out most days of the week, but not every day of any week. I ate out more than usual- mostly Mexican (mmm fajita nachos!) and I ate total crap and a LOT of it last weekend while traveling to and from Virginia between two races…neither of which were overly taxing.

Now when I say a lot of crap, I mean a Flamethrower burger from Dairy Queen, onion rings and a mini blizzard on Friday night. A BBQ chicken sandwich (with half the bun) and a beer Saturday night followed by a small tin of pringles and two weird cereal bars (Cinnamon Toast Crunch and S’mores– the big ones) from a gas station and then a bag of BBQ chips and Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies on the way to Sunday’s race. There were also bites of random things, other snacks that I can’t remember and lots of G2 and even a bottle of Coke at on point, if I remember correctly. My point is that I have not been perfect in my eating 100% of the time this month. I have splurged plenty, but overall I have stayed on track. TRENDS are what matter.

I made a lot of REALLY good choices this month and some choices that weren’t my norm. I never felt deprived, I just ate and moved, just like I always do. So why did my body decide to finally let go of 10 pounds? Who the hell knows! But I’ll take it and I’ll keep doing what I’m doing.

I’m now EIGHT pounds from my original goal weight. EIGHT FREAKING POUNDS until I weigh what I weighed in EIGHTH GRADE!

Oh and Sunday is my birthday, so happy birthday to me! I almost weigh what I weighed 23 years ago! (that sounds insane) But what’s more important than the number on the scale is that because I weigh less I am able to DO more! I am running faster than I could one month ago. I have moved to a lighter assistance band for pull-ups and I am able to do more push ups, longer handstands and JUMP higher than I could before (which isn’t saying much but it’s still an IMPROVEMENT!). THIS is what weight loss is about— DOING MORE!

My plan for September? Keep doing what I’m doing. I have one race schedule for September and am looking to add a second one. I’ll keep going to Crossfit and will run and bike and swim like I have been and just let my body do it’s thing. I’m taking care of it and it is taking care of me. That’s what matters.

I am happy to present to you my latest weigh-in!