Friday, February 16, 2007

The Week Twenty Weigh In

All right, I did a little bit better than expected -- down half a pound to 208. I'm actually very happy with this, considering the week I had -- very little cardio, my nightly dark chocolate snacks. If I can still knock off half a pound after two weeks of very little physical activity (although I shouldn't dis' the snow shoveling), that's a victory in my eyes.

It also dawned on me that I'm less than 10 pounds away from the Onederfuls. Wow. Nine more pounds and I'm at 199. It's getting so close!

Another milestone is in one more pound -- at 207 I'll be 130 pounds lighter than my all-time heaviest, 337. I was reading in a magazine yesterday that a diet motivator is to lift weights with the amount of weight you've lost so far. Okay, that's great if you've lost, like, 10 pounds, but there's no way I'm lifting 130! My arms would fall off like SpongeBob Squarepants.

Mentioning SpongeBob, I had another reference to him this week. I went out to dinner with my mom, and when I took my coat off, she looked at me funny and said, "You look so tiny on top!" Well, being the Eeyore, the first image that flew across my mind was of SpongeBob's friend Squidward when he got addicted to Crabby Patties and ate hundreds of them. It all went to his thighs, and it's one of the most grotesque-looking things I've ever seen on a cartoon. It was his normal torso with these enormous, gelatinous, cellulite-ridden tentacles. Yes, I wondered if I had Crabby Patty thighs. I'm so sick in the head. [If you're not a regular SpongeBob viewer, I apologize for this diversion]

I got over that image, though. In fact, I was quite pleased with these legs of mine this week as I did the stability ball exercises. I got a good look at them as I did some of the sets, and there is some good muscle tone in those thighs and calves. It's important to see the good things, the improvements I've made, instead of worrying about the flaws and imperfections. I'm never going to be Beyonce on the cover of Sports Illustrated, but I'm the best Andrea I can be right now.

Just so you know, I'm still adding old posts to 2004. I make comments on most of them, and I know I'm finding it very interesting observing myself in the beginning.

By the way, today is my THIRD ANNIVERSARY since starting this weight loss saga. Like most of the long-timers I read (Diet Girl, Pasta Queen, etc.), I thought I'd be all done by now and living my carefree life of maintenance at this point. But we've all learned this process works on its own timetable. But I think when it takes longer, the results are also longer-lasting. If some fairy godmother granted me a wish and I lost 150 pounds in one month, I have a feeling I would have gained it all back within 1-2 years. Why? Because I wouldn't have learned anything. I wouldn't have learned how to eat healthier, to work through the cravings, to bounce back from the binges. Yes, I've regained some and had to re-lose it, but those were some of the hard lessons I had to take.

4 comments:

Vickie said...

I had to get down - to less than 10 pounds to FINAL goal - to feel like if it "all" just disappeared over night I could "handle it" - and I think you are exactly right - if all the fat had just magically jumped ship - I would not have known how to handle it. The exception to this would be someone that was at risk of sudden death - that just had to get it off and get it off fast - no matter how. And another exception seems to be Janice Bridge that comments on my blog all the time. She is very together - and KNOWS what she is doing - and she lost all hers in less than a year with a controlled medical fast (liquid mostly with some food added) - but several big things in her favor - her husband was doing it too - so good support from him, they were in an excellent medical support group the whole way through (and still are I think) and she really understood what was going on.

Shauna said...

ooooooh very close to the onederfuls! well done! :)

and you are so right in this post. slow and steady wins the race, i say *g*

Debbi said...

I'm living proof that slow and steady is the better way to go. Ten years ago? Lost 50 pounds in five months. Last year? Started over, with more than 70 to lose.

Keep up the good work! You're an inspiration!

Lori G. said...

That's great news that you're down after the stressful week you've had...

Now I'm curious about what Squidward looks like!

But seriously, you and the others are proof that slow and steady is the best way to lose weight. If I had stayed at my first months of weight loss (and it was mostly due to so much unhappiness, not anything else) the loss would have been bewildering and temporary.

I've got so much to learn about losing what's left (at least another 50 pounds) and how to keep it off. You, Debbi, Vickie, Pasta Queen and Diet Girl and a bunch of others are an inspiration to me.