You've lost weight!

This morning I was less bummed out than I thought I would be when my scale only dropped 0.6 lbs from last week.  I know that I've done everything I could to keep on track this week. I've exercised hard, worked hard, ate clean, drank my water, didn't drink my diet coke, and lived the life.  I chalked it up to all the normal things we tell ourselves when the scale doesn't match the effort.  Muscle weighs more than fat, it's just your body retaining water, you had a big drop last week/you will have a big drop next week, you're a woman, etc.  But in the end, it doesn't matter because I'm still making progress and I'm still happy.

I did the math and realized I hit exactly 10% of my weight gone today.  I'm pretty happy with that.  A total of  29 lbs. even.   YAY 10%!!!!  If I was still doing weight watchers, I would have earned a poorly made, but awesome keychain.  As it stands now, I just earn my own happiness and self worth.  Maybe I can give myself a picture of a 10% keychain and feel better?

I've been taking a lot of pictures of myself lately, not because I'm a narcissist (ok I am), but because I need to see these changes, and when I share them it helps me feel accountable. This week I looked at the picture below, and it's an eye opener. I'm 260 now, and I've been 260 before.  However, this 260 lbs is a huge change from any other 260 I've ever been.  I wish I had a picture of the last time I was there, because wow.  The difference exercise makes is incredible.

I wanted to share things I've noticed in my body:

• My butt is higher, like a lot higher.  When I tried on my "smaller" pair of jeans and they fit, I was excited - except they only fit the waist, and there was an empty cavern where my butt used to sit.  
• My thighs are slimmer, and tighter.  I've lost 2 inches in the circumference of each thigh.  
• My stomach is a lot tighter.  Sure I have a long way to go, but I can start to see the indentations that comes from doing killer sets of crunches and other ab exercises.  
• My boobs are getting smaller...FINALLY! 
• My arms are stronger, much stronger.  I used to be the weak nurse, now I had a client tell me not to lift so hard.  That's never happened to me before.
• My skin is clearer and much less dry.  It's all the water that makes a difference.  I live in the cold tundra of Minnesota, and every winter I deal with itchy, really bad dry skin all over my body.  This year, I have not even had to deal with the problem. It's been great!

This all feels awesome, but nothing feels as great as seeing someone you haven't in 3 months and having that person do a double-take on you, and say "Wow, You've lost weight!"  Not "Have you been loosing weight by any chance?" or "You look skinnier."  She said "You've lost weight" because it's that noticable now.  And that was some awesome validation, because I am looking better, happier, and let me tell you my butt is definitely smaller.