Another day, another milestone, another blob.

  Wow!  It is hard to believe that I have been on this road to health now for over half a year!  In a little over six months I have gone from a seriously obese young woman, who could not walk up a flight of stairs without getting winded, to a much healthier "thick" woman, who runs at least 8 miles a week.  And, obviously, stairs are no longer a problem.
     I define milestones as ten pound increments of weight loss. There were a few different motivations behind my ten pound marker, but the most important two really helped me break down my goal into easy to manage steps.  I think the biggest reason was that ten pounds is a good, even number.  Small enough to be realistic, and big enough to be a challenge.  Simply put, it is like taking baby steps.  Back in spring, when I first decided to get on the ball about weight loss, and health, I set for myself a goal to lose 120 pounds.  That was a very intimidating number.  If you think about it, that is basically one whole person! So I divided it up in to two sets of sixty pounds.  While this did help, even sixty pounds seemed daunting. I then decided to view it in steps of ten.  Ten pounds is easy, I have done it before, many times.   The problem was managing to lose that next ten, and the ten after that, and so on.  So, as the cliche goes, I took it a day at a time.  Before I realized it, I had lost the first ten, and was actually well on my way to the next set!
    The other reason that I liked the ten pound milestone is due to a photograph I saw a while back on a show. I can not recall what show I was watching, or why, but the image has remained with me since I saw it almost eight months ago.  That image would hit me every time I stepped on a scale and realized how overweight I was.  The photo is of a yellow chunk of "fat" with red specks placed in random spots.  It is so simple, and yet very effective.  I looked at that photo, and it hit me hard about how much extra I was carrying on my poor frame!  No wonder my knees were hurting all the time. So I want to share it.  It shocked me in to reality about my health, and I sincerely hope I am able to do the same for others by posting this.

     Disgusting, is it not?  Despite the disgust and shame that came with seeing this picture, something else struck me.  I knew that I needed to lose 120 pounds to reach a healthy weight.  Now, remember, I found this number to be absolutely intimidating, until another idea came to me. Despite my less than stellar skills in mental math, it did not take me long to figure out that 120 extra pounds would equate to twelve puke worthy ten pound blobs.  Strangely, that made my ultimate goal of 120 pounds seem much more easy to attain.  I had this image of myself tossing these massive ten pound blobs of puke worthy nastiness away, and slowly trimming myself down into a healthier person.  And now for my update!

    Today I stepped on the scale, and learned three things.
      I have tossed aside yet another blob.
      I not only hit a milestone, I went one pound past it.
      I now weigh 189 pounds.
     

   In other words, I have now lost a grand total of  71 pounds.  So, if we are using the blob system of measurement, I have now rid myself of 7 blobs. It feels strange to see 189.  It is as if breaking past the 190 mark means I have truly solidified my steps out of the 200's.  It makes my progress feel more real, and makes the ultimate goal feel like it is just around the corner. I suppose you could say that I am "over the hill" in terms of weight loss, since I am well over halfway to my goal!
 
    While I still have a long road ahead, there is now less road toward my destination, than there is road behind me.  It would be harder now to turn around, and go back the way I came.  So I am going to continue with my baby steps, and my blobs.  With my husband by my side, and God above, I am going to continue.  I am not going to go back the way I came.  There are too many things for me on the road ahead.  If I turn around now, I betray not only myself, but many of those whom I love, and who love me in return.  So many of those responding to this blog have told me how I have inspired them, and how I have encouraged them.  They keep me going.  They make me push harder on that last burst of a run, or on that last rep of lifting weights.
   
   Thank you to all who respond and encourage me.  Thank you all who have helped me, and supported me through this challenging, yet rewarding period of my life.  I am essentially changing my entire being, both inside and out.  My readers, my friends, and my family all keep me going.  God has truly blessed me with such great people in my life.

 We all have our blobs to toss, both physical and figurative. May all of you have success in your blob tossing ventures!

With love,
 Kristina.