Weekly WI: Goodbye March

Good (Early) Morning…yawn

I am up waaaaay too early and I see a nap in my near future on this stay-at-home day off from work.  My Mom is coming over for a Virtual WW Studio Workshop and I’m going to attempt some long distance tech support and see if we can get my Aunt Barb in New Mexico on the meeting with us as well.

I decided to complete my weigh-in a day early and had 1 pound loss.  Yippie!  I am ending my month of March lower than February, which is a big win.  

I did some reflecting after seeing a Facebook memory from a 2016 Vegas trip.

Looking back at my weight record, which is pretty sparse since I was avoiding the scale.  2016 was the climb back up to 253, an all time high for my re-gain.  

April 25, 2016 - 244.6

June 27, 2016 - 253

I am a perspective type of gal which means I looked back to 2015.

April 1, 2015 - 200.8

I gained 43.8 pounds in just one single year.  Wow.

2016 was the year I regained control of my emotions, my life, and recommitted to my WW program.  Today, I am proud to share that I am only 4.2 pounds higher than I was five years ago.  That is freaking amazing and I am a legit rockstar.

I was thinking back on 2019 since last year I changed how I wanted to start viewing my weight loss.  I used to track my monthly losses thus having to deal with negative self talk as well as feeling bummed out when I had a month that was a gain.  It was counter productive to me because I always felt like I was playing catch up vs. getting closer to my weight loss goals.  Part way through 2019 made the choice to change my mindset and look at the ending month number vs. just having a gain or a loss.  While it was still hard to end the month with some gnarly numbers (I’m looking at you July 2019), my goal now shifted to simply working towards a number that was lower than the month prior, whatever that lower number may be.

I have adopted that mindset again for 2020 and I know moving forward I will continue to do so.  Once I reach my WW goal weight (new doctor’s note), I plan to also continue this mindset into maintenance.  

When I reflect back on 2019, I am also really proud of myself for turning things around when I saw 221.4 on the scale last July.  If I learned anything from regaining 80 pounds it is that I am really good at lying to myself.  I have this exuberant outer shell that allows me to be a people-person and connect to almost anybody I meet along my life journey.  That means I have become really skilled in being there for others when they need a listening ear but not so good at being there for myself.  

Every life experience shapes you in some way.  In my life Weight Watchers has been the biggest impact.  Whether it be weight loss, maintenance, or weight gain, I have learned something new about myself at each phase of life.  I suppose much like you learn about yourself as you age at each stage of your life.  I’m finally chipping away at the layers that contributed to regaining 80 pounds.  And, it feels amazing!

Last week after my Virtual WW Studio Workshop, I felt so encouraged and motivated.  I genuinely loved what I saw in the bathroom mirror and wanted to take a photo.  I went in search for a photo taken in 2016 around the time I had reached 253 pounds.  I found a photo from the FitOne 10K.  

I remember this race.  Dawny was in town and I told her this was probably my last 10K race as it was just becoming too taxing on my body.  I was out of shape, I was feeling pretty miserable, and I was hurting all over.  I don’t feel that same way today.  Could I go out and walk a 10K and survive?  Absolutely.  Plus, I’d probably be hurting the next few days afterwards.  But, I know I could do it.  That mindset milestone means a lot to me.