Persistence and Payoff

Finally! I am making some progress on this fitness plan... or that's what it feels like... it feels like I work and work and work and work and... itsy, tiny baby, lotta not much... *sigh*


But finally today I had a payoff in threes...

We started our Couch to Keg program (Couch to 5K was misattributed by a neighbor, but we like it, so it has stuck) on September 1st... then, two weeks ago, we decided three days a week isn't enough... We've been doing six... we alternate walking with out interval jog building...

Now we haven't been building the Couch to Keg as fast as they suggest... They have you do each workout a week, then advance, and honestly, we are sticking to each about 3 weeks before we move on. But I think with as overweight as I started and with my fabulous neighbor's asthma, our approach has been wise.

And then, September 15, one month ago today, I started Weight Watchers... So today I did the full on weigh, measure...

I've lost 12 pounds. Not the fastest I've ever lost weight, but not laughable, either.

But see, here's the thing... I lost 6 pounds the first week, two the second, gained half a pound the third, then held flat... so it LOOKS like I've lost 4.5 pounds in 3 days... whatever... The scale is such a fickle, strange thing... I think our bodies hang on and hang on, and then FINALLY are defeated in that hanging on... at least that is how I often lose. Because I have only had ONE really bad day (hubby made a dinner that was fried, compounding a lunch that was already pushing things)—and I have NEVER gone over plan points—at least not if I include my fitness-earned points. And you know... week to week I can't say I've been better or worse than any other week. This is just how I do it. Maybe I was sitting at a plateau weight for those couple weeks, and I've finally broken it. I will have to see if I get back to losing at a reasonable rate for a while—that would confirm my plateau theory, as I think my next plateau I would hit is another 14 pounds down.

I admit it. i'd love a torso like this.

As for the measures:

Waist: -3.5 inches. (I know,right?!)
Hips (measured across the bone): -3 inches
Butt (the biggest part... actually more thighish): -2 inches...

So YAY! I've also lost an inch off each arm and an inch off each leg. SHRINKAGE!!!

I strongly recommend multiple measuring types if you take on a plan. Had my weight not been down any more this morning than Thursday, I really would have taken heart at these numbers. And THESE numbers are influenced probably as much by our exercise as by the eating.

Man, I wish...

The THIRD thing though... (it's exciting, isn't it!?) Is my JEANS!!! They aren't the dream pair (a pair of size 12, boot cut, Old Navy jeans—I have a long way to go to get in THOSE) but I was in the stubbornly pathetic state of NONE of my jeans fitting and REFUSING to buy the next size up. Today I got into a pair... I wonder if the other would fit... I have two pairs this size but I think the ones I'm sitting in have more give... anyway, it is nice, now that it's getting cooler, to have jeans instead of being THAT woman who only wears sweats. In the summer it's not so noticeable (I had shorts) and one of my pairs of sweats passes as yoga pants (shares the cut, just not quite as slick).


If I could really lose 12 pounds a month, then this diet portion of this plan would end up a 6 month venture, though I suspect it will slow by the third month at latest... Yeah, I am in this for the long-haul. I guess, though, persistence is one of the things I usually do pretty well, so we'll see.

Whatever the case, I am feeling pleased.