Hot by Halloween

One of my weight loss sisters remind me today that it's only 12 weeks until Halloween. Where did the time go?
A while ago, my weight loss sisters and I set Halloween goals so that we could wear the costumes we really want to wear to parties. For me, that means dressing provocatively; mostly because I've never been able to do so. Last year's spandex leopard print pants do NOT count.

What all of this boils down to is that it's really time to get serious and start behaving on the weekends! I do really well all week and crash on the weekends with too much unhealthy food and adult beverages. No more! I want badly to see 175 on the scale for Halloween. I realize that 14 lbs in 12 weeks may not be reasonable for me, but I want to at least be able to say that I tried my hardest and have no regrets!

Swimming Confidence

As a child, I remember taking horrifying swimming lessons from a woman who would make us hold empty gallon milk jugs under our arms (caps were on) and jump into the deep end. From there, we had to swim to the shallow end, where she would shove our heads under the water to get us used to putting our faces in the water. Instead all of this making me like swimming and making me want to learn to swim properly, it scared me! As you can probably imagine, my swimming has been pretty limited because of it. I somewhat like to swim (if I can touch and/or see the bottom), but rarely go under water and never open my eyes under water. Oh, and forget going under water without plugging my nose! I even used to fake reasons why I couldn't swim when it was part of gym class in school.

Last night I was at a pool party with my boyfriend's family and his nieces thought that it was funny when I told them I'd never jumped off of a diving board because it was scary. His 11 year old niece took me on as her special project, trying to teach me to go under water without holding my nose. Eventually, when I couldn't figure out how to blow enough air out of my nose under water, she told me "Well, maybe you could hire a personal swimming teacher for like $10 an hour." Yeah, even an 11 year old realizes I'm hopeless!

Even though I "failed" at my lessons last night, the fact that I tried and let the kids try to help me was progress in itself. For several years now I've had the desire to learn to swim properly or be able to jump in the water, but there's a fear factor there dating back about 22 years. It's hard to overcome that and it's certainly not going to happen overnight. Considering I live in the "Land of 10,000 Lakes," it just might be a good idea to take the advice and hire a personal swimming teacher!

What Will it Take?

What will it take for me to realize that I am no longer a size 14 in pants or an XL in shirts? Yes, I know that I've lost just over 30 pounds and yes, I know that I can now fit into smaller clothes. But when will I stop wearing the old, baggy clothes that look terrible on me and replace them with fashionable, well-fitting clothes?

Quite a while ago, I purchased a shirt on clearance for $1 at Steve & Barry's when they were going out of business. I figured for $1, I would buy a "goal shirt" as something to work toward. When I took the shirt home that night and tried it on, I couldn't even get it on all the way, so I knew I had a lot of work ahead of me.

Fast forward to last night, when I pulled the lovely "goal shirt" out of the dresser drawer and tried it on. Surprise! It fit beautifully and the saying on the front, "It's not my fault I'm AWESOME" has become even more appropriate than it was when I bought the shirt. It sums everything up. I am awesome.

This brings me to today. I pulled on a pair of my favorite size 14 jeans and wore them to work. Within an hour, I realized they are baggy and look terrible on me. I have jeans of the same brand in both 14s and 12s but continue to wear the 14s. I need to give them up once and for all but the familiarity of being the same size for many years brings emotional attachment. Will giving them up change me? Probably not because the change happened before needing to give up the jeans.

So, the question remains. What is it that will finally convince me I'm no longer the same size I was 30 pounds ago? The answer has yet to be determined.

Weight Loss Makes You Taller

Okay, so weight loss may not actually make you taller, but it makes you seem taller in several ways.

1.  Weight loss causes increased confidence which in turn causes one to have better posture creating the illusion of being taller.

2.  Weight loss decreases or eliminates foot and joint pain, causing women to be more likely to wear high heels when they didn't before.

3.  When you aren't as large around, especially in the hip, butt and thigh regions, your clothes don't need to stretch as far and your pants suddenly become longer. Because your clothes fit better, you'll appear taller.

All of the above are strange but true. Amazingly, I'm no longer having to seek out "tall" length pants for my 5'6" self because average lengths are now appropriate and no longer look like flood pants.

My "Short" Pants

A while back, my sister gave me a pair of her size 12 Molly flair jeans from Maurice's. At the time she gave them to me, I couldn't quite fit into them but held on to them for the future.

Last week, I wore the the jeans for the first time in public and thought of them as my "short" pants. I typically wear long length jeans but my sister always wears average length. I was convinced these jeans looked and felt too short, but when you forget to do laundry, you run out of options.

A friend said they looked good and that they were actually the perfect length because they covered the heel of my boot without dragging in the mud. Then, I went to the boyfriend's house and he couldn't keep his hands off of my rump, saying the jeans looked awesome. Whether the jeans actually looked awesome or whethey they just looked better than the size 14s that are extremely bagging and falling off of me, is up for debate.

Regardless, I've added my "short" pants to my regular wardrobe.

All of the above brings me to another point. Wearing clothing the right size is the key to adding self esteem and confidence! I can't stop checking myself out in the mirror while wearing my "short" pants!

Weekend Follow-Up

On Thursday of last week, I posted my plan for staying on track for the weekend. Surprise, surprise! With potlucks both Saturday and Sunday, I can't say I was as good as I would have liked, but I wasn't as terrible as I would have been in the past, either.

However, I did get most of the exercising completed that I planned on, most of it being horseback riding and all that goes with it (catching, grooming, saddling the horse). I did not do the running or tennis as anticipated due to soreness from Thursday night's Cardio Max workout. Well, that and the fact that my tennis partners (family) had their own plans last minute.

Although today is only Tuesday, I'm starting to think ahead to my plans for the weekend and how I'm going to compensate for another potluck and/or drinks at a bachelorette party. I think for me, planning is key because I feel guilty when I am not sticking to my plans.

Sure, I gained a little last weekend, but what I gained is almost gone already and I'm looking forward to Friday with hopes of seeing a loss.

A Weekend Plan

One of my "weight loss sisters" challenged me to behave this weekend. There seems to be a common trend of doing a great job staying within daily calorie goals and exercising during the week, only to backtrack on the weekends by having cheat meals or even cheat days and being somewhat lazy. I know I repeatedly have this problem.

Sometime in the past two months, I lost my motivation. I made it to my half-way point for my final goal and felt somewhat content with my progress. In my mind, it was time to reward myself by indulging a bit more and taking it easier with the workouts. I'm sure you can guess what happened. I gained back about five pounds and bounced those same pounds around for a while.

Fast forward to last week, when I saw 198.4 on the scale for the first time since March, when I saw it briefly one morning. Now that I've seen movement on the scale again, I've found my motivation again which brings me to the weekend challenge. Yes, I mean challenge because there are a few events this weekend that will test my willpower; that being said, here is my plan. I'm posting it here in hopes that it will make me more accountable to sticking to it.

Thursday (today): My meals are planned for the day with a little leeway for snacks should I get hungry this evening after volunteering. I plan on doing a boxing video after volunteering.
 Friday: I will plan my meals for the day in the morning and be sure to stick to it. For exercise, will with ride my horse and run or play tennis.

Saturday: Will go running or horseback riding in the morning. My challenge will be to really watch my eating at the birthday party will be attending in the evening. The hosts are fans of Leinenkugel beer and so am I! Beware!

Sunday: Walking, running or workout DVD in the morning. My challenge will be to watch the eating during the potluck lunch at the barn where I board my horse. After the potluck, I will be horseback riding with others from the barn.