So, I'm dieting, cont'd.

I have to share this news with all .5 of you who are interested, before all the Easter feasting skews everything.

So, fat flushing. I haven't been very good about following a strict Fat Flush Plan, but I have incorporated some of the principles into my diet. Most mornings I'll have a cup of hot water with lemon and honey. I'll start each meal with fruit or salad to fill up a bit before the main course. I try to eat more protein and fewer breads (hard during Lent!!). And I go to bed a little hungry (this was more due to Lent than dieting). I've been curious about my progress, so at the kids' last pediatrician appointment I took the opportunity to weigh myself, since we don't actually own a bathroom scale. I set the block at what I guessed to be my weight, but had to keep moving it down. I just about fell over when I saw my actual current weight. I checked it again. A couple days later I even went to a department store and tried their scales. Yep, no doubting it. I've lost nearly 20 lbs.! I'm still not comfortable sharing numbers publicly*, but let's just say I haven't weighed this little since I was a teenager, and taking ballet lessons!! I went WAY below my goal weight, and this was all through those simple changes mentioned above!

I still can't get over it. I don't really feel like I've been trying too hard -- I haven't even been exercising! (unless you count vacuuming, carrying a baby around, and toting laundry baskets up and down stairs). It's just amazing what simple portion control is doing for me. That's always been my weakness, so the dieting things I've been doing are simply things I know I should be doing ANYWAY -- they're really not anything too hard for me to do with a little will power (and the added incentive of Lenten sacrifice!).

So I told a friend about my success, and she congratulated me, and then we both said in unison, "Time to go SHOPPING!" :) To celebrate I bought myself a new pair of jeans in a size I haven't worn in YEARS. And here's something else I wasn't expecting -- my shoe size actually shrank! This is a huge, huge deal for me, since now I'M NO LONGER A WIDE SIZE. Does anyone understand what a monumental piece of news this is?? All kinds of shoe opportunities open themselves up! I can actually buy more than one new pair of shoes a year! I don't have to restrict myself to specialty shoe stores! (I even got 2 new pairs from Payless today -- one of which was $4! FOUR bucks!! not $40 on clearance!)

So all in all I'm very pleased with the results of my modified Fat Flushing. I never really cared too much about weight and sizes before, but now that my shopping has suddenly become so much less frustrating, I've finally found my incentive to stay trim. :)

And besides, Mr. Pickles tells me I look good. Hm, I think I need to add certain other items to my shopping list....


*I'm tall. I weigh more than shorter people with the same BMI. At one of my dr. apptmts a few years ago, the nurse who was weighing me suddenly looked me up and down and said in surprise, "Wow, you carry your weight really well!" I just looked at her, shocked that she could be so...tactless, especially since I was proud of that number at that time, and tried to brush it off with, "Yeah, well, I'm tall." The odd thing was that she wasn't much shorter than I am. Doesn't she own a scale either? Hello, it's okay for a woman who's 5'10" to weigh a little over 150 -- that's well within the NORMAL range for BMI -- don't insult her by telling her that weighing that much she ought to look fatter! Sheesh. So... that's why I'm a little hesitant to share numbers.