SKIRT! Team Challenge ~ Body ~ Non-Scale Successes

            One of the things that I put too much credence in is the pesky little numbers found on my bathroom scale.  They mean more to me than they should.  But then again I’m trying to get down to a healthy weight.  I know I’m super focused on that little dial on my scales and sometimes this focus can be good and sometimes it can be bad.  Let me tell you, if you’re stressing about your weight and you’re doing everything right, you might not see a drop in pounds.  Stress will do that to you.  

            So, I decided to focus this blog on those little non-scale successes.  The ones that get me through rough periods when all I want to do is sabotage my own good intentions.  They are what keep me going while I’m waiting to see a drop in numbers. 

Some of my favorite non-scale successes include...

1.        Walking out of a pair of shoes I’ve had since high school.  Yup, if you lose enough weight, you even begin to see a loss in your feet. 

2.       Not having to crab walk between the pews in my church.  You know what I mean.  That awkward side shuffle that people do coming in and out between the pews.  Not me, not any more…now I walk with my hips lined up straight.

3.       Perhaps my all time non-scale success is a belt I purchased when I was at my largest.  I’ve kept that belt and still use it today.  As I lose weight my husband cuts new holes into the belt.  Now when I wear the belt I have this wonderful reminder of just how much weight I’ve lost as I pull it tighter and tighter.  Each belt hole that was he drills into it is another battle successfully won.

4.       One of the most frightening non-scale successes was purchase clothing at a “normal” store.  Yes, it was frightening.  I’ve been mostly a Lane Bryant girl since I became too large to purchase at the old standbys.  I figured, despite being large, I had every right to look lovely.  For those of you who don’t know it, Lane Bryant offers some of the nicest, trendiest large women clothing.  I still miss them.  But the feeling I had shopping at a regular store was horrible.  I felt like I didn’t belong, like I was an imposter.  I was convinced nothing in the store would or could fit me.  My mental image still included that overweight girl I’d been for so very long.  But, my husband forced me to break out of my comfort zone.  After I went through a round of trying on XXXL’s and couldn’t believe that they were too big for me, I moved on to XXL’s, then XL’s to L’s.  It was frightening to have to place myself in a size category that I just wasn’t mentally prepared to accept.  I began looking around and asking my husband what is probably the most uncomfortable series of questions I could have come up with.  I asked him, “Am I larger than her?  Am I smaller than her? Where do I fall in comparison to the other woman I saw?” I really had no idea how I looked to the rest of the world.  Against his better judgment he played the game with me.  He understood that I had no idea of what I looked like.  In my head I was still almost 200 lbs and I needed his honesty (despite his discomfort) to be able to find my real size. (By the way, he now feels the same way about Men of Measure that I feel about Lane Bryant.) 

5.       Not having to let out the seatbelt every time I got in the car. The first time I simply reached over and pulled my seatbelt around myself was a great non-scale success.  The seatbelt doesn’t lie.

6.       Falling below the BMI for obesity.

7.       No longer avoiding my reflection in store windows and making the excuse that their surfaces are bowed and distorting my image.

8.       Understanding what being satisfied really feels like.  There’s a since of accomplishment in being able to sit back from a plate full of food and not feel like I have to finish it…or even that I want to finish it.

9.       Being excited about seeing what I’ll look like once I’m finished losing weight. 

           Inspiring others to lose weight.

           Climbing Mt. LeConte.  Hey, when you’re big finding the energy to break out of old routines and depressing habits can be just as momentous as climbing K2!

Yes, I need to step back now and again to cheer and give credit to my non-scale successes. How about you? Got anything you'd like to share?

Personal Statistics 1-3-2011  1-9-2011  1-17-2011  1.24.2011

Height: 5’4”                                 - -               - -                  - -

Weight: 162.6                              161.00      161.00           161.20

BMI: 27.9                                     27.6          27.6               27.7

1-31-2011

Height: 5’4”                             

Weight: 158.2

BMI: 27.2