Sunday, December 5, 2010

Weigh-in no. 16: The "I'm writing this wearing my skinny jeans" edition

It's been a good week.  I've been productive, I've felt good, Jim and I have done a lot of work winterizing this old, draughty, stone house and 2 of my closest friends are gearing up to come spend Christmas with us here in Norn Iron.  I put up the christmas tree yesterday and we got the fire going after having the chimney swept.

Life is good.

I feel like I go up and down here on this blog; yet, I know life is a series of ups and downs (since flatline is for people who are dead), so I know I needn't feel bad about it or think that it gives an impression of me being unstable.  Ha!  Sincere thanks to everyone who chipped in on helping me figure out the funk and the possible physical aspects of it a couple weeks ago.  I have been testing a few things since then and so far I think I have it figured out.  The weather conditions have been terrible the last week (we got our first major snow here and it's lasted a whole week so far), so barometric pressure has been moving in all kinds of directions and I've been ok.  The key has been starting back on my allergy medication (generic Zyrtec) which seems to be keeping sinus congestion caused by allergies to mold, dust, etc. at bay which had been causing severe pain when the air pressure changes.  I've been taking that for 2 weeks now and haven't had a headache since.  But I'm not so cocky as to think that I've got it licked.....will continue to keep an eye out and let you know how it goes.

I feel kinda bad that for the last few weeks, I've only been posting weekly.  But don't worry - this isn't going to turn into an apology session each week.  I do what I have the time to do and when I have inspiration, so.......  When one has to write all the time for work, going home and writing a blog entry doesn't sound too appealing sometimes.  But I do think I want to start posting more videos and news stories, etc that speak to me (which don't require as much time), so be on the lookout for those in the coming weeks.  I have to remind myself that each post needn't be a treatise or some big revelation.

So, yeah............  (as my friend Emma would say)

The pile of clothes that are now too big for me - donate or quilting?
Earlier this past week, I finally did my celebratory 'leaving-the-300's' cleanout of my closet.  Most of the stuff was quite old anyway - but there were a few things I bought when I was in the states in the spring that had to go as well.  Despite it being fairly new, it was just too big.  So I'm trying to decide if I should donate them to the local charity shop or cut them up to use for quilting fabric.  Would a quilt made out of my 'fat clothes' be comforting or something I'd never want to see again?  Not sure.  Still need to think about that one.

I'm still a bit shocked at how unsentimental I've been about that transition.  I think it may have been because I never really accepted in my mind that I was over 300 lbs.  I think somewhere deep down I knew it, but I was shocked at how far above 300 I was when I started this process 16-17 weeks ago.  I've flirted with 300 for years, but somewhere in my head I've been telling myself that I was in the 290s.

My progression of jeans size (thanks to Tara for this idea)
It's like those folks who refuse to say they're in their 30s and continue telling everyone they're 29.  Everyone knows different, but the one claiming that age doesn't want to face up to the fact that they're getting old.  So, I think it'll be more emotional for me to get further and further away from the 290s....because I think that's when the change will become more and more real to me. 

And as you can tell from the title of the post, I am now wearing my skinny jeans.  They are jeans that I haven't worn since February 2007 (for a brief period of time) and before that May 2002.  I've kept them all this time.  They're knackered - stained and ripped with the crotch worn out and patched up -  so they're nothing really valuable, but they help me to measure my progress and that's nothing but a good thing.  Luckily, I have 3 other pair of jeans about this size that I can wear as well, but they're fairly new.  I bought them months ago so that I would have something to work towards, so now I have jeans I can wear without having to wear a belt to keep them up.  I've also ordered a pair of size 20s from Old Navy (I love their jeans!) for my friends to bring at Christmas so I'll have them on hand when I'm ready.

I'm wearing my skinny jeans (May 2002)
It's interesting to me - in the picture of me in Kenya wearing my skinny jeans, I must be about the same weight as I am now (if not even a little lighter), but I don't think I was nearly as fit.  My endurance was pitiful.  I remember us climbing a cinder cone to survey the Great Rift Valley and I just gave up about a third of the way.  I couldn't do it.  I'm not saying I'm fit now, but I do think that today I would keep pushing to get to the top.  It makes me sad for my self back then, that I gave up so easily when it came to physical exertion, and I remember feeling the shame of it.  I feel sad that I missed out on opportunities like that, and it makes me wonder what else I've missed out on.  But I recognize that that was where I was at the time and I can't change that.  What I can change is what I do now, and how I deal with opportunities that present themselves to me now and in the future.  And so I keep on going....

So, this week, the scale says:

weigh-in no. 16 (-2.0)

Last week:    298.8
This week:    296.8      
Loss of           - 2.0
Total Loss     - 30.2

I can't wait to go over to my Goal page and mark things off:  I have now lost 30+ lbs.  I am wearing size 22 jeans.  I can run 3+ minutes.  Plus, I can do 60 reps of 65 kg (143 lbs) on the leg press.  I was inspired by Skinny Emmie's post about the stairmaster this week, so I am keen to get back on the bucking horse elliptical machine this coming week and eventually show it who's boss.  I will not feel defeated by a stupid machine.

And, despite the inevitable bad days, it'll only get better!

6 comments:

  1. Awesome job on the two pound loss!

    I sometimes feel like my blog is all over the place too, but it's more for me than anyone else so I don't worry about it too much. Plus I know other people out there go through the same things we do, they just might not always post so openly about it. I like your idea about posting more news stories, links, recipes, ideas, etc when time for posting personally is low.

    Love the tree! Happy Holidays!

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  2. great news J, for what its worth I think you should keep some items of clothing and make an art work out of them when you have reached your goal. It would be pretty great transforming those items into something reflecting your goal position...just a thought...keep on going, you are doing great.

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  3. Excellent progress in so many areas! And you *will* show the elliptical who is boss. I remember when I could only stay on a few miserable minutes my first time... an my last time I was kicking it in high gear for over an hour. How things change!

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  4. You're going to kick the elliptical's butt!

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  5. Way to go!

    Hail to the skinny jeans

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  6. excellent! i remember that climb. it kicked tail. with your mindset you'd kick it today, i'm sure. be gentle with yourself in your memories.

    cheers to skinny jeans and new ones to come! hooray!

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