Today was my bi-weekly weigh-in and I am at my lowest weight since June 5, 2017, officially. At that time, I clocked in at 161.8 pounds. In the years since, I’ve floated up to 173 pounds, where I usually was consistently between 173 pounds and 176 pounds, depending on the day. I was never happy at that weight, feeling like I had a bit of a “stomach.” People would tell me I’m skinny, but in my head, I’d packed on to many cans of beer and Chipotle burritos into my stomach over the years.
Then I had my kidney donation surgery in December 2019 and thereafter, I was down again to about 166 pounds. In the nearly two years since then, I’ve shot up a lot more than my usual 173-176 range. For example, my high point, which shocked me, was when I first jumped back into using MyFitnessPal to track calories and my weight. I was 180.2 pounds as of July 12, 2021.
When I began donating plasma, they take your weight and when their scales said I was more than 180 pounds, I couldn’t believe it! That has to be the shoes, I thought. As if my shoes can add seven pounds.
In the 56 days since that weigh-in, I’ve been counting calories, eating less carbs, sucking down protein shakes and smoothies, largely kicking alcohol to the curb (that’s also for mental reasons, as alcohol can make my depression worse) and adding a lot more daily exercise to my routine, thanks to the wonderful FitOn app (it’s free, folks!).
I’ve rarely taken a “cheat” day. That is, a day where I eat something bad, whether that’s fast food, pizza or the like. But I did take a few such cheat days this past weekend ahead of my 31st birthday. For example, I ordered pizza for I believe only the second time this year. I’ve mostly been eating frozen pizzas when I do indulge. I also had an incredible chunk of chocolate peanut butter fudge. The following day, I had a big breakfast and more of that leftover pizza. I also indulged in a six-pack of IPAs, which are high in calories (225 calories for one can!), over the course of those two days.
Nonetheless! When I clocked in this morning, worried that I’d ruined my progress, I was still fortunately continuing in the right, positive (er, negative) direction: I was down to 165.0 pounds! That’s the lightest I’ve certainly been since the kidney surgery and the lightest I’ve been since June 2017. After just 56 days of sticking to it. Of being largely consistent. Of enjoying it!
It’s wild to think that only 56 days ago, I was topping 180 pounds. I’ve lost more than 15 pounds in a relatively short amount of time and I’m still not where I want to be. I don’t have a specific weight goal in mind, though. The last time I dropped a lot of weight was in 2016. I actually returned to my high school weight, hitting 150 pounds on April 23, 2016.
So, I’m exactly half-way between my highest weight and my lowest weight historically. The main marker of success I’m looking for, aside from feeling better, as I do, is achieving a flat stomach. That’s really all I want! If that takes dropping another five pounds or even going all the way back to 150 pounds, then so be it.
Milam's Musings 