Resolution Update: 19 Weeks

It has been 19 weeks now since I first weighed in to see where I was starting in my quest to reach my ideal weight. I stepped on the scale this morning, and I have passed a significant milestone. I now weigh 199 pounds, even. It's the first time in years that I have weighed less than 200 pounds! I have lost a total of 31.4 pounds since I started this journey.

Another big deal for me is being able to shop for clothes in "regular" stores. I have bought a summer dress and a couple of skirts and tops at Old Navy (something I couldn't have done when I started all this), and I've bought some tanks tops for the warmer weather in the regular department in JC Penney. Thursday morning, I went through a couple of boxes of old clothes that I had recently taken out of storage, and I am able to fit back into most of it - cute skirts, a few pairs of jeans, and a variety of tops. And, I've also been able to put lots of stuff into a big, black trash bag to be taken to Goodwill - I think I'm working on bag number 4. It was nice, a few weeks ago, to put on a pair of shorts from last summer and have the waistband fall down to my hips.

Also, I went to David's Bridal Wednesday evening on my way home from work. I needed to get some information about how far in advance I'm going to need to order my bridesmaid dress for my sister's wedding. I've decided to go with a short dress, and with the color my sister chose, that only gives me four dresses to pick from. I was able to try on a smaller size than the first time we all went to the dress shop with my sister, when she bought her dress. I've narrowed it down to two dresses - my first choice, which is the same dress my other sister chose, and a "runner-up" dress, but it was also good to be able to say "I don't like either of those". Both the dresses I'm considering will take 12 weeks to come in, and then I need to allow 4-6 weeks for them to do any needed alterations. I did explain that I am in the process of losing weight, and that I had lost about 30 pounds since the beginning of the year. They said that - if I will be continuing to lose weight - when I order my dress, I should order one size smaller than what fits at that point, and then they can take it in up to two dress sizes from there. Eighteen weeks from the wedding is July 4th, but I don't want to cut it that close, so I have decided I'll order my dress on/around June 20. That gives me five weeks more...

I will admit, I don't always get the exercise in, but when that happens, I also make adjustments to what it is I consume. I still eat fast food, but I try to be smart about my choices. I love Sonic, but that's about one of the worse choices I could make, so I don't go there. And, I'll often order the kid's meal or order items a la carte to keep portion size under control. I've been able to keep my sweet tooth from getting out of hand. I bought a box of Twinkies several weeks ago because I had a craving for a real one, and I'm happy to say I still have several of them left. I also still have some of my Easter candy left, too. I will have the occasional soda (I pick up some of those 8-ounce cans), if I can spare the calories. Since I've been seeing steady progress (there has still only been that one week when I didn't lose weight), it's been a lot easier to think "do you want that *soda, candy, fast food*, or do you want to keep losing weight?" to keep myself from making poor choices. So far, so good.