Quarters and Significance

I realized today that when I get to 20 pounds lost, I'll pretty much be 1/4 of the way to my goal. Whoa! That sounds so significant.

Twenty pounds just sounds more significant anyway, doesn't it? I'm at 17 3/4 pounds lost right now, but it sounds like nothing next to 20. It's funny how we perceive these things.

Also, 17 3/4 pounds seemed to be the magic number for having people at work notice. I wrote about the receptionist saying something the other day - yesterday a second person told me I was looking really good. Woo! I love it so much. Of course, two people saying something isn't exactly a floodgate of compliments, but I still love it, and it's a nice bit of validation.

It may be taking me forever to get this weight off, but you know what? It didn't go on overnight, so I knew going in that it wouldn't come off overnight. And I've pretty much stopped counting ahead and trying to figure out when I'll get to goal, or how much I can expect to weigh at Christmas, or whatever. I'm more interested in finding out how much I lose each week. The number each week is kind of small, but you add a bunch of weeks together, and it becomes so significant.

I'm feeling like I'm kind of uncharted territory now, too. The lowest weight I've been in the last ten years or so is roughly two pounds MORE than I weigh right now. So even though I hit my current number at some point on the way up the scale, it's been so long that I can't really remember being there. You know? So every lower number I see on the scale is just that much more exciting.

Weight loss is hard, but it's also kind of fun, in a way. You eat less, you move a bit more, and your body cooperates by slowly taking off the extra fat. It's a great feeling. :)