Day 27: -21.7 LBS IN 1 MONTH!

I gave myself an MS Paint pedicure because it's cheaper and faster than a real one.  lol
I DID IT! 

 

I have been riding an adrenaline high all day because not only did I achieve my goal of losing 20 lbs by the end of August, but I exceeded it!  Seldom will you meet someone as happy as I was to see "344.7" on the scale this morning (I mean, in WHOSE mind is that cause for celebration?), but when you lose 21.7 lbs in 25 days - it's time for a well deserved, ego-boosting, pat on the back!

You can't see the difference yet, but you will eventually!

 

I had hoped to update my measurements as well but, it seems I've made some mistakes while trying to do it myself because the numbers I got didn't make much sense.  However, I would venture to say that I've possibly trimmed an inch off of both my waist and hips.  (Then again, my measurements said my thighs were three inches larger, giving me the dimensions of a baby hippo...)

 

This chest cold persists, though not badly enough to keep me down.  That, coupled with my weight loss meant that I had a phenomenal day!  Work was hectic - kept me bustling for eight hours straight and I loved every minute of it...the hotter and sweatier and more sore that I got, the more I imagined my body just kicking each and every tiny calorie to the curb.

Ironically, even though I am finally on the mend from the cough and such, I once again found myself with no appetite today.  Couldn't bring myself to eat anything for lunch and once again just barely scraped past the 1200 calorie minimum.  It's good that I'm not starving and that I'm becoming satisfied with smaller portions of healthier food, but I'm concerned that I'm not eating enough to get the nutrients I need.  Plus, the last thing I want to do is continuously dip below the 1200 calorie mark and send my metabolism into shut-down.  It's only been two days so, I'm not panicking - just mindful of it.

The greatest satisfaction for today comes from 1) making my family and friends proud and 2) earning over $180.00 for charity in 25 days; $21.70 to benefit Operation Smile, $50.00 to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and $108.70 to benefit the ALS Therapy Research Institute in honor of the Mahoney family.  Of course, I give my supporters all the credit for the latter - without their generosity, no amount of weight I lost would have made any difference to the rest of the world.  THEY are the true inspirations and motivations behind this story.

 

Jenna Hodge was the first wonderful person to send in proof of her donation.  THANKS JENNA!

Lissa Bryan - one of my incredibly kind and giving September challengers - turned me onto theberry.com, an interesting site that includes motivational images.  Since I had all this extra adrenaline coursing through my veins, but am still not breathing well enough to do anything productive with it, I decided to peruse the site.  It was fantastic - I saved several exercises that I would like to try in the upcoming weeks, learned about different shakes and snack ideas,  read numerous motivational sayings, and  saw inspirational stories from others who have lost the weight and now look fantastic.  (I may or may not have created a new folder of pictures labeled "Chunky -> Hunky" with pictures of men who's new, slimmer, muscular, toned, more defined physiques were...um..."motivational".  lol)

 

But then, this was the image that sobered me.

 

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm still very happy I've lost the weight and very proud of how much I've accomplished in such a short time - but this just reminded me of how very much farther I have to go.  I've won the battle, but not the war.

 

No worries - I'll get there. Little by little. Step by step. Day by day...

 

But that doesn't mean I'm not going to cherish each and every one of these little victories along the way.

 

C'mon September.  Bring it on!