At my party the other night, I was looking great and feeling even better. I was wearing an outfit I hadn't been able to fit into for 4 years and (finally!) people started noticing I had lost a lot of weight. The compliments were flying all night, and I felt thin and beautiful and confident. And apparently how good I looked and felt counterbalanced the extra 50 lbs. I'm still carrying because... someone I met at the party asked me out on a date today!
That's right, even before I've lost all the weight, I'm already achieving the third goal on my ARC! I am completely over the moon about it, mostly for the shot of encouragement it gives me as I embark on this first solo week. Unfortunately, the sweetheart who asked me out isn't Mr. Right, or even Mr. Right Now, but he will always be someone special to me for (unknowingly) helping me with my weight loss.
And my weight loss is also some amazing news: I'm more than halfway to my second 5 lb. goal because I lost 3 lbs. this week! Today holds such good omens for the future:
As for the future, Dr. Beck does offer some more advice. In the Going Forward section of her book, she addresses "When to Stop Losing and Start Maintaining". I am very much looking forward to the day I need to make that change! To determine what day that should be, Dr. Beck asks 2 questions:
- What weight would you like to weigh? (i.e., your ideal goal)
- What weight could make you at least minimally satisfied? (i.e., your satisfaction goal)
Dr. Beck tells us a person who answers those questions with 2 different numbers has more realistic expectations. I guess so, but I think it's possible to be realistic if they're the same too.
Really, my ideal and satisfaction goals aren't numbers on a scale, they're about how I look and feel. But to quantify those feelings, numbers are going to have to do. So since most weight charts put the upper limit of a healthy weight for a woman my height at 130, my satisfaction goal is 130 lbs. I suppose I could say my ideal goal would be towards the lower end of the healthy range, closer to 117 lbs., but again, it's really about how I'll look and feel with less weight hanging on me.
Dr. Beck goes on to discuss "lowest achievable weight vs. lowest maintainable weight", but I'm not ready to think about that yet. Right now, my focus is still losing another 50 lbs.
To that end, my goals this week are to:
- Practice my skills
- Complete my To-do List
- Find substitute exercise while the gym pool is closed
- Review my travel plan for my trip to Las Vegas
2 comments:
Woo hoo! I have just started reading your blog, and I'm so pleased to hear of the rewards you are receiving and the new confidence you feel. I'm on Day 22 (have not lost my 1st 5 lbs yet) and you're inspiring me to keep going to get to where you are!
I hope you keep checking in on the blog every week! I'd love to see how Week 8 goes. When I finish the 6 weeks, I plan to go back to the beginning and go through the book again. I expect to need to keep reinforcing these things. Also, I think I'll learn new things each time around -- like on Day 1, I may find that my list of Advantages has changed.
You've done such an awesome job, you might not need to repeat the steps. But I'm looking forward to reading how you continue to use and evolve the techniques now that you've completed the 6 weeks.
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