Celebrating the little victories...

I've been working really, really hard at this since Jan 1, and I'm somewhere about midway through the 15 lbs I want to lose.  But the number on the scale just doesn't seem to move fast enough for all the effort I'm putting in, and I was getting extremely frustrated.  I had two happy moments from the past week that are helping:

Happy diet moment: I honestly thought I was wearing a pair of size 12 pants one day... took me half the day to realize I had accidentally put on the size 10 "skinny" version in the same color that I haven't been able to wear since November!  They were comfy and they looked great again!

Happy fitness moment: I was barely breathing hard after climbing a monster staircase that used to leave me wheezing!  

When could you tell that your diet and exercise were really starting to pay off?  Please share and help me stay motivated without getting fixated on the number I see on my scale (that liar!!!)

YAY! Congrats!!

I'm still waiting for mine to pay off, but you should be SOOO proud of the progress you've made so far!

you're on your way!

Congratulations on the small size jeans. 

When I was plateauing, I was so frustrated with my scale, I wanted to turf it.

However, I was taking measurements, and realized, I was losing lots of inches.

Also being able to put socks on with out my face turn beet red!!

Congrats hecticred! Sounds like you're doing fab! Don't worry about the scale going to fast. I've heard that slow weight loss is more likely to be permanently gone anyway.

I had that size 10 moment a few weeks ago. Isn't it a great feeling?

Now if I could just get into an 8......lol

Slowy and steady wins the race! Don't forget if you are building muscle, the scale # will not be an indicator of size.  You can be shrinking in inches to a more "solid" fitter, firmer you!  Obviously that is what's happening.  Don't fixate on that number - your new # is 10!!!!!! Woo-hoo!

I will do cartwheels in the dressing room when I get to a 10 so you are doing great!!!!!

i noticed some changes when a new pair of pants i bought were simply too big to wear.  then i started pulling clothes out of my "donate" pile and trying them on and realizing that i could wear them again! then i had a pair of workout pants that i used to not wear because i thought they were too tight--but now i use 'em all the time!  for me it's just about pulling out my old clothes and trying them all on--it's like a huge game for me! trying on pants is the same way. i used to hate hate hate hate it because i had to constantly wear larger sizes.  but now i'm back in the juniors and consistently going down and now i LOVE trying on pants because it's like a game!  and i'm winning! :)

congrats on all your success thus far!!! it's so exciting to actually see real results from hard work!

I am in the exact same place, but with less motivation. I have lost 7-8 pound (depending on the morning) of the 15 I set out to lose, and have entered into a monster plateau that is going on three weeks.

I really want to stay focused, but it is hard to keep "behaving" when my scale isn't even moving incrementally.

I think you should be super impressed with yourself and hold tight to any and all pats on the back that you can find. ;0)

My little victory:

Last year at this time I went hiking with my brother and sister. We came to a massive hill and by the time I got up it I was wheezing, my chest hurt, and my face wast he color of a beet. Both my brother and sister were looking at me with this sheer disbelief and concern on their features.

A few weeks ago, I ran up that hill and was only breathing hard at the end. Let me say that again. I RAN up that hill :)

toss out your scale, it is a liar!!!!

i know from doing a labour-intensive summer job that you don't need to lose weight to feel great! the excercise will give you stronger heavier muscles, you'll be able to eat more and digest it better too (cus you're using everything you're eating, not letting it sit) and you'll feel stronger, sleep better, fit better into your clothes, and look slimmer too! it's subtle, you may not notice it too much yourself, but try comparing a very recent picture of yourself with one a few months ago.

i know during the summer i "only lost 5 pounds" according to the scale, but i dropped 3 sizes in clothes and got killer sculpted legs and arms.  i looked more like i'd lost about 10-15, according to my friends, who i've taken to believe more than the silly lying scale.

wow, these are great.  If I can ever run up that particular staircase, now that would really be something.  I knew that  muscle weighs more than fat, but I didn't expect it would be this extreme!  I wish I had measured or taken photos when I started so I could compare, but at least I have the skinny pants. 

thanks for the encouragement and inspiration.  These are all wonderful achievements.

My sister started work this year at a new school with a second floor..  I am trying to get going on dieting again and wasn't exercising... she told me a month or so ago that she had lost a pant size by just going up one flight of stairs everyday  (up and down through the day)  so I started a stepper program...asked her to count the steps so I would know how many...well never got the count so calculated that 81 steps should be equal to one sequence  Well she finally got back to me and said that 24 was the number up..so that mean I can go up three flights of steps and not drop dead!   That impressed me!   like you,  I try on the clothes and hit the scales once a week...  I think that is real telling point...the mirror and how I feel about it...   I am so jealous... that is my goal the skinny size 10 pants ...  someday!   Keep up the good job..  ;-)