The scale won't scare me!

Happy Halloween! My daughter woke me up super early this morning to let me know that it was Halloween and that meant that it was almost Christmas. Eeek! She's right. :)

I haven't weighed myself in a few weeks. I woke up this morning feeling uncomfortable in my skin. It's strange, but since my surgery, my skin is very sensitive to the slightest weight gain. I decided that I had to be completely honest with myself and weigh in. The sad news is that I have gained a few pounds. I was up to 196.5. The good news is that I know how to quickly change course and get back to my comfortable 192-195 range. To be perfectly honest with you, I can't remember drinking water since my workout on Friday morning. I know that I have a pound or two of fluid swishing around in my body. Water is so vital to weight loss.

Halloween is probably not the best day to get back to making healthy choices, but why wait until tomorrow? I refuse to put my weight on hold (or allow it to get out of control) just because it's a holiday. I can enjoy Halloween without gorging on candy. We have two months of holidays coming up. If I continued this trend, I'd be up the typical 8-10 pounds of holiday weight gain by the new year. My friend Kelly did a great post about holiday weight gain last week. Check her out!

I'm off to drink some water, make a healthy breakfast, and head off to work. Have a safe and happy Halloween!

~Kari

You're still beautiful, a size 14 skirt, and goal setting

Back from vacation and I am happy to report that I was able to maintain my weight even though I had fast food twice this week and spent a total of 13 hours in the car over the course of 4 days. I ran 3 out of the 4 days I was on vacation and did a decent job of watching my food without the help of Spark People or my food scale. I went to visit my grandparents and spent 3 days hearing how great I look- a girl really can't get enough of that. :)

Since my picture montage I've had several people make a comment similar to this: You were always beautiful. This got me thinking. When I started losing weight I had one goal in mind and that was to get healthy. Over the course of losing weight I have discovered a variety of new body parts- collar bones, hip bones, and rocking calves. I also look younger and have a better complexion. I never posted my pictures for people to see how beautiful I have become. See, I always thought that I was beautiful. My beauty comes from Christ. I am beautiful because of who I am in Him. I posted my pictures because there is really no other way to document my progress in a way that others could truly understand. Hopefully I am not coming across as boastful or prideful. I truly am amazed at who I've become and want to celebrate with those who have been such a support to me.

On another note, I went to Macy's today for some new clothes. My 18's that I bought in August are dragging on the ground and I have become desperate for new pants. I made some great scores! I bought two skirts and a pair of pants for $23. The pants and one skirt are a comfy size 16 on super clearance and the other skirt is a size 14 (!!!!!!!) also on super clearance. The 14 is cotton and therefor stretchy, but as I explained to my husband, it is STILL a 14. Woot! Woot!

I've set a new goal- my new goal is to not gain weight between now and January 1st. I heard on the radio the other day that the average American gains 8 to 10 pounds between Halloween and New Years. I will still continue my exercise program, but have decided to give myself the slack needed to enjoy and not obsess over the eating season. That doesn't mean I will forget all that I have learned about healthy eating, but it does mean that I can enjoy Thanksgiving stuffing and not feel bad the next morning.