30-In-30 Challenge: Week 8, 183.5 lbs *NO CHANGE

Well, I survived Christmas without gaining anything. Whew! In fact, the scale actually dipped down a pound during a couple of my morning weigh-ins this week, so I'm still right on track. No, I didn't lose anything this week, but that's perfectly fine by me. I had been worried about losing too fast, anyway. And how many people can say they made it through Christmas without gaining a pound anyway?

The bad news is that as I look back on 2006 with regard to my weight, I've had a LOT of ups and downs. Literally. I actually started off this year weighing around 170 lbs, SO CLOSE to being at my goal weight of 150. And then I let myself go again, ballooning back up to 208. It was the very definition of self-sabotage. It wasn't until I started the 30-in-30 Challenge on Nov 1 before I finally turned things around again.

So to remind myself that I'm still a success story, I thought I'd post my original "Before" picture. That's me on the left in 2003, just before I started Atkins. I'm at my heaviest in that picture, 255 lbs. The picture on the right was taken a couple days ago on Christmas Eve at 183.5 lbs. So while I may be ending 2006 heavier than I started the year, I'm not doing too badly all things considered.

30-In-30 Challenge: Week 7, 183.5 lbs

Meow-y Christmas!! Yup, this is part of the cheesy photo that went out in our Christmas letters this year. Don't we make a great pair?? Well, the weight-loss challenge is still in full swing, and I'm still losing. Down 2 lbs from last week for a total of 24.5 lbs since I started Nov 1.

For the past few weeks, I've had a problem with not eating enough and feeling faint and losing weight too quickly. Well, this week I unintentionally evened things out by not exercising. No real good excuse, either, other than it just being that time of year and I've got a ton of errands to run everyday. But the good news is that I was still able to comfortably jog a mile yesterday without feeling too delirious. So my weight's still going down, my fitness level hasn't suffered too much, and hopefully I'm still on track to beat my personal 5K best on New Year's Eve.

30-In-30 Weight Loss Challenge: Week 6, 185.5 lbs

Another huge "whoosh" happened for me this week. I lost 4.5 lbs this week. It feels great, but I'm guessing a massive plateau is on the horizon. I've lost a total of 8.5 lbs over the past 2 weeks, which strikes me as extreme, given that these aren't my FIRST 2 weeks. Last week, I was sick with a nasty cold and didn't work out all week, although I didn't eat much either. And the week before that, I think my sudden weight loss was just leveling out from a plateau I had been stuck on. Still, I worry I'm not eating enough. In fact, I know I'm not. Sometimes I'm hungry to the point of nausea or stomach pain. Other times I feel dizzy. And yet either I'm so busy at work that I don't have time or I forget to eat, or I'm at home and I fall asleep on the couch, or just don't want to eat late at night. As I write this, I realize these are incredibly poor excuses....... guess I gotta just buck up.

But the thing I'm really excited about - I'm not obese anymore! The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says so. According to my BMI, I am now just an average, overweight American!! Whoo-hoo!!!!! No more feeling piggy! Yeah, I suppose this is just a technicality, but it still feels good. Great, actually. This is the weight where I my size 16 jeans fit very comfortably again, as does almost everything in my closet. And I'm sooooo close to my Christmas goal of 185 lbs even.

By the way, this is a recent pic of me! I'm getting rid of that double chin!

Jimmy Moore's "30-In-30 Weight Loss Challenge": Week 5, 190 lbs

I'm in! After falling off the low-carb wagon (and getting run over by it a few times) for a couple months, I finally re-dedicated myself to eating well and taking care of myself again. And the more I get into it, the more I look to the internet for inspiration and motivation. Turns out I almost missed Jimmy Moore's big "30-in-30 Weight Loss Challenge", his own answer to re-dedicating oneself to continued weight loss. His challenge is to lose 30 pounds in 30 weeks. He's proving it to be completely do-able, and I want in!

The Challenge officially kicked off back in August, but I'm gonna use November 1st as my starting date. That was when I got back on track, after letting my weight creep up to 208. So 30 weeks later and 30 lbs lighter, I plan on weighing 178 by May 29! Weigh-ins are every Tuesday on the Challenge blog, and today's my first, checking in at 190 lbs. Not bad for 5 weeks' work! And to make it even MORE special, Jimmy featured me in today's post! I feel like such a star - thanks, Jimmy!!

Speaking of Jimmy Moore, BIG CONGRATS for making on Fox News's list of Top 10 Health Blogs! This honor speaks for itself - Jimmy's blog Livin' La Vida Low-Carb is THE place to go for all things low-carb. Whether it's inspiration, motivation, product reviews, recipes.... you name it - it's simply one-stop shopping. He even has a separate Low-Carb Links page devoted exclusively to low-carb links, blogs, and theme-based posts. And since I've been away from the whole blogging scene for so long, I see Jimmy's now started his own Podcast Show as well! Soooo much catching up to do. Way to go, Jimmy, and keep up the outstanding work!