I lost a second grader.

January 18, 2013 at 12:55 PM | Posted in I am human., I learn from my mistakes., What's up? | 2 Comments
Tags: weight loss, Weight Watchers®

Not literally, that would be terrible! I lost a comparable amount of weight in flesh.

Let’s step back for a minute. If you know me and you haven’t seen me in several years then this might sound shocking. What I weigh now is what I weighed in, say, 2005. I’m a little heavier now than I was at my 10-year high school reunion in 2004*, but less than I was when I met Bill in 2006. In the intervening years, though, I slowly but surely got heavier and heavier. Not oh-my-God-she-needs-a-crane heavy, just plump. Plump in a way that was becoming bothersome.

* If that’s the last time you saw me then you’ll notice my lack of long hair before anything else.

I heard years ago that the weight you are at 25 is probably what you’ll weigh the rest of your life. IF ONLY. At 25 I had no idea how rocking my body was, and if I could’ve kept that weight forever then I would be set now. I stressed that I was 10 pounds too heavy. I was a size 10 and 145 pounds. Ah, the younger years.

Brief Background: In 2004 I got a divorce and a new best friend. In 2005 I (very suddenly) got an exchange student.** In 2006 my best friend moved away, the exchange student left, and I met Bill. In 2007 I experienced more drama than since my broken-family childhood as many people’s lives adjusted to accommodate the  new Sacha–Bill pairing. In 2008 the drama continued (this time with lawyers!) and Bill moved in with me. In 2009 Bill lost his job, Bill got a new job, and we got married. In 2010 I took injections for MS and hated every second of it. For some period during all that I took antidepressants. For two periods during all that we tried couples’ counseling, two types. At one point I tried the South Beach diet and lost 30 pounds…and then gained it all back when I didn’t adopt it as a lifestyle. In 2011 I really struggled with an unhealthy work environment, more than ever before. At this point I was well over 200 pounds and barely squeezing into a size 18.

** Yes, a teenager from another country came to live with me. It was a bit surreal. My coworkers joked at the time that I should have a reality TV show because, hello, RANDOM TEENAGER AND SINGLE WOMAN, but it wasn’t that dramatic. I enjoyed it and learned a lot but, now that I have a teenager in the house that I love, I can see their point. Teenagers are from another planet no matter which country they’re from—it’s universal.

Turning Point: I saw an email circulating about a Weight Watchers® at Work group that said if enough people joined then everyone would have free access to eTools (which weren’t included with meetings at the time). Well, I love a coupon. And I needed something to light a fire under my ass. So I signed up. October 12, 2011, was my first Weight Watchers® meeting. I was terrified.

• I had never before set a long-term goal for myself like that, and didn’t consider myself goal-oriented. I sort of hated that about myself but assumed it was just how I was.
• I am cheap! Weight Watchers® was expensive to take on for someone who didn’t have experience sticking to health-type commitments—diets, exercise, those kinds of things. I was worried it would be a waste of money due to my own lack of discipline.
• I had to own my behavior in a way that acknowledged the consequences of my actions—in other words, overeating leads to weight gain. Admitting my own culpability in a real way was a tough pill to swallow.

My starting weight was 215.8 pounds. By February 1, 2012, I had lost 10% of my body weight, which is the first big mini-goal because it means significant health improvement. Slowly but steadily I continued losing. In the meantime I started exercising more (AKA at all). I hovered around 175 pounds for the summer of 2012. December 28, 2012, was the day I hit the 50-pound milestone. It was exhilarating.

I am not at my goal weight yet. My goal is to lose 30% of my starting weight. Well, technically, I would like to lose more than that, but I think 151 pounds will be a good balance between I-am-happy-here and I-can-maintain-this. When I get there I will tell you that I am 70% mass, 100% sass. I predict that you won’t be able to stand me, I’ll be so obnoxious.

UPDATE: Course adjusted.

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