Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

 This past week hasn't been much different than the last week - still little food open on campus, still avoiding fast food, which is getting increasingly difficult.  I say that because I'm refusing to go to the store - I need to clean out my refridgerator this week and don't really want to add more food to it.  This coming weekend I will be travelling back to Ohio to visit the family while I'm on summer vacay, so I don't want to leave a bunch of stuff.  But, that also means that I have little to eat.  Not a major issue, as there are plenty of places around here to get reasonably healthy food, and I have a few Smart Ones stocked up to tide me over.  So, since there wasn't any major drama, I thought I'd take this time to talk about changes.

When I first started this journey, I noted that it was not a New Years Resolution, but a change in my lifestyle.  After I weighed in this week, my leader asked me if I had noticed any changes, and the smart aleck in me wanted to say, "I've lost over 30 pounds...of course I've noticed changes", but I simply answered "yes" and proceeded to note a few for her.  Thinking about changes, I began to notice more and more - some big, some little. 

- When I'm looking for someone else to cook my dinner, I'm thinking about actual restaraunts, not fast food chains.

- I spend significantly less money eating out.

- I snack on fruits and veggies rather than chips and pretzels.

- I have more energy than I've had in a long time.  I've never really been a morning person...unless there's something super important going on in the morning (like leaving for vacay, taking someone somewhere, or opening Christmas presents), it usually takes me a few times to hit the snooze before I get up.  Well, I still hit the snooze button (hey, I like sleep), but throughout the day I am way less tired than I used to be.  I don't feel like napping after lunch most days, I don't drink coffee (not like I did much before, but I would partake in the occasional iced beverage before), and I don't spend my whole evening on the couch because I'm too tired to do anything else.

- I go for two hour walks with friends on the weekend instead of watching tv.

- Yoga is getting easier each time I do it.  This week I did tree position without falling for the first time!  (That's the one where you stand on one leg with the other foot on your thigh with your hands over your head)  Though, I still kind of feel like Warrior Pose is the devil (lunging with your arms over your head)...

- Exercise gives you endorphins, endorphins make you happy, and happy people just don't kill their husbands....they just don't!  Okay, I stole that from Legally Blonde, but it's true.  I am, in general, a happier person.  I contribute it partially to feeling better about myself period, and partially to the new enorphins.  I'm not really much of a grumpy person anyway, but I don't let things stress me out as much.

- I sleep better.  I fall asleep faster - I don't get up during the night as often (unless I wait until late to work out then, I have to pee a lot because of all the water I drank).

- I don't work out EVERY day - and on the days that I don't, it takes me longer to get to sleep.  I lay in bed feeling like I forgot something and have energy to burn.

- I am rediscovering all kinds of clothes that I had but couldn't wear.  (I found even more since last week)  On a slightly sad note, though, some clothes that I really like are getting way too big now.  I know that it's really a good thing....but I liked them. 

- This was the first year I've gotten out my summer clothes and not worried that they wouldn't fit because they were too small...I actually worried that they wouldn't fit because they were too big.  There were a few that were a little big, none that were too small, but plenty that were just right.  (And now I sound like Goldilocks)

- I don't have to buy a bathing suit this year...I have several now.

- My boobs are bigger than my stomach again.

- Some days I actually kind of like looking at myself in the mirror.

Change is hard...and scary.  But change makes you stronger...and sometimes thinner.

Initial weight: 257.2
Week 19: -1.0
Total weight loss: -34.2 lbs
Current weight: 223.0

I am almost at the weight I was when I started Weight Watchers for the very first time when I was in college...and, ironically, I've lost almost as much as I did that time, too.