Battle of The Bulge - Keep Keepin' On

So, the Battle of the Bulge Challenge was for the month of October. But, since I had started my own Battle in August, and plan on continuing it for a few months more...for me it was just a way to stay accountable during that month. It is now over, and our lovely hostess reached her goal (Yay Amber), and posted all about it here.

I had my weigh in last night, which would round out my "October Results". So, although this will be the last "Battle of the Bulge" post, it will not be my last "weight loss" post, because I'm going to keep going until I reach my goal.

AND IN FACT, I have changed my goal. I have now officially added 5 pounds to my weight loss goal, which means that I have a little further to go now, but MAN am I going to look HOT when I get there. lol ;-)

So, here we go with my results for the week. This week I lost yet another 1.6 lbs, bringing my total weight loss to 16.6 lbs. I am not afraid to tell you that the numbers on my scale right now I haven't seen since I was in my mid 20's, and they make me very happy. I am only 2.8 lbs away from my initial goal. But I am now officially 7.8 lbs away from my FINAL goal. And the thing is, now I know I can do it!

As to what I did this past week, food wise, I stuck with my 5 days of Jenny Meals, and 2 days of my own meals. On the days of my own meals I'm trying to stick to the basics of lots of veggies, eating every three hours, healthy snacks, and healthy portion sizes.

Exercise wise, this week was my first real week of incorporating exercise into the plan. I joined a gym last Wednesday and began very elementary cardio work-outs on Friday. I went to the gym Friday, Monday and Wednesday. I also did a bit of dancing Friday night (though that was quite possibly cancelled out by all the wine I drank that night) and went for an almost 2 mile walk with Mom on Thursday.

The plan for this coming week remains the same...to eat the same way, and to try to fit at least 3 days of the gym, though with my schedule this coming week, that might be a bit of a stretch. Still, we'll do what we can, right?

The challenge will be next week, because yours truly will be vacationing in sunny Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and I have no intention of marring my vacation by stressing over food and exercise. I will try to pick the healthier options wherever we go out to eat, but I can guarantee you there will be martinis involved throughout much of the week. I will also try to exercise some, but there will lost of lounging around in the sun to compensate for that as well.

We'll see how I do with "real life" in the mix.

For now, I have to tell you something...I'm thrilled with the changes I've seen in my body, and as a former "skinny girl" who was always made to feel badly about how thin I was, it's actually been kind of nice to begin getting those comments again. However, I have actually had those feelings of "guilt" or "shame" about looking good creep back in. How strange is that? Now, when someone says to me "you're looking great, man you've lost a lot of weight" I find myself making excuses or explaining myself, as in "well, I've worked really hard" or "Well, I still haven't gotten there". Funny right?

Who would have thought I'd be more self-conscious about being thin than fat? Guess the skinny girl never left, she was just enjoying the break from all the attention.

Regardless, I'm so ready to let her come back out to play.