2nd 6-Week Weigh-in

It was time for another 6-week weigh-in today. The last month and a half I've worked really hard, harder than I worked the first 6 weeks. I feel I've accomplished a lot as far as my cardio goes. I can run 3 miles under 29 minutes without breaking too much of a sweat (something I've never been able to do!) I ran a 10K, the longest race I've ever done. My fat pants are packed away, and my "normal" pants are loose. My skinny clothes are close to fitting, which blows my mind. I'm almost half-way to my goal and I feel great.

So, with all that said... my results. In 12 weeks I have lost:

16.6 lbs.
6.3% body fat
3.75 inches from my waist
3.5 inches from my hips
1 full inch from my neck

To add a disclaimer to my weight loss which is not as good as my last weigh-in, it is my special monthly time (I'm sure you all wanted to know that) and so I bet if we would have waited another week I would have lost more weight. Oh well.

I'm really hoping to be at my goal weight by Christmas and I think I can do it. Someone asked me a couple weeks ago if my healthy eating habits will be something I can stick with forever, or something that will last until I meet my goal. To be honest, I had not really thought about that until I was asked. I definitely think this is something I can maintain. I'm not starving myself. I'm not trying to maintain a fad diet which usually doesn't work. I'm just choosing healthier foods, and eating smaller portions. There is no magic to this. Exercise and diet... that's all it is... and a lot of motivation and hard work. One of my favorite sayings that has helped motivate me during hard times is "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels." It's so true. I've thought about that a couple times, especially when I first started all this a couple months ago. It's easy to sit down in front of the tv with a bag of chips, M&Ms, or whatever you're craving at the moment and mindlessly down the whole bag without thinking twice about it. It's easy to go to a restaurant and order a huge plate of ribs, fries, and a coke and shovel it down in minutes. It's NOT that easy to plan out your meals, check out the nutritional content, and know when you're full and to say stop... but that's what it takes. I've learned that when you are really in-control though, you can make the conscious choice of what you put in your mouth, and that is a huge step to becoming healthier. Okay, enough ramblings. I'm excited and motivated, something I haven't felt about myself in a long time, so of course I want to share it with my family and friends. Thanks for all the support and encouragement everyone! It means more than you know.