Oh yeah...

At the rate of this turning into a blog documenting my weight loss (not that I really care), I just have to share some more good news.

You might remember (or just click here) for the blog I wrote on August 13; I was so excited about how close I was to reaching a set of mini goals. Well, I can proudly say, I've surpassed the first two goals on that list.

I'm only 1.2 lbs away celebrating losing 20 lbs.
To date, I've lost 23.6 lbs.

I'm only 2.8 lbs away from being the weight I was the day I graduated from college.
I'm now exactly 2.8 lbs lighter than I was when I graduated from college.

As for my other two goals:

I'm only 6 lbs away from being the weight I was when I started college.
I'm just 1.2 lbs away from meeting this goal.

I'm only 9 lbs away from being the weight I was when I graduated from high school.
I'm just 4.2 lbs away.

As excited as I am for my steady progress, I am even more excited that I can do things that I wasn't able to do before (or maybe was just too fearful to try). When I first embarked on this healthy lifestyle over a year ago, I joined a women's gym and became a "gym rat". I went frequently. I did simple cardio. I participated in a bunch of fitness classes. I even met with the fitness coaches for monthly assessments. Yet, I wasn't making much progress. I had no clue what I was really doing, how or why.

Back then, I was so uncomfortable in my body. You couldn't have paid me to get on a treadmill and do anything more than a brisk walk. I got frustrated easily at my lack of progress and fed up with being stalled. Eventually, I moved and just stopped going. Looking back, those two things were probably the best thing to have happened to me.

Today, I'm at a co-ed gym chock-full of athletic types, competitors, beauty queens and muscle men, yet I feel right at home getting my workout in. I joke about skinny girls getting onto treadmills next to me running for 60 minutes at a 10.0, but I'm no longer intimidated by it. I'm no longer embarrassed about what I can or can't do. I'm not worried about them. I'm focused on me and the fact that my endurance is building. I'm able to push myself to run longer and faster every week or so.

I'm running!!!!!

I feel so much better about myself and my future. Some of the muscle guys even give me head nods when they see me. I'm there...a lot :-)

I've dropped 23.6 lbs of my 65.8 lb goal. Having only 42.2 lbs to go is so surreal and motivating. Dropping the weight feels like I'm digging my way out of a tunnel. I still have quite a bit of digging to do, but I'm one-third of the way there. I can see the light at the end. Though I know the rest of the way won't be easy, I am more confident than ever before.

If there is one thing I've learned over the past 18 months it's this: sometimes the journey is just as important, if not moreso than the destination. I can't wait to reach the finish line, but I'm grateful for the changes I feel and see in myself.