Achievement unlocked

I've written about my weight loss before, on here. It's been a lifetime struggle, exaggerated by the weight I'm still holding onto from Arlo. That's right... I'm not even at my pre-pregnancy weight, 14 months later. And my pre-Rory weight? Forget about it.

It's not like I've lost much. In fact, the loss has been so slow it's barely worth showing my graph. We're talking about 13 pounds in 14 months, guys. But, it's progress, and I'll take it. I'm confident my body fat % has dropped a lot more than that 14 pounds, though. I've finally hit my goal of being under 200 pounds, weighing in today at 199.8. Progress, slow but steady.

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After all these months, all that sweat, the tears, every other emotion possible, I'm finally seeing results. It's exciting and terrifying and I just want to eat a cupcake. As you can see above, I have a tendency to take a few steps back when I see progress, and it's taking everything I've got to keep it in check.

::takes deep breath::

So, what's working for me? A combination of things. I'm eating paleo, counting my calories -- about 1500 calories a day. I'm working out almost every day, doing the C25k again. My gym workouts are usually some form of the 30DS or sets of push-ups and sit-ups. I've also been rowing 1000 meters at a time, and my hands have the blisters to show it. I've also been dabbling in Intermittent Fasting which you can read about here. The biggest contribution in the last few weeks has been weaning. We're pretty much officially weaned at this point, and I'm sure the dramatic slip in production the last month or so has really helped ramp up my weight loss.

For now, my next goal is another 10 pounds, or 189.9 by Thanksgiving. Any larger of a goal than that and I get scared, get frustrated, get overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of weight I want to lose and it becomes easy to say, "Screw this," and make poor choices. So for now, I'll focus on the fit of my jeans (slipped on some 14s last night that fit perfectly), the quality of my food and the effort of my workouts. I'll try to remember that I'm not my number, and that it's about overall health, not what my scale reads in the morning.

I want to give a shout out to the women who inspire me every day. All of them mothers, like myself, and all of them working hard towards their goals and keeping their head up. I love reading your blogs, and you keep me going when the going is rough. Thanks girls!

Carolyn | Leah | Jenn | Isha | Ashley | Abby