• Wore a size 16 (regular, not W) pencil skirt. Bought it about three weeks ago, and it was a little snug. Now it’s even a tiny bit loose in the waist.
• Bought a bathing suit today, and not only is it not horrible, it looks kinda good. For a swimsuit and all.
• Daniel stepped up my workout from simple strength training to conditioning. It about killed me, but I did it.
• Bought my first L shirt in quite a while this weekend
• Down from four hooks to two!
• Email from COC colleague: “…I must say Look at YOU!!! I actually did the “double take” yesterday as I almost did not recognize you at first.”
• After nearly eight months of working out practically ever day, two days a week with a trainer, I’m finally seeing a very slight lift in my caboose.
• Starting to tuck shirts in every now and then.
• Can feel my ribs!
• I have hip bones!!
• Many of my XL pants, especially my workout pants and PJs, are getting really loose.
• The size 16p pants Sister gave me are getting baggy!
• Seeing continuous (and amazing) toning in my legs.

My non-scale victories for February! I record them when they happen, then publish a month’s worth at a time. It’s pretty neat to see them, especially those weeks when the scale is slow to move.

• One of our vendors noticed and complimented me on my weight loss
• Last month, I could BARELY do five “ham on ball” reps; now I can do 15.
• Noticed that my workout shirts, which were toward the tight side when I got them in September, are now loose-fitting…Ditto on the workout pants that I bought a few months ago
• Airplane seat belts are A LOT loser + more comfortable
• Ice skating is easier 43 lbs. lighter and in better shape.
• My favorite Earth Girl pajamas are really just too big; even with the drawstring tied as tight as possible, the pants still come off in the middle of the night.
• Wore a ring today that hasn’t fit in at least four years
• Wore a size 14w skirt today, a straight skirt at that
• When I got up from my seat today, no one had to scoot up their chairs to let me by; I fit through fine!
• Wearing 14 WP that have been hanging in my closet for over a month; they finally fit!
• I’m no longer automatically “the biggest person in the room.”
• Even the trash men at work are starting to notice my weight loss now
• Bought a darling jacket from Stein Mart’s petites department, and it fits perfectly

What a difference a year makes!

In 2010 when I visited Kansas City, Sister and I went ice

skating. I made it around once, hugging the wall. I was cold and my ankles hurt, along with everything else. After one lap, I got off the rink, took my skates off and watched Sister.

Fast forward to this week. After the first day of our Center for Sustainability meeting, several of us went over to the rink. I can’t lie – I still hugged the wall – but I went around about a lot more than once. When I stopped after about 10 laps, it wasn’t because something hurt, but because it was so darn cold! The next day, nothing was even sore.

Great non-scale victory!

MP, February 2010

MP, February 2011

As not to flood the blog with one sentence updates, I decided to note positive, non-scale related changes in one place and post once a month. So here is the good news from January, 2011. (Is it really already February??)

• Bought a t-shirt from the workout section of Target, aka not the plus-sized section
• Bought a cute new robe in a size 14/16
• Got back into a size 16 skirt (I think it was a regular 16, too, not 16W!)
• After trying it on several times to find it too snug, I finally wore Beth’s yellow sweater set today; it was the perfect fit!
• Didn’t like wearing my love bug Life is Good shirt to workout in; it looked too big, sloppy vs. my slimmer cut workout shirts.
• Too tight skirt I bought around Christmas is now loose in the waist
• Bought two XL dress shirts from the misses section, NOT the women’s, aka chub, section
• Bought a size 14w dress, which fits like it was made for me!
• Tried on a pair of Beth’s pants, regular 16 petite, and they fit
• Beth pulled out a few of her slips for me – I needed a length I didn’t have – and I said that they were tiny, certainly too small for me. And the one I tried on – it fit!
• One of my favorite things: I tried on a bunch of rings that I never thought I’d wear again, and they all fit! Love them all and so glad to “get them back” (This is my favorite change for January! I love all of my great rings and am so happy to be able to wear them again!)
• Doing leg presses, I noticed that my calves and legs looked a lot thinner
• A 1X coat that was “very fitted” in December is getting loose a month later