3/15 weigh-in: 183.7

I can't believe I almost forgot to make a post to record this week's weight, especially since it was so damn exciting.

First, a little background information. I've hit a plateau in weight loss the past few months. My original goal had been to get down to 180 pounds by Christmas, but I didn't make it. I got down around 190-195, if I remember correctly, but with the cold weather and the money crunch, I was just striving to maintain, especially when I went home. My major problem right now is the temptation toward complacence. Fifty pounds is a big deal, and I'm so much thinner and happier nowadays that I've just sort of been feeling "Well... good enough."

But I want to finish this up. I want to get all the way down. If I get to 150 pounds and I decide it's not for me--that I'd rather eat more and weigh more, then that's fine. But I've got to at least give my slim self a chance. So I instituted March Madness at the beginning of the month, with every intention of losing ten pounds this month, and getting below 180 pounds for the first time since high school. So I've stuck to my exercise schedule like glue for the past two weeks, and I made a couple of diet changes that really seem to be helping--most notably, cutting down on rice and carbs and substituting way more protein. I've also forced myself to eat vegetables I never would have touched before. The first week was awesome, I dropped 2.8 pounds. I was nervous, though, about getting on the scale this morning.

So I almost cried out in happiness when I saw I was under 84 kg! (My scale's metric.) After I did all the math, I'd lost 3.1 pounds since last Saturday. This means I've lost 5.9 pounds in the past two weeks--I'm over halfway there! Joyousness!

I also get paid on Monday, which means I can go back to the gym. I've been doing a lot of research about weight training lately, and I'm going to start over with weight training in earnest, because I've really become convinced about how necessary and helpful hardcore weight lifting can be for helping me lose weight. I'm a little worried about putting on muscle weight, because I'll be disappointed if I can't make my March goal, but it'll be worth it to have all that muscle eating my body fat while I sleep. I'm also going to start looking around for a measuring tape, because if the scale isn't reflecting changes because of weight training, I'm sure the tape will.

It's go time.

Starting Weight (March 2007): 235

March 1: 189.64
March 8: 186.8 (-2.8)
March 15: 183.7 (-3.1)

Weight lost so far: 51.3
Goal Weight: 150
Still to go: 33.7