Friday night Sgt. Fitness weighed and measured me. According to their scale I weigh 186 pounds now. So from my highest weight of 212 that means I have lost 26 pounds! The first time Sgt. Fitness measured me was August 3. Since then here is what I've lost:

Weight ~ 22 pounds (I weighed 202 on their scale the first time I went there)

Body Fat ~ 1.60%

Neck ~ 0.75 inches

Chest ~ 2.25 inches

Waist ~ 3.75 inches

Hips ~ 3 inches
Bicep ~ 0.75 inches

Thigh ~ 1 inch

Calf ~ 0.50 inch

It's so strange to look at those numbers and realize I'm shrinking my body. I know that sounds odd, after all that's the point of all this. I think what I'm really trying to say is that for the first time I'm making a serious effort and it's working.

When I tried to lose weight before I wasn't putting a huge amount of effort into it. When my stepdad and I first joined the YMCA, Mom was sick at home so I felt guilty for being there. When we worked out with their trainer I liked what we were doing, but I was also frustrated that my stepdad was losing huge amounts and I was gaining and losing a few pounds here and there. It was wrong to even compare myself to him, but I did. And our eating habits were atrocious. We ate pizza and Chinese food pretty much every week, or leftover pizza, it was awful.

But now I'm making an honest effort and I'm putting myself first and I have no reason to feel guilty about it. From the results I would say it's working much better this time around. Food is still an issue for me though. I did not eat well this weekend. And I'm paying the price for it, my stomach did not like all the crap I ate. My GERD is acting up, though it's a little better this afternoon and I think by tomorrow will be fine.

I found a tea that I'm shocked to say I absolutely love. It's Cinnamon-Orange MarketSpice Tea. Kelly and I went to a little cafe in the mall yesterday, A Perfect Cup, and the waitress recommended it to me and wow it is good! I was even more excited to discover they sell it so I bought a box of 24 tea bags and had 3 cups of it this morning. I love it and I know tea is good for you, much better than coffee or lattes, but I don't want to overdo it.

I was thinking today how I miss baking. It's not the product I miss as much as the act itself. As much as I love apple pie and snickerdoodles, I love putting them together even more and I've been avoiding it since I've been trying to eat better so I don't have cookies around. I like to cook but it's not quite the same.

Tonight I have a session with Sgt. Fitness right after work. I'm excited, and it never fails to shock me that I mean that. I'd really like to start working out with him 3 times a week but I'm not sure how it would work with his schedule. He shortened his hours in the evenings and he's not going to be working Friday afternoons starting next month. I'm glad he's doing it for his sake, he works so much, but it makes it harder for me to schedule sessions. I'm sure if I asked him he would stay later once in awhile but I don't really want to ask him to do that. My only other option would be to try to go at like 6:30 in the morning some days and I'm not sure how that would work.

Not. A. Morning. Person.

In order for that to work I would have to get up at...5:30 or 5:45 so I could eat something and leave the house by 6:10, giving me 10 minutes to get there and then 10 to warm up. I'd be done at 7:00 so I'd have to hurry home to shower and change for work....well, it's possible. Not probable, but possible. I think the problem I would have is only doing that once a week, my sleeping schedule would be thrown way off...I don't know, I'll think about it. I suppose if it's a choice between getting up before the crack of dawn and not working out, I would go with dragging my butt out of bed.

I worry at times I'm becoming a little too obsessed with all this health stuff. I think about it all the time. But then other than work, what do I have to do? Hmmmm. Oh, and bowling. It makes sense but I don't want to drive people crazy with it either. I'm just really excited to be doing something for me. Will my enthusiasm last? I sincerely hope so. I haven't felt this good about myself since....damn, I can't remember when. And it's just the beginning.

Staring weight 212, goal weight 130 ~ 26 pounds down, 56 pounds left to go.