I can't believe you did that!

Last weekend, I went to breakfast with a good friend of mine that I don't see near enough and among other topics in the two hours we spent sipping tea, giggling, and such we talked about my healthy lifestyle and my blog and my divorce and the breaking point and somewhere in our conversation was the phrase "I can't believe you tell people what you weigh!"  My response was simply "Do you think you or anyone that knows me thinks differently of me because they know 'the number'?"  They might know my number is 275 (or about that), they might also know that I was 222 at my lightest 3.5 years ago.  They might know that my pant size is a 20 and that at 222 I wore an 11/12.  

These numbers only define what rack I buy my clothes and the actual mass of this body of mine.  They don't tell you a single other thing about me.  They don't say whether I'm healthy, they don't say whether I'm kind or funny or a good mom.  They don't tell you one single valuable thing about me.  

While technically that number is no ones business it IS a measurable factor in my journey to a smaller me and that's all, so why WOULDN'T I give it out just as I would my height?  Why should I hide behind a number?  In fact giving out that number and all of my future numbers along the way will simply illustrate my progress.  And a lot of people look at me and say "you don't look like you weigh 275".....so tell me what does 275 look like?  What does ANY weight "look like"?

This is what 150 looks like!  Is it what you imagined?

At one point in my life I took a lot of pride in saying "I lost 180 lbs", but I took more pride in saying "I ran a 5K" or "I'm the strongest one in bootcamp" or "I boxed with a dude tonight and held my own".  There's more to life than the number on a scale.  And for those of you curious....here's what 275 looks like (the picture on the left).  The picture on the right.....that's what 274.2 looks like!

Stay off the scale and stay focused on your goals and most of all stay honest....honest with your friends, honest with your family, your significant other, but most of all, be honest with yourself.  You don't "need" a magic pill, or a surgeon, or anything other than your own two feet.  One in front of the other, slow and steady wins the race and that's something to be proud of!  

15 days in to the new year and I feel great about my choices and my accomplishment, physically and mentally, and I feel great that I have some awesome friends tackling this journey with me!  Proud of all you ladies that are doing things the right way!  Don't get discouraged by those that are so ashamed of themselves that they try to fool those around them.  Be sad for them, because they will never truly understand what it's like to be proud.