Virgin Territory

Cecilia at Perfect Solutions challenged me to not eat protein for at least 3 evenings last week. I decided to get it over with and Friday, Saturday, and Sunday I avoided protein for dinner.

Except for the Dove dark chocolate candy bars, I followed the plan to the letter. My reward - I lost 2.4 pounds!

After I weighed in and I saw that my weight was 184, I looked at my weight loss records. On July 25, I got down to 184.4. Then the next week I gained, and that started the yo-yo cycle. In a month and a half, I've lost and gained the same 5 lbs. I finally broke the 184.4 barrier. I have not been down to 184 since 1990 probably.

One year ago, I weighed 235.4 pounds, and I wore size 18-20. Not only am I in size 12, I'm 49 pounds from my goal. That means I'm more than 1/2 way there. I always celebrate on Thursday night - gain or lose, I celebrate that I tried another week.

I sent a text to my daughter to remind her that I was coming over, and she requested boneless chicken wings. I haven't eaten fast food in a year, and boneless chicken wings weren't even on my radar. I had no idea who would have them, but I did remember a commercial about someone saying they ate the bones. I figured it was KFC, but I didn't know where a KFC was on that side of town. I drove around looking for a KFC; then I decided to park someplace safe so I could call. As luck would have it, I was in a Wing Stop parking lot. I asked her if she thought they would have any. Duh! When I ordered, I had to choose a flavor. I didn't realize there were 9 different chicken wing flavors! I finally chose mild and garlic parmesan with ranch and blue cheese dips. They came with fries and 2 drinks. What a deal! I was set.

My daughter, grandson and I enjoyed our wings and fries. Then, as we were relaxing, my grandson started walking! He's walked the perimeter of the inside of the house for a couple of weeks. He prefers walking and being on his feet, but he's been afraid to let go. Tonight, he just started walking! We got so excited. I happened to have my phone handy, so I recorded him taking a few steps, then all 3 of us were trying to record. Once he got a taste of freedom and how excited we got, he was up and trying again and again. You could tell he was pretty pleased with himself by the look on his face and the noises he was making. We were all excited. He's 14 months old, and he's walking. Pretty cool.

The best part is that I got to be there for that first. I missed that with both my other grandkids. And I don't want to miss anything else.

Last week, I wrote down why I wanted to lose weight - to be healthy, to enjoy an active retirement, and to keep up with my grandkids. I'm better able to do things with my grandson now, and for that I'm grateful. It's a catalyst to make me want to continue to my ideal weight.

To 135 and beyond!