Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Week 43, 171 lbs.

Size 24 to Size 12 in less than a year!
117 lbs. gone!
Size 12, baby!!

Yesterday on a whim I picked up a pair of size 12 jeans in a store and wondered, "What if?"

I took them into the dressing room, zipped them up and they fit!!  For the first time since high school I am wearing a size 12 comfortably!

At weigh-in my body fat percentage was 30%, well inside the "acceptable" range.  At that time, Crystal, one of my diet coaches, and I talked about how much further I need to go.

I'd like to get my fat ratio a little lower - more towards the "fitness" end of the acceptable range - and see if I can trim a few more inches off of my belly.  My stomach was the first place I started to gain weight when I was younger and it seems to be the most stubborn area when it comes to losing inches.

After visiting with Crystal I've decided to stay on Phase I for a couple more weeks, get my fat ratio down a couple more points and see what happens.  Before starting Ideal Protein, I thought my stopping point should be 145 lbs or a size 12.  Well, I've made it to size 12 but I weigh a lot more than I did the last time I wore this size.  Since learning about body fat ratios and what's healthy and what isn't, my mind is changing when it comes to what my "ideal" weight should be.

I feel great!  Every day is a celebration of living life! I feel so empowered achieving something I
Two 56-pound bags of potting soil
once thought was impossible. 


The latest celebration happened this weekend. I was working in my garden, marveling at how well my knees and back felt after a full day hauling pots of dirt around and hoeing up weeds.  Last year I was in so much pain I considered giving up one of my favorite passtimes because it was just too difficult to bend and stoop over the plants.

I was filling pots with garden soil and realized that the two 56 pound bags of soil I was working with, added together, weigh just a couple of pounds less than what I have been able to shed off my body.


It was a shock to pick up those bags (one at a time because I couldn't lift them both by myself) and realize that those two bags of heavy dirt symbolize what I used to carry around with me every day for years! 

No wonder there are some firm muscles showing up as the fat melts away and my joints don't bother me when I'm gardening - I was carrying around a serious weight burden!!

I hope y'all had your own celebrations this week!

11 comments:

  1. Seeing that side-by-side actually brought tears to my eyes. I am SO, SO, SO happy for you. You are awesome. You are wonderful. You are inspiring. It gives me great joy to see you so happy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Vicki! You knew me "back when" and I really wasn't happy back then. Thank you so much for your encouragement through all of this. You're a great friend and I miss you tons!!

      Delete
  2. Lanza,
    I'm so happy for you. You are my inspiration, literally. Thank you.
    Andrea

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And thank you!! I've always been a big fan of yours and it means a lot to me that I can be an inspiration to someone I think so much of.

      Delete
  3. What an amazing transformation! No wonder people who haven't seen you for a while don't recognize you. I'm inspired by you... your insight about the bags of dirt was awesome!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Lee! You are probably one of the few people outside of my family that knew me before I put on all that weight and know how long I carried it around!! I was thinking about you this afternoon and it was awesome to see you on my blog!!

      Delete
  4. Congratulations Lanza! How you feel is so important. I'm very happy for you. Now that I am seeing the transformation it makes me want to get off my butt and start losing some weight too. In my recovery, I have found that I crave sweets and I have added weight on. It seems to me that I just gave up. But seeing this makes me want to be better and healthier. Thank you for sharing your story and success Lanza. It is awesome!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think the addictions to sugar and alcohol are closely related... I have both alcoholics and diabetics in my family and I know the cravings for both are equally strong. (Personal experience.) Body chemistry is hard to fight but not impossible to overcome. I gave up both at the same time and it was tough for a couple weeks but the cravings eventually go away. You have the power within you to be who you want to be. I am living proof. We humans don't give ourselves enough credit or realize how strong we really are. We just have to change our minds about ourselves.

      Delete