Staff writer
I’m now down 60 pounds since I started with Taking Off Pounds Sensibly in January.
That means since I reached my original goal of 180 pounds I’ve only lost 12 more pounds in the last three months. Weight loss has not really been the goal though.
In that time, I’ve also dropped another pants size to a 32 waist, the smallest of my adult life. I’d be lying if I told you appearance was not a motivator. I’ve got visible abdominals now; that’s a first. In a more disconcerting note, I had a surprising amount of fat on my face that I have whittled off. That, of course, is the first thing most people notice.
There have been times in my life when I thought I was in pretty good shape. When I trained to be on the junior varsity basketball team, I thought I could hang. When I lost weight before my senior year of high school, it was my conclusion that I was in shape. I was wrong.
I’m in shape now. I went from running one mile to two, to three, to six. This past week I went up to nine, which I did on Sept. 12, 14, and 19. I have to say that it’s a pretty spectacular feeling to finish a nine-mile run. I really feel like I’ve accomplished something a lot of people can’t do. My sore legs would agree, but would be more angry about it.
Being in shape meant I watched the Olympics and instead of saying “Wow those guys are amazing; I wish I could do that” to saying “I can’t do that as fast but I bet I could do that.” I don’t feel that any exercise is off limits, and I’ve never felt that way before.
My motivation now is that I don’t want to just give this up; I want to see how far I can take it.