When did you stop carrying that other person on your back?
I've been reading through some of your progress reports. How inspiring to read posts where people have lost 50+ pounds.
A few of you mentioned feeling like you were one less person weight wise. When I hike with my kids, especially up hill, I'm so aware of that extra weight. After loosing just 15 pounds I already feel so much lighter.
I'm wondering, did you have an "Oh my gosh, I no longer feel like I'm carrying an extra person around?" moment?
Missy, I think every pound makes a difference (and conversely, I can FEEL every pound that I put on!) Did you know that every excess pound we carry exerts FOUR pounds of pressure on our bodies? That means that you've taken 60 pounds of pressure off your feet, knees, and ankles! No wonder you can feel it!
You're doing a great job!
(and you made me realize that yes indeed, I was carrying a 122-pound person on my back )
I don't have a car. So I bike to the grocery. I hadn't done that since 272 when I started. Well, I did that last week and stuff my backpack with stuff. It was probably about 20 or so pounds. Riding my bike home was so hard. I was unbalanced on my bike(I just became finessed with it) and slower...just like I used to be. I could tell the difference with adding that 20 pounds and riding.
Yes, about 2 lbs. ago, I lost a 9YO DD (48 lbs.). I gave her a piggyback ride up the stairs to see and it almost killed me! Next stop is my 11YO DS (85 lbs.), and when I'm done, I'll have lost 2 DDs.
I work with a lot of heavy cans. Some weigh 25 pounds, some weigh 50. I was moving a 50# can around the other day, and it felt really, really heavy. I thought "I bet if I stacked a 50 and 25 pound together, I couldn't even lift it. And that was how much extra weight I am now not carrying around".
I definitely feel I've lost about a 12 yr. old from my body. I know, without a doubt, that I could not lift that much weight now. Of course, it did seem like such a gradual thing that it was slow for me to realize how much the weight was dragging me down.
We visit our DS and DIL every year in Oakland. Each year we do a lot of walking in SF and the bay area. It was an incredible eye opener how much easier the hills were this year. We walked some of the same routes as last year and instead of our tongues hanging on the ground, we were not tired at all. We even heard DIL whisper to DS - "wow, your parents sure are a lot faster and fitter this year!"
It was when I was helping a friend return some books to her university library. I was having a really hard time with all those books. At the time, i had lost about 50 pounds and it hit me, I asked her how many pounds she thought the books weighed and she told me maybe 20 pounds. I just couldn't believe how hard it was to walk around with an extra 20 pounds and I had been carrying 50. Now, I am carrying 95 less. The big difference of course is that you don't carry that weight with your arms, you carried it everywhere in your body. It makes it easier to carry but it's extremely hard on your legs and feet.
OMG. I don't know how in the world (or why for that matter) I was able to move before the weight came off. Truth is I barely did move. I was incredibly sedentary. Now, well there's no stopping me. I go and go and go and go and DO. I feel so light and airy. Like there's springs at the bottom of my shoes. It's a MARVVELOUS feeling. One that I actually, well, marvel at. It feels better then any of the garbage food I was eating prior to my weight loss could ever taste.
Congratulatiions on the 5 lbs lost. That's a bag of flour! Keep at it. Just keep it up. It's SO incredibly worth it.
I haven't had that "OMG, I'm carrying another person around moment" although I know that I am/have been. Now that you mention it, at 49.5 pounds lost I have taken off a small child. My niece weighs a little over 50 pounds and I can't even imagine carrying her around all the time. By the time I am down to goal, I will be half of my former self.. wow!
Already, things are getting much easier... I live on the third floor and I can now get up all those stairs multiple times without feeling like I am going to have a heart attack. I used to get up the stairs once and have to stop at the top to catch my breath before even opening the door.
You are doing great. Keep up the good work, even if it goes slowly it is definitely worth it!
Last time I took this journey, I would find myself a little obsessed with comparing my weightloss to "things". I would pick up anything with a weight on it and figure out in my head how many of them I had lost.
Robin, I remember that springy feeling...and I can't wait to get it back!
Someone on here once posted that she went to the grocery store once, and piled into her cart the number of pounds she'd lost...in pound bricks of butter!
I remember it was a lot!
I remember picking up our humongous bag of dog food, and realizing with GLEE that I had lost THAT much! I can barely lug a bag of dog food...and that felt so good!
I can't wait to do that again! Right now, I'm at a bag of sugar/flour
My moment came when I was telling my sister and a friend how much I had lost and my 10 yr old nephew chimmed in and said "Aunt Robyn - you've lost a me!" He weighed 75 pounds! I asked him to hop on my back and let me carry him around the house. OMG! I thought I was going to die! I could not believe how my legs hurt.
Every pound makes a difference. You are doing great!
I think I had a little bit of that feeling when I tried to pick up the amount of weight I have lost (65 lbs) in barbells at the gym - couldn't lift it!
Now that I think about it, as I was carrying my 35 lb. sleeping daughter today in front, I realized that I had been carrying that all along. I had to hand my purse to dh because she is getting so heavy.