Hi guys, I've been lurking here for awhile. Today I just really need some encouragement.
I've lost 30 pounds, and was feeling pretty good about it. Only 17 left. But three things have left me feeling discouraged.
1) I've been burning the candle at both ends at work the last two days--up early, to bed late. Last night I was exhausted and starving, and had some extra raw carrots (about 2 handfuls of the little ones), and a bowl of vegetable soup, beyond what I usually eat. Today I'm up 2 pounds.
2) I found an online calculator for body fat. Plugged in my waist (32"), hips (41") height (5') and weight (119)--all my fat is in my stomach--and came up with a body fat % of 39.94. Says the average for US females is 32%. "Acceptable" is 25-31%, and 32% plus is obese. Sigh. 30 pounds lost, I'm at 119--and still obese. Going by BMI, I thought I was at least finally in the OK zone.
So right now I'm 71.47 pounds lean, and 47.53 pounds fat. If I lose strictly fat, at 105 pounds, I'll STILL be obese--with 32% body fat! 102 would put me at 30% body fat--the high end of "acceptable." Not until 95 would I be 25% body fat, or skinny.
I guess I knew that about my body--even when I've been at my low weight before (102), I'm not thin. Still have a belly, and wouldn't dare try on designer jeans.
3) I had to get something from the top part of my closet today, so I thought I'd take a look at my thin clothes. They're not even that small--8's and 6's. Not even close. How am I possibly going to get from here to there in 17 pounds? Or won't I? Is this that situation where every time you gain and relose weight, you end up fatter than before?
Sorry to be Debbie Downer. I've been trying to keep optimistic, and reading here every night for encouragement, but today I'm feeling like I'm at the base of the hill, when I had thought I was so far along. (Sigh) And on top of that, I'm just plain hungry. I had been daydreaming about adding some more food to my routine--another fruit serving, another veggie--but this was a wake up call how far I still have to go.
Thanks for letting me vent!