I bought a pair of size 16 pants at Old Navy today!!! I cried in the dressing room. The last time I tried to shop there I tried on a size 20 and it was too tight (mind you 20 is the biggest size at Old Navy). My new motto is going to be "Peace Out Lane Bryant!"

That's the best quote I've heard all day!! Congrats on your new pants!

These are all great NSVs!

I noticed this week that I can now run upstairs (in my house), instead of slowly pulling myself up the stairs.

When I'm sitting in a chair, and I look down towards my lap, my stomach now looks kind of...flat. Yeah, there's still rolls of fat there, but they don't BULGE outwards hugely like they did before. It's like they're kind of tamed and normal-seeming now.

Also, I think I am really beginning to cultivate an exercise habit! And that feels awesome.

I have two NSVs. I joined a gym today for the first time in my life and worked out! For someone like me who's so incredibly shy and intimidated by the whole idea of going to a gym where many people are so ripped, this is a huge biggie

And secondly, I tried the elliptical for the first time in my life. Sure it definitely kicked my butt and I huffed and I puffed and sweat like crazy and stopped for a couple seconds or slowed down to a crawl... but managed to do one mile exactly in 16 minutes! Me! The biggest couch potato ever! I can't do a mile in less than 30 minutes on a treadmill... but could on an elliptical. That just boggles my mind, especially since I was working harder on the elliptical.

And now my legs feel like noodles. But I'm going back tomorrow for more

I just bought an Old Navy size Large dress, and it fits beautifully! (In part because I've somehow mysteriously lost *all of my back fat*!)

In the past, if I had tried to lose weight and the scale went the wrong direction...I'd say "F*** it!" and give up. Thanks to you guys here, I was able to pop in for a quick question, got some feedback and moved on! No condemnation, no quitting, no binge trip to McDonald's.

Thanks to all for the support!!

Great NSV's!!!

I have a couple from tonight....

Tonight I celebrated some good news by buying a new mascara I wanted to try. The 'old me' would have bought some favorite junk food instead.

While running late doing some Christmas shopping, I drove through "fast food lane" and it didn't even cross my mind to stop at one of the drive thrus--not even for a drink, which usually leads to something else....instead I waited until I came home and ate then.

I stopped to see my dh at his work tonight. He wasn't up when I left for work this morning so he didn't see what I wore to work. The first thing he said to me was "I love what you are wearing, you look HOT and skinny!!!" Some coworkers overheard him and thought it was awesome that he complimented me like that (I thought so too!) I love my dh!!!!

I love reading these NSVs! Michelle...congrats on not giving up! That's a huge thing for me too. And mj, your dh sounds like such a sweetie! Lucky girl!

Here are my NSVs:

First, I'm not sick! Everyone around me either is sick, was sick, is getting sick, etc. but not me! And I attribute this all to my new exercise habits, eating habits, and vitamin-taking. My immune system is far superior now, lol.

Second, I can wrap a towel around myself and it actually covers me! 60+ pounds ago, it wasn't even close, haha.

Just wanted to say congrats and that's a big first step!!!

Ohh! I hope I have the same immune boost with the healthy food & exercise And I really can't wait to be able to wrap up in a towel. I can't remember the last time I could.

My NSV I've finished day 3 of the 30 Day Shred dvd & have still been getting in my treadmill time. No phoning it in here!

My nsv is a nice comment from a friend. She's an older lady who was very critical of my weight before I started losing. She was concerned about my knees, she always asked if they were ok. Her daughter once asked me to move out of a patio chair into a big recliner and I got the feeling she was worried about me breaking the patio chair.
Anyway, she told me that she's always thought I was pretty, but now she thinks I'm beautiful. Isn't that nice? I don't think she ever meant to be hurtful with the comments about my knees, but it sure was.

Today I was working hard after a very long week when someone popped their head in to computer lab and announced that there was fresh coffee and cookies from Starbucks.

I had plenty of calories to spare so I opted for a coffee with a little cream and a big Oatmeal cookie. After two or three bites of the cookie (which I knew was probably in the 350-425 calorie range) I realized I wasn't enjoying eating it.

At first I felt guilty and thought I would just take it home for later rather than "waste" it and throw it out. Then I realized that eating 400 empty calories that I was not enjoying was a much bigger waste so I just threw it in the trash.

I just ate a small sandwich which was about 350 calories which was MUCH tastier and full of veggies and I'm very pleased with making that choice.

I had to look up the cookie to account for my couple bites and it was 410 calories. I was also pretty happy that I had done a good job estimating the calories.

This evening I emailed my oldest, dearest friend--who it happens I haven't hung out with regularly in at least 3 years--and invited her out for coffee. She said yes, so we're meeting on Monday evening.

It's really my fault we stopped communicating, and it's partly related to my weight gain (and general feeling of being a failure) over the years. I don't honestly expect that she'll notice that I've lost any weight, but I miss her, and it will be really good to see her.

I am spending about 2 hours cleaning and reorganizing my kitchen this afternoon. Lots of things to throw away--old bags of sugar and white flour and packages of cake mixes that I no longer need, because I don't cook with that stuff nor eat it anymore. My back is not hurting! Previously it would have been KILLING me just from the effort of standing up and moving things around for this long. (Even 15 mins used to hurt me.)