What great NSVs!

I wore clothes today that actually fit pretty well. They must show the difference in my appearance because I have had several comments today on how much weight I have lost. One lady that I don't even know stopped me in the hall to tell me that she has been watching me for awhile and wanted to congratulate me on my loss. That was a little freaky.

I have two modest NSVs - I can walk up the really tall hill (I live in SF) near my house now instead of taking the bus up. I also fit into a pair of size 16 old navy pants (though those do run huge) down from my regular size 18. I'm fairly convinced the last 20-40 lbs of weight I gained the first time around went straight to my abdomen, so I wasn't really even expecting to drop any pants sizes straight away.... total bonus.

I was able to put something on my lap today without it rolling off!!! Whoo!! :carrot:

I bought a pair of size 16W shorts yesterday. WHOOHOO!! :)

I went to a funeral yesterday for a dear family friend. I wore a size 14W dress that I bought myself a few weeks ago (I'm down from a size 20W). Her two sons coached my kids in wrestling and essentially helped me raise them (became surrogate dads, so to speak). They both complimented me on how good I looked and one of them told me probably four or five different times how good I looked. As I was walking up to the funeral home the daughter of one of my friends said "whoa, look at Mama . . . how cute you are." That daughter is getting married the end of June and my goal is to have lost enough more weight that they are all surprised again at my changes and that I can get myself another cute new dress for the occasion (I don't wear dresses - I've always been a jeans and t-shirt kind of person).

I had my engagement ring resized from a size 9 to a size 6.5!

I've had three great NSV's just in the last 2 days. Yesterday when I was doing my gym workout, a lady I see there now and again came over and asked me "what's your secret?" I asked her what she meant and she said that I looked really good and had obviously lost lots of weight, and wondered how I was doing it. I told her, eating healthy and exercising LOADS lol.
Then today on my way through the gym to step class the buff personal trainer who I hardly dare even say hello to stopped me in the corridor. One of the other girls a couple of months ago had told him how much weight I'd lost and he'd been impressed and said he only wished other people had the commitment I have. Well today he asked "have you lost shed loads more weight?" I just smiled and said "yes!"
After this I had a great step class which was followed by the instructor coming over to me and saying "you've lost stacks of weight now, how much have you lost?" I told her how much and she was so impressed, said that she knew I'd been losing but I seemed to suddenly have dropped loads more.
Two of the fittest people I've ever known seeking me out to compliment me is just THE best NSV.

*thumbs up* everyone, great stuff happening here.

I can tell that my back fat has been melting away over the past month+ of strength training--the rolls are much less roll-y than they have been. HALLELUJAH.

I lost 0.5 inch around my natural waist in April. YAY!

I did walking lunges all across my living room this morning. I hate lunges. But my 14-year-old son came home yesterday from a workout session with a trainer at his climbing gym and taught my 9-year-old son how to do them...so I thought I should get 'er done too! And they were really not that difficult--I felt proud of myself.

Then, at the end of my workout this morning, I pulled on my resistance bands so hard (doing rows with the middle of the bands attached through the door) that they freed themselves of their restraint and WHAPPED ME IN THE FACE. Ow. But actually, this is the second time this has happened now. My husband says I'm just too strong for the bands! And this was 3 forty-pound bands I had on there.

I did another minute-long plank this morning. And I did nine full pushups in a row.

The upshot is, after just a little over a month of doing strength-training, I am clearly making a lot of progress in my strength increases and fat loss!

I had a marvelous NSV experience yesterday.

It was a gorgeous day, and when I got home from work I thought I'd go for a bike ride - I've been eyeballing a new route recently. First NSV is that I had on 3 layers - regular undies, padded bike undies, and tights. The tights made me a sausage a few months ago, so to be able to wear layers under them now is wonderful.

The second one was the ride itself. I rode for an hour and 15 minutes - regular road and seriously bumpy, rock-filled gravel roads. I went home because there was rain moving in. And when I got there, I felt like I'd cheated - somehow I thought that I should have gone for another hour to get a REAL workout! Or that I should go out in the garage to do my regular workout too...

It was wonderful. The ride was actually a great calorie burn, and none of my muscles were sore or tired, I did hills, and my breathing was great. I wondered, daringly, if maybe now I am something approaching physically fit even though I'm still pretty fat.

HURRAH!

Uh, I was flirted with outrageously as I made up a library card. :o He even asked my name and shook my hand! Then our paths crossed as I was moving my car on my lunch break (I work till 9, don't like to wander the dark streets to get to my car) and he eyeballed me and said, "Hello again, Christine!"

Too bad he's only like 21. :s: (well, that and I'm married) It made my day, anyway.

I was in my 4th step aerobics class last night. I am the biggest person in the class but not the oldest. I find getting the steps correct difficult but did better last night. A goal of mine is to learn the routine and get through it just like everyone else.

These are such great NSVs!!!! I can't wait for more myself. I love them all, but for asharksrevenge and lovingme, to have other buff people in the gym come up to you, that's so neat.

I didn't see this thread last night when I posted by thread - can a moderator close my thread?

But in the past 4 days I've had 3 people notice I've lost - my first three - and I look a yoga class. Oh, and I forgot, I stopped myself from a full blown "Screw it, I'm not trying hard enough... I'm eating everything in sight and starting THE BIG DIET on Monday". Which is my normal MO when I'm not eating "perfectly" has caused the 20 lb weight gain in the last year. Like I wasn't big enough before that. So that's my biggest accomplishment.

This morning on my bike commute to work, near the end of the ride, I fairly blasted up a bit of a hill without downshifting like I've needed to before. And it didn't really feel all that hard to do. Go-go strength training!

Then just a few minutes ago, a very sweet and lovely co-worker stopped by my desk specifically to tell me how "fabulous" I'm looking lately, and how I've transformed since she first met me (2+ years ago), and how great she thinks it is that I've "taken it slow." My co-workers are all so supportive, they're really awesome.

Sometimes I get to feeling like people don't notice my weight loss, and though this time I've had more comments than my last foray, there are spells where I don't hear anything, and I start to doubt the differences I believe I see in the mirror.

Our friends have a 5 year old who 2 years ago made a comment that made me cry. We were playing wii for the first time at their house and we were making up my mii. I made it as fat as one can make a mii, and then Little Darling said, "Aunt Eumie needs to be a lot bigger!" Well, of course I know she was 3 at the time, and she was stating things as fact, since I was definitely bigger than the mii, but it still stung. Monday, when I was loading her into her car seat, she put her hands up in front of her face, palms facing one another and said, "Aunt Eumie, are you getting sizer?" as she brought her palms together. I said, "Do you mean smaller?" and she said yes. I wanted to hug her till her eyes popped out!

Sorry, that was the long trip to the NSV. :dizzy:

Eumie, I think that is WONDERFUL. Little kids are as honest as they are tactless, so such NSVs are all the more precious!