I had my WI this morning (a couple days later than usual), and was pleased to see that I'm still losing at a good rate.
The closer I get to my goal, the more I think about phasing out and enjoying my new lifestyle. I'm only 36 lbs. from my goal, which I think is great considering I had 160 lbs. to lose. Before I started IP, losing 160 lbs. seemed like an impossible feat, something that was going to take years to achieve. What's funny is that I was introduced to IP completely on a whim while at the doctor's office. Now, 6 months later, I'm almost there and I can practically predict when I will move to Phase 2 and eventually achieve my goal and be in maintenance.
It's been a dramatic change. It's not just fitting into sizes and shopping in places that were completely out of the realm of possibility. It's not just feeling better, aching less, having more energy, and getting more out of life. It's not just the comments, compliments and genuine shock of people who haven't seen me for a while and notice how dramatic the change has been. It's not just walking down the street and not recognizing my shadow, or seeing myself in a photograph and doing a double take. It's really the sum of all of these things, but the accomplishment seems greater than the sum of all of these parts.
Of course, it's not all roses. I mean, I've never had to pee so much in all my life, and I don't know anyone else who uses four different pan sizes and three different cooking methods just to keep an omelet from becoming mundane. And there have been sacrifices that have evolved into a new way of life. The "regular fare" from a previous way of life has transformed from a vision of "occasional fare" on maintenance to "undesireable fare" in my new life. But at the end of the day, it's been and continues to be an amazing and wonderful journey to a glorious destination.