I feel a little silly posting, since I don't have a goal written down and am really not sure what I want my goal to be--I'm in a see what happens as it happens kind of mood about this.

But the basic stats are that after about 3 years at a stable (and fit) 180 (I'm 5'5''), I suddenly saw 186 on the scale in March and decided I had to do something before my weight crept up anymore. I've had a wardrobe of mostly 12s, with a few 14s thrown in, and I didn't want to have to buy new clothes.

I already exercised regularly, but I really worked on diversifying my routine and upping the intensity. I learned about c25k here and started that. (I'm almost done with the program and ran nearly 30 minutes the other day, which amazed me.) I started doing intervals again. And I tried hard to be more mindful about what I was eating. (I tend to be a snacker rather than a binger.) I'm loosely counting calories but mostly just thinking about moderation and a modicum of control.

The weight loss has been slow but fairly steady--no plateaus yet. This morning, one of my cats was nosing around the scale, and I said, let's see how much you weigh. (He's the one I call the big lug.) I picked him up and stepped on the scale . . . and I weighed 186. With my big cat. I'm not sure what could have been more tangible than feeling 13 pounds of solid cat and knowing that it was all me a few months ago.

Without the cat, I'm down to 173 and hoping to leave the 170s pretty soon. It's a good feeling.

I was all sorry for you and your poor cat until I read your whole post, you trickster! My cat is sitting on my lap right now, and she weighs about 6 lbs, which is a little less that what I've lost. Isn't it funny, when you think about it that way, it seems like such a BIG loss. Get off, big lump! Good for you, Tricky Sue!

My mom was a weight watchers lecturer back in the early 80's. Before class she would stop at the butcher and ask them to cut her fat pieces that weighed 1/4 lb, 1/2 lb and 5 - 1 lb pieces.

If one of her "losers" got weighed and said "Aw man, I only lost a half a pound this week," She would throw the 1/2 a pound of fat to them so they could feel it. It worked like a charm. A miserable person feeling like they didn't lose anything, could now physically hold and touch what they actually lost.

I do that all the time... pick up things that weigh what I've lost... 1 pound is heavier than it seems.

Congrats on your losses!!!

Well I've lost my 9 year old daughter! I can't even lift her up.

Kitty

My kitty kat weighs 23 pounds !! I love weighing us together, putting him down and weighing again... weird........

WOW! I thought my kitty was big! She's about 17 pounds!! Praise to the big kitties of the world!!

I think we need a kitty diet thread here Congrats to you all so far by the way!

Funny you should say that...3FC has it all, thankyouverymuch.

Check out the Pudgy Pets forum.

HOLY HANNA!! I thought my kitty was a tubber... lol he's about 16 pounds last I weighed him... I should weigh him again. My other kitty is 13 pounds and my other is like 11 pounds...

Poppyseeds: You're on the ball... Praise to all the big kitties in the world!! lol

These were funny reading. I've lost 14, and just realized I've lost a little more than my cat, as well. He's 12.5 pounds (Brat the Cat). Kind of inspirational when I look at him and realize how big he is, and also when I think about how tired my arms get if I hold him for a long time.

Good for you! I too thought I might be reading a sad post until I saw the smiley face next to the subject...clicked on it anyway and had to join the discussion. I had a cat who weighed 20 pounds....my whole family was overweight, including the cat.

Hilarious! I was conflicted as to whether to click on this thread. Lost my cat with a smiley face?? I was hoping it wouldn't be sad, and it was awesome! Congrats!

I literally said, "Oh how awesome" when I actually read your thread.

How nice to be able to hold something that shows you the difference between then and now.

Keep up the good work!

Thanks, all. And I am glad to hear I'm not the only one with a big cat. His brother is a slender 10 pounds (but I think he was the runt of the litter), but the big one feels like perhaps he swallowed a bowling ball at some point.

Now I'm wondering if I should have losing both cats as my goal--that would be 23 pounds. A symbolic loss, of course. There would be no smiley face if I really lost my cats. (Given that they don't usually go outside, there's not a huge chance of that, but they have escaped on occasion, so it's not impossible.)

Sue, I had to laugh at your post. When I lost 85 pounds, people used to say, "You lost another person" and I would reply, "No, just a big dog." Good luck for a few more cats!