I know I’ve probably babbled about this before but I just don’t understand it. I’ve been dieting and exercising since January. I’ve lost, on average, 7-8 lbs a month. There’s been no giant weight loss that suddenly happened overnight. Despite this, people have been commenting on my weight loss as if it’s something new – mostly over the past 2 months.

When I returned from our family vacation mid-June, many of my co-workers claimed to be astounded that I’d lost weight. By that point I’d already lost 45lbs and figured my lack of presence in the office must have triggered a mass realization that there’s less of me to go around once I’d returned. Oddly, this same reaction didn’t occur after returning to the office when I was away in NB for a week in May. I think there was a 5lb difference between my weight in May and June…

At the beginning of July I cut off all my hair. I’m loving it. I don’t know if I’ll feel the same way in winter but for now I’m basking in the freedom that short hair brings. Besides, after growing my hair for 3 years, I missed having cropped locks.

Chopping off my hair seems to have spurred another round of “Oh em gee! you’ve lost so much weight” around the office. It’s weird, since none of this has occurred overnight. It’s been (and still is) a lengthy process.

I’ll probably never understand it.

That said, I am a bit tired of people doubting me when they ask how I’ve lost weight. They all seem to expect me to tell them I’m on some sort of special diet or program. I’m not. I count calories. I weigh and measure my food. I do a little bit of exercise. That’s it. No magic formula. No pills. No special food.

Apparently that’s not a sexy very satisfying answer.

Those who appear to believe that I’m not lying or hiding super secret info from them tend to dismiss my plan as “too difficult” or as something they can’t possibly be successful on. I’m still not sure how that could be. There’s no bad foods in my world. Barring the obvious food allergies, there’s nothing I can’t or won’t eat due to my “diet”. If I want a chocolate bar or a beer, I have one. I just have to figure out how to fit in into my day.

I just don’t get it…

In February I joined Curves to increase my activity level. It seemed like a good idea at the time. An all girl “gym” that used resistence based machines for exercise. It’s a very basic set-up. I think it’s a decent service for people who are brand new to exercise, uncertain about how to go about increasing activity levels, or uncomfortable with the idea of a co-ed gym.

I’ve outgrown Curves a lot faster than I anticipated. Although, if I’m really honest with myself, I may have outgrown Curves long before I stepped foot in their nearby location.

Yesterday I came to my senses. I canceled my Curves membership and purchased a pass to the City of Edmonton Rec Centres. Now I have access to far more than limited resistance weight machines. At city facilities I’ll have access to free weights, indoor running tracks, pools, ice rinks, classes & more. There are multiple free swims a day and participation in drop-in classes is free. Unless I want to hire a personal trainer or take a specialized or limited participation (size) class, I won’t have to pay any extra fees.

Most importantly, the city’s rec facilities pass costs about $15 less a month than Curves did.

There are facilities all over the city and, unlike Curves, I don’t need special passes pre-arranged in advance to drop in at any one of them (with the exception of Terwilligar – but let’s be honest, I don’t even know what part of town that is). Not all facilities have the same services or schedules but it’s easy to look them up in the guide book or online.

For the moment I’ll need to drive about town to use the nearest gym. The facilities closest to me (3) are an extra 5-10 minute drive when compared to the nearest Curves. However, the city is in the process of building a big new facility within walking distance from my home (LRT distance in winter – far too cold to walk) which is slated to open in Winter 2011.

I don’t know why I was so hesitant to do this before. Very glad I’ve taken this next step. Onward and downward – on the weight scales – we go!

I was terrified to go on vacation a few weeks back – family cruise to Alaska – because of 1) my food allergies and 2) hub’s family. Amazingly it all worked out wonderfully. Because we’d informed the cruise line that I had food allergies weeks before I got on the boat, they were prepared and let me pre-order all my meals a day in advance (giving the chef/kitchen notice).

Hubs family turned out to be delightful in small doses. His parents usually are. It’s his brothers I was worried about. Guess this means his younger brothers are finally starting to grow up 😉 Now that the youngest is in his 30’s, all I can say on the matter is that “it’s about time!”

I did get a bit of a sticker shock when I stepped on the scale post vacation. Despite chosing healthy options from the menu that were advertized as “low sodium and low sugar” and eating lots of fruits and veggies I discovered that according to my home scale I’d gained 10 lbs since leaving for the cruise. Since all my new clothes still fit I assumed it was mostly due to the extra sodium in my diet while away.

I got back to eating normally – low or no salt options as much as possible – and drinking extra water. Within days I’d dropped 6 lbs. By the end of the week I’d lost the 10 lbs vacation weight and this morning discovered I’d lost another 2.2 lbs. That averages out to a 1.1 lb loss for each week I was on vacation. Which is pretty much what I’ve been averaging lately.

There were some downsides to vacation. I arrived home to discover that my favourite cat had passed away the day before. My pet sitters were really nice and had taken good care of all our fur babies. I guess it was just her time to go.

Downside #2 is that there’s next to no time left for me to finish my latest course at school. 8 days to finish an assignment, 15pg research paper and a final exam. And somewhere in there I have to fit working full-time and pulling off a major charity event next weekend. Ugh!

Feeling very stressed at the moment ;(

A co-worker commented on my weight loss today. She said I was “wasting away”. I know she didn’t mean it in a negative way – especially since she followed it up with a resounding “you look great”.

I think many of my co-workers may have been afraid to mention the weight loss earlier due to a spate of cancer diagnosis we’ve had in the office over the past year. I think I’m the first person who’s had a large amount of weight loss (47 lbs and counting) who hasn’t been terminally ill in this office in a long time.

I still have over 40lbs to lose and at the rate I’m going I expect I’ll manage to get rid of 25lbs of it before Christmas.

A 25 lbs loss will place? me at the absolute top of the “healthy” weight range for my age and height. I’d? like to end up in the middle of the range so that’s my end goal?,? ?t?h?u?s? ?t?h?e? ?e?x?t?r?a? ?1?5??-?2????????????? ?l?b?s.?????

In my original plan, I was to reach the half way mark for weight loss at the beginning of September. I hit that milestone yesterday. I’m pretty proud of myself. Some weeks I lost more than others. Some weeks I only managed to lose 0.2 lbs. I haven’t gained or plateaued.

I’m no longer classified as obese by my BMI. In 28 lbs, I will no longer meet the classification for overweight. I think I’ll be able to cross “reaching normal weight” off my goal list by Christmas. Then the new challenge will be keeping it off permanently.

My biggest win?  I reached the first few clothing goals I’d set for myself. I’m down 4 pant sizes and 3 shirt sizes since I started the lifestyle change.  Aside from my favourite geek t-shirts, sports jerseys & my da’s sweater, there are few pieces of my old clothes left in my closet. It’s all been donated or passed on to someone else.

Going shopping for new clothes has been both a treat and an eye opener. I still have so much father to go. Or, not so far if I just raid Drew’s closet. His clothes are starting to fit me now.

I’m still in rehab for my knee and suspect I’ll be working on it for many more months to come. No quick trip to the races for me. I’m all turtle these days.

We’re off on a family vacation in under 2 weeks. Cruisin’ around Alaska. Here’s hoping I don’t eat my way through the buffet line!