Drum Roll Please!!!

Ladies and Gentleman, my mother told me that I should never brag. I'm just too happy to care about manners though. I've gotta tell you! I've now officially lost 19 lbs.!!! Crazy enough, it's been pretty easy this time too. I mean, considering the fact that I have been doing the diet & exercise thing for a LONG time without breaking my plateau... it's kind of weird that it's just melting off me now. I attribute the first several pounds to my new blood pressure medications. I'm pretty sure a good amount of the weight was water retention (it's pretty obvious since all of a sudden my wedding ring fits for the first time in 2 years and several people have commented that I look less "puffy".) By the way, does anyone know the proper response to that comment? I'm thinking it's a compliment and so I should just say thanks? It's a little awkward though.
"Wow. Your face looks a lot less puffy!"
"Umm..." sheepish smile, "Thanks... I guess I didn't really realize I was THAT puffy before."
"Oh. You were. You look a lot healthier now. Even your eyelids have lost weight."

Which explains something else... remember when Jen enlightened us on how she is a FATMG? Well, I clearly fit into the FAOG (Fat All Over Girl) category. In other words, my body distributes my fat so equally (my body is truly into making sure all body parts receive their fair share of blubber. It's a just and impartial system) that when I lose nearly 20 lbs., I'm still basically wearing the same size. It's just a teeny bit looser. While there are some other people who are able to drop 20 lbs. of pure belly fat and look like an entirely different person, when I lose 20 lbs. all of a sudden my eyelids aren't as puffy and my watch is a little too big. Yes, that's right. I still have belly fat but my WRIST lost 3/4 of an inch. Weird, I know. That's actually fine with me though since I really can't afford to go clothes shopping yet anyway. :-) So... with that in mind, I'm hoping that I can drop 40 more lbs. as effortlessly as this last 19 have vanished and hopefully be at my goal weight at tax return time so mama can get a new wardrobe!.

For now, I feel a lot better already. Which is way more worthwhile to me than looking good. If I cared more about the looking good part, I seriously doubt I would have let this weight thing get as bad as it did in the first place. I should have been a little more vain and binged and purged as soon as my jeans got too tight the first time like all the other hot chicks do (Just kidding. But seriously...) It would have probably been a lot easier than waiting for my blood pressure to sky rocket. The day that I went into the Doctor's office he looked at my age on the chart and said, "You're just a baby! You're too young to have these numbers." and I told him I may only be 29, but I feel like a car with well over 100,000 miles on it. That had never had an oil change. And I'm not talking about a Toyota. Those things can drive for forever! No, I felt more like a crappy old Chevy Nova that used to be cool but now the windows don't even roll down anymore and only AM stations come in (through an old metal coat hanger because someone ripped the antenna out a long time ago.) The good news, the drum roll request inducing news is... my blood pressure is WAY lower, my energy is WAY higher, and I think I may have upgraded to a different kind of used car. I mean, I don't feel like a brand new sports car or anything, but I may be in the certified pre-owned Corolla or Camry group now.

So, now that I've rambled on & on about my wrists losing 3/4 of an inch and used car analogies, here's the lowdown on what I did to break my plateau (in case you were wondering):
Disclaimer: I can neither confirm nor deny that any of these things will work for you. All I know is this is what I did differently this month and now I'm 19 lbs. lighter.
#1. I think finally getting on blood pressure medication was a huge part. I'm pretty sure my body was just under too much stress to lose weight before and once I gave it the medicine it needed to "take the pressure off" my fight or flight response was lessened and my body got the message that it wasn't in immediate danger and didn't actually have to try to save itself by storing every ounce of energy that went into it.

#2. I got paranoid. When the doctor told me that I needed to put the salt shaker down, I got offended because I NEVER add extra salt. Then, I realized that I didn't need to add salt because the "diet" foods that I was eating like frozen entrees and canned soup had more sodium than I was supposed to get per SERVING! I read the labels on absolutely everything & switched to whole foods when I couldn't find enough low calorie / low carb options that weren't low in sodium. Then, when I started feeling a LOT better from skipping the salty stuff I kicked the sugar problem. Once again, I thought I was eating mostly low calorie / low carb and wasn't pigging out on sugary desserts or eating white bread! However, a can of slim-fast has more sugar than I'm willing to put into my body anymore. Stinking diet foods...

#3. I exercised less. Crazy, right? First I tell you that I got rid of my diet foods and now I'm saying I exercised less. It's madness. When I first started on my new medications, I played the sick card and made good friends with the couch. Where before I would push myself to work out longer & harder, now I was kicking back on the couch reading every book in The Twilight Saga. I still squeezed in the occasional walk, but because I felt like it. When I didn't feel like it I didn't go. I realized something. Before, I was so tired that a lot of the time when I exercised it felt like I was running a triathlon with the flu. I was clenching my jaw in resentment as I exercised and ending up with a migraine after every workout. So, I rested and still lost weight.

#4. I got distracted. I volunteered all week at my kids' school doing the Book Fair. I had long phone conversations with good friends. I went shopping. I didn't notice I was hungry. I just felt happy & fulfilled. I realized that I eat when I'm bored, sad, stressed, lonely... so I made sure to avoid activities that left me feeling frustrated and got busy doing things that I loved.

#5. I convinced my family that losing weight was IMPORTANT since it was now officially on doctor's orders and I knew that they weren't letting me blow it. For once, my hubby didn't sabotage my diet by tempting me with my favorite treats or suggesting we go for ice cream like he has always done on every diet in the past. My kids were worried about my health and if I so much as popped a piece of their pizza crust in my mouth they were freaking out on me to take care of myself. Accountability and motivation are awesome. They weren't being greedy with their Halloween candy. They were trying to protect me. ;-)

#6. I overdosed on B-vitamins. I got the easily absorbable B-complex formula with something like 6,667% of Thiamine and 1,176% of Riboflavin, etc. You need B-vitamins to handle stress and in the past dieting has made me REALLY stressed (oddly not this time) and stress makes losing weight hard. See the cycle? Plus, B-vitamins are essential for turning the food you do eat into energy!

#7. I cheated. Then, I regretted it and knew it wasn't worth it. After two solid weeks of not putting an ounce of sugar into my body, I gave in and ate a slice of cheesecake just to "keep my metabolism on its toes". Within 20 minutes I had a HORRIBLE blinding migraine and I realized... I'd gone two weeks without a migraine. (A record for me lately.) All of a sudden cheating sounded scary. I hate those darn headaches and would do anything to avoid them! Bonus incentive right there!

So, that's that. 19 lbs. down. 40 to go. I'm a third of the way there!