State of the Weight Wednesday: Hello 100’s.

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Welcome back to another week of State of the Weight Wednesday!

Check out the scale, y’all.

Take THAT weight gain from last week! BOOM.

Oh, wait. Let me just go and put on the shorts I bought on Saturday that are a size smaller than I was wearing when this all started. SMALLER.

YES!

This is me right now:

GIFSoup

No joke. That’s what I’m doing in my head. And I look every bit as awesome and awkward as that. Because guys, this is awesome.

198!!

In about 3 months, I’m within 5 pounds of my weight from 5 years ago when I got pregnant with Joshua and 9 pounds away from my 31 for 31 weight goal. This basically rocks.

I knew that last week’s gain wasn’t really a big deal in the grand scheme of things. I got back to the plan of tracking my food and paying attention to what I was eating and making conscious decisions not to overdo it just because I’m still losing.

I didn’t always input the food into the MyPlate app, but paying attention made a huge difference. I didn’t load up on carb-heavy snacks like pretzels.

Beef jerky became my new secret snacking weapon. Low calorie, high protein, and because it’s so chewy, I don’t typically want to eat more than a single portion in any one sitting. Perfect!!

I also made sure to drink plenty of water, at least 64 oz a day, thanks to an old college beer mug that holds 32 oz. at a time. Two of those a day and I’m done! Knowing I only have to drain it twice is more manageable than trying to drink more of a smaller quantity. It’s all a brain game I’m playing with myself but it works, you know? And whatever works, works.

Here’s a breakthrough I had last week: I really, really love yoga.

The revelation that this is an actual workout and not just something new to try came after a discussion with our new Tuesday night instructor and another class member last week. It was inspiring and encouraging. So I tried a Hatha class on Saturday morning and loved it.

The new instructor for Tuesdays comes at it from the perspective not of being a teacher but of sharing a practice with a group of people. While she’s instructing, she’s also practicing. It’s a communal experience that is soul-enriching.

It’s also a workout that I can feel changing my body.

My legs feel firmer (which is also likely attributed to the cardio). They don’t jiggle when I walk.

My mid-section feels smaller. My arms feel stronger.

I’ve discovered my ability to hold certain poses has grown as I’ve continued to practice. What I used to be able to do for only 10 seconds or so, I can now do for longer periods of time.

Like holding a plank.

I mean, don’t get me wrong. My max is probably 30 seconds. And at the end, I feel like my arms might actually shake off my shoulders. And each subsequent plank gets shorter and shorter. But because I WANT to be better, I push myself to hold out and so when she calls for another plank, I do it again. And again.

I leave feeling amazing and that carries through to the next day.

I love that yoga is really challenging me to be aware of my body. To pay attention to what it’s saying and what it needs. And the breathing and relaxation to quiet my mind doesn’t hurt either.

I think I could take a yoga class every day if only I weren’t afraid of getting pulled away from class to change a dirty diaper. I’m working to get my house a little more in order so it feels a little less chaotic so that perhaps I can practice at home. (But that’s really another post for another day. Like maybe tomorrow or Friday.)

Anyway. This has been a good week. A great week, even. At least in terms of weight loss and motivation.

I’m officially BELOW 200 pounds. Below. Not at. It’s awesome.

Weekly Goal: Practice yoga 3 times, either at the gym or at home.
Weight Goal: 31 pounds total; 9 pounds to go!

What are your successes or setbacks from the week? What are your goals? Link up or leave them in the comments so we can support each other!