When I started my low-carb adventure last month, I had high hopes of dropping huge amounts of weight in a short amount of time. I should know better, but I really envisioned a much slimmer me shopping for a brand-new swimsuit – and even wearing it in public – this summer.
Instead, as of Monday morning, I’ve lost 10 whole pounds.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m really excited about this! It’s a fraction – a small one, at that – of my overall goal. But it’s a step. And there’s no way I can get to that end goal without losing the first 10 pounds.
And, as my friend Jill pointed out, that is 40 sticks of butter. FORTY STICKS OF BUTTER!
Several years ago, I joined Weight Watchers with two girls I worked with. One of my co-workers had lost weight with the program before, and she told me that when she lost a certain amount of weight, she and her friend celebrated by going to the grocery store, putting the number of pounds of ground beef that they had lost in their cart – and then pushing it around the aisles like little kids playing hooky.
As I lost weight that time, I just made a chain of paper clips in my cubicle. I’m not really a “make a scene in the grocery store” kind of girl, I guess.
This time, though? I have even more to lose, and I’ve been trying – and failing – for even longer. So a few pounds seems to deserve great celebration at this point!
In the middle of writing this post, I followed a link to a blog post called, “The Crumbs We Haven’t Been Looking For.” [Thanks, Leigh, for the recommendation!] I love the entire post, but this part really spoke to me:
“I am victory, and I am much smaller than people think. So unless you develop eyes for the puny, you’ll spend your life believing that you’re going nowhere, that I’m distant from you, that you have no reason to celebrate.”
That’s good stuff, right? And besides, forty sticks of butter? That is not puny!
I can’t guarantee that I’ll lose another stick of butter, much less hundreds of them. To be honest, I’ve had at least one leg off the wagon this week [and, again, there were those pesky M&Ms from last week]. But I’m not giving up. I’m choosing my hard.
And I’m celebrating this first 10 pounds.
What small victory are you celebrating today? Share in the comments, so we can celebrate with you!
{Photo by Robert S. Donovan}
What a great way to think about it!! Earlier today I posted about losing a little over 6 pounds doing the first cycle of the 17 Day Diet and I felt a little discouraged too, you know, wishing it had been more, but it’s just the beginning and I’m so excited to see myself in a state of healthy! And later, when we’ve reached our goals, we can snack on a few pesky M&Ms and not have to feel so guilty about it! Celebrate, girl!!
GO MARY!!! 10 pounds is a big deal!! And you should totally celebrate!
Way to go!
Way to go! 10 pounds is a wonderful loss! Celebrate!
Way to go and congratulations!
Girl, 10 pounds is a lot! That’s wonderful! I love how you are thinking about this – we all should do this. This way of thinking inspired me – it may help me want to lose more, instead of giving up.
Keep going at it!
10 lbs is AWESOME!!!! Being on the other end of things, you would probably be able to hear me shouting in celebration all the way from Canada if I managed to gain 10 lbs!
You’re doing great! Stay on the wagon!!!
Oh, this was a good post and I love that quote! Praying for you as you continue toward your goal! You’ve got this!
I’ve tried everything, including Weight Watchers and going carb-free. In six months with practically no carbs, I managed to lose 30 pounds, but gained it in one year after I was done. I finally broke down and went to a Nutricionist, and found out I have a slow methabolism, and lots of nutrients are quite low- which means the body doesnt know how to process food correclty and it becomes nearly impossible to lose the weight!
If you keep on going too slow for your own good, I suggest looking for a doctor! Good luck!
Way to go Mary!!
This is SO worth celebrating, Mary! Congratulations! I’m so glad Josh’s post spoke to you. It certainly resonated with me.
Way to go! I am doing the happy dance for you!
Congratulations! I like the perspective on victory…well said!
Congrats, Mary! You CAN do this. I know you can!
Awesome job Mary! Congratulations! Each pound lost is one pound closer to your goal. I saw this cool idea the other day- get 2 empty jars and some marbles. Label one jar “pounds lost” and the other “pounds to lose” put the appropriate number of marbles in each jar. As you lose a pound, transfer another marble over to the “pounds lost” jar. A great little visual!
YAY! Congrats girl!! So pleased for you. One pound at a time! You can do it!