An Epic Journey to an Epic Goal

This is the post I have been waiting, well 7 months to write. Today officially I can proudly say that I have met my goal Yes, this weekend was shit for sure but obviously this was my body FINALLY catching up with three weeks’ worth of work. Today I weighed in at 143 pounds. That means I have lost 77 pounds to date. 77 pounds in almost 7 months exactly. AND… you will notice based on my charts that I will post below that I have lost exactly 35% of my starting body weight. I am officially 35% less of me. I started this thing on October 4 and 7 months later on May 9 I am here. This should serve as total complete proof to myself that anything is possible. That it’s never a waste to try and honestly, just go ahead and start today because as all those sayings go, a year from now you will wish you have started today. Today I am glad for that day 7 months ago that despite all odds I went ahead and started. 7 months later I am glad I started when I did.

Today I feel epic. Amazing how one little number can change so much. For the last 7 months this is what I stare at when I run on my treadmill….



You notice the word epic there, as I run and look down from time to time I see the word epic. It seems kind of fitting that for the last month or so I repeat to myself on the treadmill, EPIC… probably to keep my brain distracted while I run mostly, but it just seems so fitting because today I made myself EPIC. Today I believe in the power of change and in the ability for human nature to overcome any obstacle you put your mind to.

So where the hell do I go from here? That is a very good question I have obviously been pondering for a while. I would still like to lose more weight. I love the fact that I feel healthy and strong. I love that in 7 months every one of those pounds was lost the HEALTHY way unlike so many of my other attempts at weight loss. Those 77 pounds were lost without cheating and obsessing on the scale. Those 77 pounds were lost by treating my body well and it has rewarded me. I completely love the lifestyle I have carved out for myself and I simply have no intention of changing that. I don’t suddenly want to indulge in foods that leave me feeling disgusting. I am actually shocked that in 7 months I can honestly say I have not ate McDonalds once. Do you realize that for 5 months BEFORE I started weight watchers I ate McDonalds 5 times a week. They knew me at the drive thru. Do you know how many times I would come back to the office and feel like throwing up after having ate chicken nuggets and fries? The quality of the food I was eating was simply making me sick and quite honestly killing me slowly.

I don’t honestly plan on changing much about my lifestyle and/or diet from here on out. I am completely comfortable with the amounts of food and quality of foods I am giving myself. I haven’t tracked or recorded food in months and I guess that’s okay. I haven’t obsessed daily about how many points I’m eating. I clearly have indulgences. I drink alcohol on my weekly Friday date night’s with my husband. I indulge in cupcakes and cookies as I get the urge. Now mind you, with the exception of a few hiccups I really do make much better choices all around.

And now let’s talk running and exercise. I really have proven to myself how much I need and crave the runners high in my life. It just evens out my mood. I need to continue exercising to feel healthy and strong and feel like me. So where do I go from here? Honestly, exactly the same path I have been traveling down for the past 7 months. Nothing changes. If I continue to lose weight I will call it my body finding the real place it wants to live. If I don’t lose more weight, that’s fine too. Although I do eventually have my sights set on 140 as those stupid BMI charts are still telling me at 143 pounds that I am obese. What??? Clearly not taking into account the muscle that I know I must have from my running.

Today gets treated like every other day for me with the exception of the smile on my face being just a little brighter. I will eat my healthy smart ones lasagna lunch, and my afternoon fruit snack and go home and run. Tomorrow is Friday so that means I will take the day off from exercise and go to dinner with my husband and perhaps celebrate goal by having a lovely healthy dinner of some sort, maybe I’ll get a drink, maybe I won’t. Nothing changes.

I have 3 weeks until Maui and I am getting so excited about how close it’s getting. I really am craving a vacation and some quality time with my husband. Some happy fun adventures…. And of course the reality that I am going to go there FEELING amazing. The past two times we have gone to Maui for some reason the couple weeks prior to Maui I always let things go health wise and spun a little out of control before I even got there. NOT this time. I will go feeling amazing and confident and in control. I am really hoping to get to 140 pounds so 3 pounds in 3 weeks, but if I don’t; that’s okay too. It’s really more about how I feel and honestly I feel great.

I want to also comment on a comment to the photo from Disneyland I posted a couple days ago. Someone said that no matter what that “overweight” girl is the same girl on the inside as I am now. I completely agree with that. I am the same girl heavy or thin. I deserve the same amounts of happiness no matter my outside physical appearance. I completely agree with that. I love that. I know this is true and yes I am the same girl and yet… and yet… I am not in so many ways. That overweight girl is MISERABLE. On the inside she is so uncomfortable that she allows herself to hide away from life. She won’t go anywhere and starts to shy away from spending time with her husband because she is embarrassed. That overweight girl does not take care of herself either. I don’t even mean with eating and health. I mean with the clothes she wears or doing her hair or any of the many other little things that make us feel good. That girl is fundamentally the same girl that is inside me now but she is the worst version of me where as this is definitely the best; happiest version of me. NOT because I am thin, but because I am happy. I honestly some days still have a hard time considering myself thin. I am the best version of Emily today because of what’s on the inside and what I feel about myself. I am the best version of me because I love me and am not afraid to live my life.

Today is quite simply EPIC. And in case anyone was wondering that picture at the top of this post with the 75 pounds is from one of the many previous times I have done weight watchers and got a 75 pounds lost magnet. Actually only once did I never lose 75 pounds previously, when I earned that bad boy. It was been in my gym for years and obviously has been a sore spot for me for some time. Not anymore. Now it is a prideful badge that I have earned and need to remember in order to stay the course.

Now the rest of my life beings, right… As if I haven’t been living t already. I’m just going to bask in the epic-ness of it all for a little while if that’s okay. Tomorrow I will return to the regularly scheduled programming.