Week 14 begins

Starting the week at 164.4 lbs and 34.9% BF and 28.2 BMI.

After such a great weigh in, the rest of the weekend was just so much more relaxed for me. Mark and I went out to dinner with our best friends at an authentic Tuscan (Italian) restaurant and while I couldn't eat lots of things (like their yummy bread, the balsamic vinegar reductions, cheese, pasta, etc.) I still managed to eat some meats off the antipasto plate (prociutto=yum) and my dinner was a great stuffed pork loin with olives and a pomodoro sauce and steamed broccolini. There may have been a scant amount of sugar in the sauce but it didn't affect me since I weighed myself the next morning and had lost another 1/2 a lb.

Yesterday being the 'fall back' into standard time, I always feel more tired than when we switch to daylight time. Even though the extra hour of sleep was great, I could tell I was an hour behind all day. Poor Mark was exhausted most of the day since he didn't sleep well from the night before (we think it may have been too much coffee). We did our normal Costco run to get my veggies for the week and I got a pair of jeans in a SIZE EIGHT for the next goal and pair of fleece PJ's in a MEDIUM (first time in years since I've worn medium pjs!).

I was pretty excited about the clothes.... the PJ's fit great but of course I'm so used to super baggy pants that I was complaining that the pants were too tight (which they weren't, LOL). I'll get used to them, I'm sure. They're super soft 'sueded' micro-fleece and they felt so comfy, especially in this super chilly fall weather.  The jeans are always such a steal at Costco. To spend less than $20 on a pair of jeans is always great and since I'm still losing weight it's stupid for me to even consider anything expensive. I wanted a pair of size 8 jeans for my next goal. That's how I work. I have something that's too small and I try them on weekly to see how I am doing. It's a great way to keep tabs on your losses without having to weigh or measure yourself. I've done that since the beginning when I bought 2 pair of size 12 Old Navy jeans and one pair of 10's for my goal.

I honestly thought size 10 was going to be the pinnacle and that's where I would stop. According to my body fat % I need to keep going. If I want to be 'average' or 'fit' I have a minimum of .9% to go and I would prefer to be in the 'fit' category which means I have another 10% to go. Pounds-wise, that equates to about 18-22 lbs. I won't worry about the exact number.... I'm really going on the percentage and that actually changes with each weigh in.

So here's the crazy thing. I haven't been a size 8 since forever. I had one dress in a size 8 back in 1996 that I loved and looked great on me. Otherwise, I was never smaller than a 10. I was okay with that at the time because I thought my body would never get any smaller. I remember being a size 8 in high school and college but after that it was always a 10.  In my typical ritualistic fashion, I made myself try on the size 8 jeans after dinner because that's how you know what's too tight and what fits. I'm tentatively putting the jeans on and it's always a little scary going over the derriere but that worked fine. I knew my waist and belly would be the major issue so I carefully pull up the jeans and try to button them. Well, I can button them.....it's a little tight but I can button them. The zipper doesn't really want to go up though and that's okay. I know my belly is the bane of my weight issues (well, that and my waist, hips and thighs!) so I figured it wouldn't zip up. But.....it wasn't that bad. The weird thing was, the butt and the thigh area fit perfectly! What, what, what? I can wear a size 8 in my thigh/hip area? Huh?  I know if I really had wanted to and had I put on a pair of Spanx (which by the way, I need to get a smaller pair!) I probably could have worn them. But I HATE super tight pants. I hate feeling that bound up around the belly, especially if you have to sit down!

So I am actually closer to a size 8 than I thought. And with calculating my future body fat, I'm probably going to hit a size 6 or even a size 4. WHAT THE EFF? This blows my mind. I sincerely can't believe this is my body and that my belly fat is going away for the first time in 30 years. I used to be a gym rat and I worked out religiously. I did more sit ups, crunches, and every imaginable weight machine than you'll ever know. I LOVED it. My calves are still a testament to that training. But I never could get smaller than a size 10 and my belly fat never went away. It really is what you eat that matters more. I thought it was a punishment - you had to eat absolute bland crap in order to get the body you wanted. But that is far from the truth. You can eat what you want but you have to remember to eat as clean as you can 90% of the time. Reward yourself with all the bad foods one day out of the week but eat clean the rest of the time. It's doable....really.

So I am off to start week #14. I can't believe I'm saying that. Yeah, 3 months ago I thought I'd be phasing off now but I wasn't being realistic. I know I've got some holiday challenges ahead but I'm planning accordingly. I will be phasing off by Christmas/New Years, that much I know. As long as I don't stall or do anything stupid (crossing my fingers) I should be down 18-25 lbs by then. I've already cleared with my coach that I'm cheating on both Thanksgiving and Christmas so there may be a delay for a week but so what? I am going to enjoy the holidays plus I'm going to be healthy and the smallest I've ever been in my adulthood!