I have lost 20 pounds (as of yesterday!) and I have lost approximately 1 clothing size. There is, in my head, a long rant about women’s clothing sizes, but for now I’ll leave it at this: in April, I fit into large 16s, most 18s and small 20s. Now, I fit large 14s, most 16s, and small 18s…in pants/skirts. Tops are about one size smaller. On Saturday I took 3 pairs of pants and shorts to Value Village, including the pants I wore to my job interview and my very favorite capris, because they were just way too big. I picked up 2 pairs of pants, a skirt, 2 dresses, and a pair of capris. ($42! I love thrift stores. I will not buy new clothes until at least mid-winter, maybe not until next spring.)
If I keep the rate of the last month, I’ll be at my personal target in mid-November. (Remember that I was aiming for early February 2008.) Even at the slower overall rate, I’m looking at getting there by New Year’s. Of course, I’m not really counting on keeping up this rate into the winter, but it’s nice to know that I’ve got a good cushion. So to speak.
As it is, I now weigh what it says on my driver’s license, and IIRC, this is less than I’ve weighed at any time since we moved to Olympia.
I have ridden 600 miles (as of this morning), mostly in my 11 mile daily round-trip commute. My average speed has gone up slightly: when I started riding, before I got the cyclometer, it took about the same time to bike as to bus. Now, it takes me about 15-20 minutes less to bike. (I just did that math, BTW, and it came as a shock to me, too.)
I could conceivably hit 1000 miles by the end of October, just commuting…which is about when I imagine I’ll stop biking to work on a regular basis. I have rain gear, but there isn’t much I can do about getting rain on my glasses, other than getting contacts, and I’m too squeamish to get contacts.
Numbers aside, I feel better physically and psychologically than I have in years. I feel at ease in my body. (Don’t ask about the house, though.) I feel like I can take on the dark of winter this year and come out the other side still strong.
I’m writing, too. I had a burst of inspiration for a longer-form poem yesterday for the first time in a while; one of those moments where the words started sliding together in my head and then I had to go find a piece of paper and a pen NOW. Most afternoons I take a break to go off somewhere (starbucks, park, etc) and freewrite, which has been gelling into a fictionalized reworking of one of my favorite family stories.
If we can just make some real progress on the house, then I’ll really be at the best I’ve been. Ever. Seriously.
Or maybe that’s just the post-ride endorphin buzz talking. 🙂
Yay you!