Just a Couple of Non-Scale Victories

See this sleeveless workout shirt I am wearing?  Well, two days ago was the first time I ever wore this out in public.  I wear it around the house a lot to work out in, but NEVER in public.  I have always felt very self conscious of my arms and have never worn sleeveless clothes for as long as I can remember.  I remember being really distraught when my softball team decided to go with sleeveless shirts for our uniforms when I was just 15 or 16 years old.  I HATED that uniform.  As soon as the game was over, I would change into another shirt with sleeves.  I was that self conscious about it.  But I am finally starting to feel better about my body including my arms.  Maybe someday I will even feel comfortable wearing sleeveless clothes other than workout shirts.  

My other non-scale victory has to do with clothes.  One of my summer projects was to clean out my clothes closet again.  I did it last summer and got rid of a lot of clothes but I knew I would have a lot more to get rid of again this summer.  I ran across a pair of jeans I called my "skinny jeans."  They were a size 16.  My old roommate gave them to me when she started losing weight in college.  When I lost a lot of weight in college, I was able to wear these jeans and I felt so good about myself in them.  But as soon as I started to gain weight back, I immediately couldn't wear the jeans anymore.  

So I decided to put the "skinny" jeans on again and see how they fit.  I took some pictures and you can see below my "skinny" jeans:

My new "skinny" jeans are now a size 6.  I bought them when I went home to visit my parents.  I am still a few pounds away from being able to wear them comfortably, but they fit.  I also took some pictures with them on:

And I also bought a pair of size 6 capri pants.  I also feel like I need to lose a few pounds before I can wear these.  Here is a picture of the capri pants:

I also put on an old hoodie that I love.  I knew I wouldn't be able to wear it anymore, but I wanted to see how it fit now.  I am also including a picture of me wearing this hoodie 2 years ago:

                             

I really wanted to do a side by side comparison photo but I couldn't figure out how to do it!  So the first picture is me just a few days ago and the second picture was taken in California 2 years ago.  

Just a couple of non-scale victories I thought I would share.  :)

The Humane Society "Woof Walk"

(An overcast day for the Woof Walk but the mountains are still beautiful with the clouds covering them.)

It was a dreary and overcast day for the Humane Society's Woof Walk, but that was okay.  Unfortunately, I guess it wasn't okay for a lot of people.  The turnout was terrible and because the Humane Society didn't do online and early registration, I bet a lot of people backed out at the last minute.  I think there were less than 20 people at the walk.  I think if they had people register online or even just locations that people could register at, I think a lot of people would have still participated even though the weather was yucky.  Anyway, the walk was still fun.  Actually it was more of a hike than a walk.  

(Rhododendruns in bloom)

Before the official walk got started, I got there early to register because I thought a lot of people would be there.  Registration started about an hour before the walk so I got there when registration started thinking I would have to wait in a line for a long time.  But that wasn't the case.  I got there right away and registered with about 45 minutes to an hour to spare.  To make use of my time, I started walking early.  I walked around and took some pictures of the park.  This is my local community park.  It's such a beautiful park with the mountains in the background, a pond with ducks and frisbee golf.  The rhododendruns were in bloom so I took some pictures of them while I walked around.  

(Before the walk got started)

Earlier in the morning, I got up and walked to the farmers market.  But as you can see in my self portrait, I was clearly spending more time on things other than my appearance!  I am not even sure if I brushed my hair.  It looks terrible.  Plus, the humid, rainy weather wasn't doing me any favors.  

I have walked at the community park several of times before the Woof Walk but I have always stuck with the path that circles the park.  I figured that would be what we would do for the Woof Walk too.  But the walk had 2 paths that you could take.  One of the paths was to circle the park like I have done before but the other route was to hike up into the woods and then come back into the park on the other side.  I decided to go up into the woods since I had never done that before.  I really wasn't expecting to get much of workout on this walk but I was pleasantly surprised once we started climbing up into the woods.  It was a hike!  It was also very beautiful back in the woods.  Everything is green again so the woods looked like an enchanted forest.  For about 5-10 minutes of the woods hike, you are climbing straight up at a pretty steep incline.  Then once you get to the top, you start the descent back down to the other side of the park.  

(Lovely sweat after the Woof Walk/Hike-you just thought I looked great in the before picture!)

As you can see, I worked up quite a sweat during the hike into the woods.  I burned quite a few calories in a pretty short amount of time.  I was so happy to discover this hike.  I have been back 2 times since because it's such a calorie burner and because it feels like I am hiking without having to drive out to a hiking trail on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  

Below are two recent pictures of me.  They don't have anything to do with the Woof Walk, but I wanted to include them maybe to show that I do occasionally wear something other than workout clothes and I do occasionally brush my hair!  :)  I am starting to feel good about the way I look.  This is a foreign concept to me so it's taking a lot of time to get used to.  But it's a very good feeling to feel comfortable in my own skin.  That's one of the the best kinds of non-scale victories I could ever ask for.  

Non Scale Victories

The past 3 weekends I have been out of town....Atlanta, Oklahoma, and then Asheville last weekend.  Travel is definitely my biggest challenge with healthy living and weight loss.  During times like these when I don't see a lot of progress on the scale, I really have to focus on "Non Scale Victories."  It's this stuff that keeps me focused and motivated.  Here are some of my non scale victories:

My Wedding Ring

This ring used to be so tight that it would barely fit on my finger some days.  Sometimes I couldn't get it off when my hands would swell.  Now I can almost shake the ring off my ringer.  This is an everyday reminder of my progress and I love having that with me. 

Size 12 Pants

I know it doesn't sound like a very small size, but it is for me.  I have NEVER worn a size 12.  Well....not since elementary school (if even then).  I want to be smaller than a size 12, but I really have to stop and savor the moments along the way on this journey.  This means that I can go in almost any clothing store and find clothes that fit.  That's a great feeling!  When I wore my 12 jeans last weekend out hiking, they were actually a little baggy....WHAT?!  It's definitely motivating.

Shopping at Cosmo's Vegan Shoppe

A few weeks ago when we were in Atlanta, we stopped by Cosmo's Vegan Shoppe to see if we could find some hard-to-find vegan products.  They also had some cute vegan shirts in the store.  When the woman working was helping me find a shirt, she said, "I am not sure if we have a medium and I guess that's probably the size you would wear."  Once again, WHAT?!  A medium!  It was so funny to hear her say that.  I am starting to wear mediums in unisex t-shirts but it was such a good feeling to hear someone who doesn't know me say that.  

Fitness

This picture was taken out on my 13 mile birthday hike.  It felt so good to do this hike for my birthday.  My fitness ability has definitely increased over the past year and 4 months.  I can do things now that I wouldn't have been able to do 2 years ago.  I can handle intense hiking and I can even handle running!  Running has always been something I hated....especially after the half marathon.  I swore I would never run again!  But now that I am not carrying around so much extra weight, I can handle it a lot better.  I have been doing a lot of walk/jogging lately and I actually enjoy it!  

These non scale victories keep me going.  They keep me focused when I feel like the scale isn't moving.  I know I am healthier, I know I am stronger and I know I am more confident.  Those are the things that are most important to me.