A New Season

It's hard to believe that this is the last weekend in September! We've had warm and rather summer-like weather for the past week, but the forecast is predicting temperatures more fall-like by the first of the week. I'm thinking it's about time to pack up most of my spring and summer clothes and pull out my fall things. Sigh!

Last fall I had to buy an entirely new wardrobe in my goal size (it was SUCH a burden to have to do all that shopping - NOT!). It's going to be fun to pull them out again, and it's wonderful knowing I won't have to worry about whether or not they'll fit. I know they will.

Before losing 126 pounds, I had clothing for each season in a couple of different sizes. I always had hold-overs from when I weighed less, and I always hoped that just maybe I'd be able to get into them. It was really funny last fall when I pulled out some of those really old clothes. To my great surprise, even the smallest things I'd saved from the late 1980's (I really had a couple of things that went back that far . . . ) were too big! It was just as well, because the oversized shoulder pads screamed 1980's and I would never have been able to wear them anyway :-). It was pretty amazing to realize that, at age 56, I was actually smaller than I was in my mid-30's.

I feel like I am finally settling in mentally and emotionally to where I'm at weight-wise. After losing the weight so quickly, I was pretty much in a state of disbelief that I'd actually reach my goal. I'd look in the mirror and not always "see" the new, thin body I inhabited. Sometimes it was almost shocking for me when I'd see a picture of myself, because I was sure that the photo was just taken at a funny angle that made me look a lot smaller than I was. Interestingly enough, I used to have the same reaction when I'd see photos at my top weight - I was convinced that it was just a bad angle that made me look bigger than I was. Same camera, so how it went from making me look bigger than I thought I was to looking smaller than I thought I was remains a mystery :-).

In addition to my brain and emotions finally catching up with my weight, I think my body has finally settled in to my goal weight as well. Things have continued to shift and settle, and my skin (which sagged much less than I feared it would) continues to rebound (although, at 57, gravity is still a force to contend with!)

As the weather points to a change in seasons, I feel like I have finally settled into the season called "the rest of my healthy life." And it's a good season, and I pray that it's a long one!

For those of you who are on your weight loss journey, I hope this season is a SHORT one for you! Make it as short as possible by committing to staying on plan - that's how you'll get to your goal as quickly as possible, and you'll start the rest of your own healthy life that much sooner.