There are few moments in your life that you look back on and remember vividly, like your high school graduation or the first time you saw Star Wars in the theater. I'm no expert on these things -- I'm only 27 after all -- but I have to assume my sister's wedding qualifies as one of those moments. As for the ceremony itself, it will probably be like every other wedding, though my parents might be a smidge more emotional at this one than they would be at the other five weddings I'm attending this year. But even if the ceremony is the same kind of rote event every wedding is, when it's your family it's always a different sensation.
It's been 210 days since I first started publicly bugging the world about my weight issues, or at least my attempt to fix them. As I discussed recently I've had to confront and think about what, exactly, failure means to me because there was a very real chance I wasn't going to hit the threshold. I actually began telling people that perhaps 175 was too high a bar, because once I had cracked 180 the momentum grinded to a halt. Fortunately, however, over the final few days I managed to push through. This past Wednesday I, at long last, dipped below 175 and on Thursday and Friday I dipped below it further still.
That's all done now I'm sure. Last night was the rehearsal dinner for my sister's wedding, which involved a copious amount of wine, hors d'oeurves, dinner and cookies. I imagine most of that has thrown my numbers totally out of whack once again, and at the wedding tonight, I'm sure it will be more of the same.
But that's fine.
Of the numerous things I've learned about weight loss and about myself throughout this whole process, it's that you can't really trust the numbers. After all, they're just numbers. The important thing is about how you feel and if you've maintained the standards of your own sense of dedication and discipline. Considering I'm about to go jog and swim after writing this before it's even noon on a Saturday, I'd say I've done that. But I've also done things and learned things about myself that otherwise wouldn't have been possible, while transforming into a better (and by better don't mean more handsome, but more healthy) version of me.
In the beginning of this my sister's marriage wasn't really the driver, it was just a deadline in the future that I could use to force myself into shape after several years of letting my waistline slip. In the end it proved effective -- perhaps too much so. I look better, I feel healthier (though not right now considering the alcohol from last night), I can run longer and, as I found last night, I may have to get the pants of my favorite suit taken in, which is remarkable considering they felt like sausage casings eight months ago. Finding this out was a bit of a shock last night considering I wouldn't be able to get the pants altered in the 45 minutes of time I had to spare before the rehearsal, but maybe I'll get it taken care of before the next wedding.
Either way, fitting pants or no, it seems pretty clear I'm better off, and not merely because my weight is back under control. This was an experience that taught me much about myself and my limits, and all of that is invaluable as I move on with my life. I hope most of you have been as amused reading about this as I have been by writing it, and that most of you didn't find it a problem that of all the limits I've reached, apparently the word count on this blog wasn't one of them. In the end, perhaps the most important thing I learned about myself and my limits, is that you won't know what they are if you don't try to push them.
And you should always keep pushing them.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go get ready. There's a wedding tonight, you know.
CROWD-SOURCED WEIGHT LOSS PLAN DAY 210!
Days until sister's wedding: 0
Starting weight: 219
Target weight: 175
Weight today: 174.6
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