Losing Weight: The Inside Story

   For those of you who know me, you probably know that I have been losing weight since last August.  If you don't know me, well, I have been losing weight since last August : )  I came to a point in my brain where weight loss wasn't something to be avoided anymore.  It just clicked in there and stuck.  I completely changed my eating habits, like I have done a million times before with a million different diet ideas, but this time it worked.  I started eating 5-6 small 200 calorie meals, mostly protein.  I completely cut out wheat products from my diet and stuck to rice and potatoes as my starches.  I started losing weight!  I ate my yogurts, homemade crab salad on rice cakes, turkey rolls with cheese inside, and vegetables.  Not only did I lose weight steadily, I actually kept it off.  I have had moments of insanity, especially around Christmas.  My daughter makes this fabulous fudge and we made alot of it and we ate alot of it!  Mmmmm, so tasty!  I have good days and bad days and  I let myself cheat so that I don't completely blow it.  I weigh myself as often as I can on one scale.  I'm sure the school nurse knows all about me as I have chosen the elementary school scale as my "standard".  Every time I'm there, I weigh myself so she gets all my news first, whether good or bad.  I love seeing that little hangy thing go lower and lower on the scale.  First, it was 10 lbs.  Then 15.  Then 20.  Then 25.  The last time I weighed, I was down 27 pounds since last August.  Some months I don't lose anything and every once in a while, I gain.  Usually because I have started eating badly again.
  I didn't start losing weight because my Spouse didn't love me for me.  I didn't start because of any comments or anything.  I did it for me.  I didn't like looking at pictures of myself, I looked so pasty and smooth.  Not that smooth is bad, but an angle here and there isn't so bad, especially around the jawline.  I felt uncomfortable in my clothes and I was noticing that I had gotten past size 16's and was creeping into 18's.  My extra large shirts were looking rather sausagy and my airway was constricted every time I bent over.  Turning red while tying your shoes is just ridiculous.
  Now, I'm in a happy size 14 and continuing to lose slowly.  I am trying to lose 7 more pounds so I can be in the next "10's" down.  I can go into a store and try on stuff and not only does it fit, it actually looks good!  I feel much prettier in my clothes and am fitting into stuff that I wore years ago!  I feel healthy and energized.  I am taking the weight loss a day at a time and a goal at a time.  I am not looking to be skinny or teenageresque or anything, just happy and comfortable.  I like walking around with my kids and they're not embarassed to be seen with me.
  What about you?  Are you losing weight?  Are you happy with where you are?  Are you on the other spectrum: too skinny?  Are you the chubby sibling or the skinny sibling? (I'm the chubby one, I outgrew my sister by age 11) (dang it, I hate being the chubby sister!)(blog for another day)(don't you just love parentheses?)