First Goal Reached!

Hello ladies!

I'd like to start off by saying I reached my FIRST mini goal this week. I told myself I wanted to lose 22 lbs by my 22nd birthday and I did. Several days early I might add :)

I lost 3.6 lbs this week, for a total loss of 22 lbs and a net loss of 19 lbs.

I've never lost more than 5-10 lbs at a time in my life. Ever. My diets have usually ended after a week or two because they're just too strict. Through Mamavation, I haven't gone on a "diet"...I've completely changed the way I eat for good. What I eat now will still be what I eat after I reach my final goal weight. It's yummy, has gotten me in touch with my inner Rachel Ray, and is so good for me.

Every other time I've dieted, I haven't wanted to tell anyone...because of my imminent failure. Reaching this first girl has made me realize that even though some weeks I might gain weight or maintain, I can still get right back into the swing of things. I want to shout from the rooftops about my success and my changes in a very dramatic fashion. I want my life to be a musical about weight loss. Someone call the Disney channel.

Another high for me this week: You know how some people (family, close friends) will tell you that you look skinnier out of the goodness of their hearts? Like you really might not look skinnier, but they want you to keep going and to help motivate you so they tell you anyway? This has made me doubt every positive comment from the people closest to me. Do I REALLY look skinnier, or are they just saying that? Well...a co-worker of mine that had been on leave for several weeks (actually, she went on leave right about the same time I started Mamavation, and just came back this week) came up to me, grabbed all the loose fabric on my pants (someone call HR) and told me I looked like I'd lost a lot of weight. Angels from the heavens started to sing. I can trust that I look smaller...because this person didn't even know I was attempting to. She even went so far as to ask me how I was doing it, what I was eating, what I did for exercise, etc. I used to be embarrassed when people asked if I'd lost weight because that would be admitting that I was fat and needed to lose weight. Not this time. I was PROUD and EXCITED to share my success with her.

Moving right along...congrat to Rita Ann on SOTW! She's always hopping about Twitter encouraging others and sharing her own ups and downs. She totally deserves this!

Also, Katy Bowman from Aligned and Well is sponsoring this week's blogging carnival. I'm so glad to see that someone has created DVDs specifically designed to help with areas that might causes us pain or discomfort. I'm really interested in the Knees and Hips DVD, since I've already had two knee surgeries.

I hope all the women who went to BOB this weekend had a blast, and I'm still totally jealous that I couldn't go because New Orleans is only my favorite city ever.

Until next week!