At my meeting this week I reached a big goal on the Weight Watchers program: I lost over 10% of my starting weight.  Weight Watchers celebrates this milestone in every member’s journey to be healthier because of all of the benefits associated with losing that much weight. When you have a significant amount of weight you’d like to lose it is easy to forget how far you’ve come when you still have a ways to go. So I wanted to take this week to point out all of the things I’ve accomplished so far.

Weight Watchers gives you a key ring when you reach 10% to remind you of how far you’ve come.

I’ve reduced my risk of weight related illnesses including diabetes, heart disease, and several kinds of cancer.  I have probably lowered my cholesterol and blood pressure too.  It’s not always easy to remember that I’m making my insides healthier when the evidence is most obvious on the outside.  Anything I can do to promote living a long, healthy life sounds worthwhile to me.

I have reduced the pressure on my joints. Since each pound adds about four pounds of pressure on your joints I’ve already reduced the beating on mine by about 100 lbs! Especially with all of the running I’ve been doing it’s great to know my healthier lifestyle is making things easier on my knees, ankles, and all that good stuff. Before I started this process my back hurt by the end of the day and it no longer does. I’ve also seen how weight can impact your joints from being with my mom who’s been heavy most of her life and has awful arthritis in her knees. It’s tough to watch her hobble and not be able to to help. Hopefully I can prevent that kind of pain for myself in the future.

I have more energy. It is pretty rare for me to want to throw myself on my couch at the end of the work day nowadays.  Of course, there are still moments of exhaustion, but it’s mostly because I run myself ragged whether I’m chubby or not. I find myself wanting to workout most days of the week. I don’t have to force myself to do it most of the time anymore. I still can’t believe I actually like running.

I’m getting to shop for new clothes! The girls reading this post will understand how exciting that is. A lot of my stuff didn’t fit me when I started my healthier way of life so in some cases I’m just able to wear stuff I haven’t in a really long time. But with clothes they are just plain too big and I’ve had to donate it. It is even more exciting to be able to go to stores whose clothes didn’t fit me five months ago. I’ve put off buying jeans all summer since I never wear them in the warm weather and now I’m in some serious need of new ones. Woohoo!

I’m much more confident now that I’m trimming down. I’ve always pretty sure of who I am on the inside, but my gut made me less comfortable with me on the outside. Now that its getting smaller I feel better about the whole package. I know I’m not finished yet, but I’m off to a good start and I’m sue I’ll feel even better as I get closer to my goals.

Not too bad for 4.5 months huh? I’ve still got a ways to go, but I’m happy with my progress.  Who wouldn’t be happy to have reduced their risk for all kinds of nasty diseases along with just feeling better ?  I will continue to set small, attainable goals for myself so I feel accomplished with each step. Obviously, my lifestyle is working well for me so why change it now?