So… this probably isn’t the post you’d expect from me seeing as how I’ve been complaining about not being totally on the wagon lately… but see, these days, even when I’m OFF the wagon… I’m still kind of on it, just not as on it as I’d like to be.  And so… without further postponement….

I’ve lost 50 lbs as of this morning.

When I hit 40 lbs, it seemed unreal, 45 lbs seemed even MORE unreal, and now 50 just seems impossible.  I mean, 50 lbs is astronomical.  How did *I* do THAT?  Me.  You know, the girl who can’t lose weight?  The girl who gains weight at the drop of a hat?  How did I manage to lose 50 lbs?  Believe me, I checked about 4 or 5 times (ok ok, maybe more and maybe only because I liked seeing the number).  It’s not like I’ve reached my goal, there is still another pound to go for that (you know, for that nice and even 175).  Even then, I keep saying I still want to lose more weight, it’s just that I’ll be upping my calories and losing more slowly.  But still, there is something about being able to say that I’ve lost 50 lbs which makes me get all… giddy.  I feel like I might just be a member of some elite club.

So, as I’m currently unable to take any real progress pictures of myself (no one to man the camera, you see) I’ve googled some images of 50 lbs.

Part of me is like... seriously? That's way more than I lost.

Here is 50 lbs of sugar which I pulled from someone else’s blog.  It’s a lot of sugar and yet it doesn’t really sink in for me here.  I mean, sure… it’s sugar so it doesn’t really match the bulk of 50 lbs and my mind says my fat was way less bulky than that.  Sooo, I kept looking and came up with the following gem from yet another blog.

that's donna, who apparently lost 50 lbs also. way to go donna!

This one speaks to me a little bit more.  It’s actual fat and I can actually envision it on my body.  I can picture where it used to be and sometimes, when I catch myself off guard in the mirror, I can see the difference between myself “back then” and myself now and yeah, I know exactly where all that fat used to be.  Also… I don’t miss any of it.  It can stay gone.

Other than the 50 lbs, I do have other news.  I finally completed a run last night!  I wasn’t sure how far I’d be able to go with my back and all, but I made it through 2 miles which is further than I’ve gone in quite some time.  Also, I could have gone on but my back really started to hurt on the last leg of the second mile and so I decided not to push it.  I think it might have been one of my best runs….ever.  I tried something new.  I’ve been running the first mile at my new “faster” pace and then slowing down to my old pace for the second mile.  Last night, however… I did 5 minutes at my old pace and then 5 minutes at my new pace and continued to do this until I’d reached just a bit over 2 miles (yeah, because I had to stop at an even amount of time because I’m like that).  It went so well.  I mean, I didn’t get bored like I usually do on the treadmill and the miles seemed to fly by (well, if you ask ME and not my back).  I just might keep on doing this unless anyone out there has a reason I shouldn’t?

So there.  I’m feeling pretty darned good today!  Wahoo!