Third Assessment: 18 weeks into my journey

       Tuesday was my 6 week assessment where I meet with Kyle and we go over my progress. From the very beginning he and I have had many discussions about not weighing myself at all except at those 6 week assessments.   His argument was that the number on the scale should not dictate what I am doing to get healthier.  My argument was that I am a woman and we just have to know if the number is going up or down. I just couldn't bypass the scale at first.  My first 6 weeks I weighed every week.  At my first six week assessment we had the scale "discussion" again (plus a few other times during the six weeks) so I promised I would only weigh myself every 2 weeks. For the most part I complied. Then this past 6 weeks I decided to give it a try. I did not look at a scale at all from 6/12/12 until 7/24/12.  Difficult?? You betcha! I was hoping to have lost 16lbs and kept telling myself it was okay if I didn't reach that number. I was just hoping to be close.  I hadn't lost 16, I had lost 26!!  Talk about a big WOO-HOO moment!  Then to hear him say I had lost 70lbs since March 21 nearly brought me to tears. If I had been weighing myself all along then I wouldn't have had that moment of pure joy.  So goodbye scales!!   I can honestly say I am proud of what I have accomplished and how hard I am working.  I've lost 70lbs and 35.75 inches in a little over 4 months.   I am in this for life and never want to go back to this girl:

January 2012

May 2011: Probably at my heaviest

July 2012

I hated getting my picture taken then and it's still hard for me, but when I compare them I cannot believe the changes.   I am starting to feel so much better about myself. My confidence is building and feel truly happy.   Noticing all these changes in myself from the inside out really motivates me to keep going and makes me want to keep a record of my transformation into the new me.