Round and Round we go and the downside to losing weight

Can you all tell that I have a research paper due? It seems that when I have school assignments that need to get done, I also tend to blog a lot - I think it's called procrastination. At least it helps me to catch up on my entries.

So round and round we go - as some of you know, I've been taking a jogging class here at BYU Hawaii. Actually I've taken it a number of times. This summer is my 5th time taking it. Last spring, when I took it for the first time, I wasn't really excited about it - you see the class in 4 days a week, Mon thru Thurs, at 6am! Yep, you heard right. And to add to all that - it's only worth one stinkin' credit! And while I wasn't too excited to be running, I was excited to have time to exercise that I couldn't put off. I had to show up for class.

And I was still trying to reach my weight loss goal of losing 20 pounds from Jan 2007 to June 2007 - one new year's resolution I was determined to make. And I did it. I'm not ashamed to admit that I had reach the unbelievable weight of 187 lbs - that's where I was in Jan 2007. I'm not sure how that happened, and some of you will say, but you're tall, you didn't look like you weighed that much, but the truth is that I did. And I didn't like it - I really didn't like to see pictures of myself. So I decided to try to do better. By June I had done it - I was at 170 lbs and lovin' how my clothes were fitting me much better, but I still wanted to lose more - wanting to get down to pre-children weight would be fabulous.

So I signed up to take that jogging class again in the summer that year. Unfortunately I didn't lose anymore weight, but it wasn't because I wasn't exercising, it was because I found out I was pregnant! When I was about 14 weeks along, I finally realized that while I didn't really miss my little monthly friend, she hadn't come a-knockin' for a few months! Oops! While I wasn't losing anymore weight, I wasn't gaining either - a nice little equilibrium, the baby could gain and I could lose. This was my "skinniest" pregnancy yet and I love every minute of it.

Of course, towards the end of the pregnancy I did start gaining weight, it was inevitable - and when I hit Jan 2008, guess where my weight was? Yep, right back where I started - actually about 192. While I was happy that both the baby and I were very healthy, it was a little bit of a bummer to be right back where I had started last year. But I tried not to let it bother me (well, too much) and just concentrated on having a healthy baby.

And so I did have a healthy baby - and I even let myself heal (something I'm not so well known for doing) and when I hit the 8 week, post birth, mark I started up jogging class again. And by the time Juliana was 12 weeks old, I was back to 170! Even with Abby I don't think I lost the weight that fast. And I feel good. I've been hovering right at 165 for now, but I can tell that the running is still doing me good. I think I've just reach that point where the good muscle development and the bad fat being lost are equaling out for the moment. While it's a little disheartening to not see the scale dropping like it has been, I have reached a few milestones that have been keeping me motivated lately:

1. For the first time in as long as I can clearly remember - my thighs do not rub together when I walk - or run as the case may be. True, I am usually clothed with I'm doing these activities, but when I'm wear BYU issue shorts it's easy to tell what is and what is not rubbing together any longer.

2. I can now run 1.5 mile in under 15 minutes. This was my goal for this spring/summer in my jogging class. I've been right about 16 minutes, so I wanted to bring it down. 3 weeks ago I ran it in 14 min 51 sec, but that was by my watch time, so I wasn't totally convinced that it was accurate. But just this week in class we ran it and I did it in 14 min 14 sec! So there's no doubt about it - I've finally reached my goal there and can work on getting even faster.

3. And now for the only downside I've found to losing the weight - my clothes DO NOT fit me! Now, I know that sounds funny, it's a great thing that my clothes are all getting to be too big for me, but I don't have anything to wear! I could even go out and buy a few new things, but I don't want to invest in a new (albeit small) wardrobe just to have it not fit again in a few months. But wouldn't that be nice! So I'm going to wear my too big pants - and invest in a belt - until I can't stand it any longer and then maybe I'll buy a few things.

Maybe if you're lucky I'll post some before and after pics - I haven't taken any afters yet, I need too. And I'm not sure I really want to share the before pics. So we'll see. But it's been a fun, and very cyclical, adventure over the last year and a half - I'm just hoping the cycle part of it is over.