Fan Club

I had an appointment with my doctor last night (she has appointments all the way up to 10pm on Mondays). At first I saw the same nurse I always see. I just love her. She's always so happy and upbeat. Makes going to the doctor a little less wretched. =P The first thing they do is toss you on the scale (figuratively speaking, of course - lol) and my goodness was she ever surprised when she noted my weight in my chart. She was so excited for me and asked me what I'd been doing. Really cheering me on. What a great feeling! A few minutes later, when Dr. C. cam in the room she first commented on my blood pressure, which was considerably lower than normal. Then she saw the weight notation and heaped on the praise, too. I truly am doing this for me... but a little pat on the back never hurt. =) I left there feeling a few inches taller. And like I had my own personal fan club. LOL

According to their scales, I'm 18 pounds lighter since my last appointment, which was in early December (I started South Beach in early January). One thing I'm pretty proud of is that we (me and Robert) didn't blow it while we were in North Carlina week before last. It would have been so easy to make excuses. We're away from home, we're out of our normal routine, we'll get right back on track... But, apparently we did just fine. I'll admit, I made a few questionable choices, but now even my "slips" are minor. It's not like I'm eating a half-gallon of ice cream or downing french fries. While in NC, I had two bites of mac and cheese at one dinner and a couple hush puppies at another. Not exactly a disaster. Both times I did it conciously and didn't feel bad about it. With the mac and cheese, I put a little on my plate (I l*o*v*e macaroni and cheese) with the knowledge that I would limit myself to that one small spoonful. But I took two bites, realized it wasn't all that great (what a letdown - ha!) and decided not to eat the rest. For me, that was a real defining moment. I didn't eat it just because it was there and I could. I chose not to because it wasn't worth it. Wow. That might sound elementary to some people, but that's big for me.

The weight is coming off much slower now, but that's to be expected. I'm in no rush. I'm making better choices, I'm doing the right things... the weight loss will follow. It feels incredible to be moving in the right direction.