It's worth it to keep working at it...

It's been a long time since I've written about my weight loss.  As you may or may not remember, I've been on Weight Watchers since September of 2011.  I have lost a total of 77 pounds.

Right now, I'm up a couple of pounds.  I know this is a normal part of weight loss.  The ups, the downs.

It gets so hard sometimes.  You work so hard, you say no to those chips that you want.  You do not walk past the chip aisle at the grocery store.  You wish you had some queso dip.  Or ice cream.  Or fatty meats.  Whatever your vice is.

And sometimes, it does no good.  Sometimes it takes weeks to see that meager difference in the scale.  It doesn't matter that you work out.  It still will not show for a week or two.

But...

After that week or two, if you can stay on track, you can see a difference.  It'll be big in the beginning, because you need to see that difference, and quickly so that you keep that motivation.  Once you get closer to your goal, it gets harder.  You have to step up your game.  You work harder.  Not that you're hungrier, but that when you get hungry, you have less of a margin of error for making bad choices.

In the beginning, when you make that choice, and you eat chips, or ice cream, or pastry, or chocolate, you still lose.  And you can still lose big, dependent on how differently you are eating now, compared to how you were eating before.

And you are working out now.  Working out harder than ever before.  You know those workouts?  They can make the scale go up.  The muscles you build take up less space at the same weight as the fat you had.  And, you may retain water as your muscles heal themselves.  So, the harder you work out, the more hyped up you get, thinking that you'll see a bigger drop in the scale.  That hasn't been my experience.  Although, in this past year, I've dropped 4 sizes and only 10 lbs. If you didn't catch that, it was 4 sizes and 10 lbs.

So, now.  Now that you are closer to your goal. Now that you work out more than ever before.  Now that you have been eating healthier for years.  Now, the changes you make to your eating and routines are smaller, the losses are smaller.

It's ok.

No, really.  It's ok.

Why you ask?  Because it's still worth it.

You tell me which of these two ladies looks happier:

October 2010, Halloween (I was librarian - creative right?)

Taken 11-4-2013, the day the Bears beat the Packers.

Hang in there.  Keep working at it.  Try different things to get different results.  Seriously.  If I can do it, anyone can do it.  It takes a choice and a determination to follow through on the choice and a willingness to try different changes to get results.