My "Jared" moment.

I haven't spoken a lot about the whole Weight Watcher thing, but I've mentioned it some. Basically I've been doing the program for nearly 6 months now. I've been pretty good about sticking to it, and I've almost always lost. The program works well for me and my lifestyle. I'm currently at 43 pounds lost. But that isn't without a lot of exercising too.

I keep joking with my husband about my "Jared" moment where I can put my old fat pants on and hold the waist band out to see how small I am in them.

So last summer, before we went to Europe I realized that I didn't have much that fit. I had been wearing the same (maternity) jeans every day and everything else I owned was too tight. I bought a pair of jeans at the "big" girl store right before the trip, and that was a big moment for me. On the one hand, it was nice to try on clothes that actually fit, but it was a huge pill for me to swallow that I was in a plus size store. I joked with some of my smaller friends that it was an ego boost for me to go to the plus sized store because I was the smallest woman shopping there (true story). Joking aside, I felt terrible coming home with my first bag of plus sized clothes. I wore those clothes a lot for a couple of months during the Europe trip, my husband's hospitalizations, and during the first few weeks on the WW program.

Last night, after a few too many glasses of wine, I jokingly put on my big girl pants to have a "Jared" moment. Mr.P snapped this photo of me:

It was goofy and fun, and it makes me see some tangible progress that I've made. I'm a bit embarrassed, but here is the picture a friend of mine snapped back in September, which she posted on facebook. I saw it and was horrified by what I saw, and the next day I joined Weight Watchers. I guess I should thank that friend for being the catalyst for getting me off my butt to do something about myself.

I knew I wasn't healthy or thin, but sometimes in my mind I still pictured myself as a thin person. I would be shocked looking in mirrors thinking to myself, "No, I'm not really that fat!" But really, I was. I'm now thinner, and healthier, and working on being the healthiest me I can be. I hit a milestone this week...I am now in the "normal BMI" range for my height/weight. That is a big accomplishment, and I am happy and proud to have reached that goal. But I'm not done, I still have a bit more to lose, and a big personal goal to reach yet.