I've Reached a Milestone

As of this past Thursday, it's official. I've lost 20 pounds!

I even got a postcard from Weight Watchers in the mail yesterday, congratulating me on the 20 pound loss. I thought that was a nice touch. It's now on my refrigerator, so I can see it every day and remind myself of how far I've come.

It's not just about the weight loss. It's about how far I've come in terms of my eating habits and how I feel about myself and my body. Huge differences in both (pun intended). The most important for me are the changes in how I feel about myself and my body. While some of that is connected with the weight loss (I'd be lying if I said it wasn't), at least an equal amount is a result of taking care of, and using my body.

I'm now going out and walking anywhere between a mile to a mile and a half, at least 4 times a week. That's in addition to whatever walking I would normally do throughout the course of my normal day. When I was in my 20's, I used to walk all over Manhattan. I would walk from West 59th Street and 9th Avenue all the way to East 51st Street and 2nd Avenue a few times a week without thinking twice about it. I would take the subway in to Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street and walk up Fifth Avenue to the Central Park Zoo, and I would love every minute of the walk. I used to go out dancing every week. Somewhere along the way, I forgot about how much I enjoyed all of it, and got quite lazy. Walking anywhere became a chore, and I didn't go out dancing anymore. It wasn't because of any physical limitations, either. It was entirely mental. It was almost as if I reached a certain age and all of a sudden, I stopped walking everywhere and dancing on a regular basis. (Kind of like when people reach a certain age and suddenly start spending an awful lot of time watching The Weather Channel, also known as "MTV for Old People".)

Fortunately, as I've discovered, this condition is reversible. I'm now thoroughly enjoying my walks, and have even been doing a bit of dancing lately. My next project is to find a good dance class. Not sure what type of dance I want to learn. Could be country line dancing, swing, tap or if I'm really feeling daring, Hip-Hop.

I'll keep you posted.