Hitting the Century Mark - REDUX

So, I've lost 100 pounds....again....

In April of 2007 we went to Disney World.  I was SUPER FAT.  It was miserable.  I worried about fitting into rides.  I got winded walking around the park.  My ankles ached with every step.  It was my turning point.  It still took me a while to get started.  Finally, I started a medically supervised, meal replacement diet in June of 2007.  I had a doctor's appointment and a weight loss meeting every week and stayed in the HMR "box" eating only foods I bought from the doctor. 

I also slowly started exercising.  I went to Curves 3 days a week at first.  Then I started adding cardio little by little.  The first time I got on an elliptical machine I made it a whopping 5 minutes and thought I was going to die.

After 40 weeks of strict dieting and intense training, I was down 140 pounds and going 60 minutes on the elliptical with no problem.  That's when I completed my first ever Triathlon - the Danskin - June 8, 2008.

During the Spring and Summer of 2008 I completed a 5K, a 4-mile run, a 25-mile bike ride, a duathlon, 4 triathlons, and 1 marathon relay (I only ran 5K of the 26 miles).  I never did lose all the weight I wanted.  I was still officially overweight, but I was in the best shape of my life and could fit into the dress I wore to high school graduation.  I was getting there.

Then, I got pregnant.  It wasn't really an accident that I got pregnant.  We were planning Baby #2, but we were expecting that to come a little later. Anyway, I went abruptly from hard core diet and exercising to hard core puking and sleeping.

I gained WAY more weight while I was pregnant than I should have.  Then Baby Sam came.  He is certainly worth all the trouble.  I continued to gain weight after he was born.  By the time I finished breastfeeding I had gained back just about 130 of the 140 pounds I lost before I got pregnant.

DAMN!

On February 1, 2010, I went back "in the box" on HMR and back to working out.  Again, Curves 3 days a week at first, then added cardio.  I still consistently go to Curves 3 times EVERY WEEK and I'm back in the swing of the triathlon training. 

Last Monday, on August 30, after 30 weeks, I got on the scale and saw a number 100.2 pounds less than the number on February 1 (which is a little over 110 pounds less than my fattest ever).

YEA ME......sort of....

Don't get me wrong, I'm THRILLED to hit the century mark.  I'm proud.  I'm happy to have said goodbye to those 100 pounds (again).  I'm happy to be a triathlete again.  I'm confident I'll actually make it all the way to my goal this time (whenever I figure out exactly what that goal is).  The thing is, it's a little anti-climactic to hit the century mark for the 2nd time.

I already lost 100 pounds, and then I gained it all back!  I remain continually worried that I will gain it back again.  It's a constant worry.  Not one day goes by that I don't think about how awful it would be to step on the scale and once again be in a place where I needed to lose 100+ pounds.

Anyway, I feel like hitting the century mark is worthy of a blog entry, but I really don't know what else to say.  I'm guessing I have between 40 and 65 more pounds to lose.  I really don't know.  I want to be a reasonable, healthy, maintainable weight for my size and body type, but because of my fitness level and muscle mass, and because I've never really been a healthy weight as an adult, I really don't know what that weight is. So, I still have a long way to go, and I don't even know exactly how much farther.

I'm still "in the box."  I still work out just about every day.  I plan little "vacation" days out of the box and try not to go too nuts eating non-HMR food.  I'm hoping to be eating HMR food + fruits and vegetables in a few months.  I might even be on HMR maintenance by Spring.  That would be nice.

I probably should have started this blog in 2007 when I started the journey the first time.  I could have blogged about my progress as I was losing the weight (both times).  But I didn't.  So, now I'll blog about hitting the 100-pound mark for the second time and about my journey from this point forward.

I'm really struggling with this post, so, in the words of Forrest Gump, "That's all I have to say about that."

:-)