Less Than 20

I am twenty pounds away from my weight loss goal. Probably not my ultimate weight loss goal, but my “I’m no longer considered overweight” weight loss goal.

It’s a weird place to be.

On the one hand, it’s awesome. Twenty pounds! I’ve already lost almost sixty! Twenty pounds is doable, it’s just a matter of time really. And when I’ve come this far already, twenty pounds seems like such a little amount to lose.

But then there is the other side. Lots of people are twenty pounds overweight. Lots of people have twenty pounds to lose, which means that it’s less noticeable that I have weight to lose. That makes it a lot easier to “fudge” a little bit… and have another piece of fudge.

I went from being 75 pounds overweight to 20 pounds overweight. On paper it didn’t seem like it would be that big of a difference, but I’m quickly finding out that it’s a huge difference. The way I count the pounds has changed. In my head it’s gone from You’ve lost ten pounds! to Only twenty pounds to go! This makes the weight loss seem more urgent. I’m nearing the finish line, I can kind of see it in the distance. When I started there was no finish line, it was just every day for itself. But, just like when I’m running, if I can see the finish line I think I can push harder and I’ll be there in no time.

Weight loss isn’t really like running a race though. I can’t just suck in my abs and barrel down to the end. I have to keep tracking my food, keep working out, keep staying alert. It gets a little exhausting. Obviously I give myself days off. I go and get my favorite pulled pork sandwich at Donnelly’s or I have a couple of beers with friends, but in the back of my mind I’m always thinking about the end goal. That while today is a day off, tomorrow I need to get back on track.

I’ve come really far that way and I know that I can finish this. But it is a really different place to be, it’s like I’m a new person starting a whole different weight loss journey.