Scale Saturday: Week 6

This post very narrowly escaped the title "No Scale Saturday". I haven't felt 100% this week, with multiple headaches, fatigue, achiness and general coldness. I thought I may have been fighting off a bug, but it never really developed into anything else. With only three weeks left, I might as well just follow through.

Tuesday this week I almost threw in the towel. "Diet" has really become one of those bad four-letter words. I've questioned how necessary following through until Christmas was; maybe I could just start the weight maintenance part now? Might as well just keep on keeping on.

I tried something new this last week after talking to a friend about metabolism and the vitamin deficiencies that a lot of women suffer from. I started taking super B-complex vitamins to see if they would help my abused metabolism. So far I'm happy with the results, though I now have a metallic taste in my mouth all the time.

Random observation: fat does wonders in filling in wrinkles. My feet are apparently aging at an accelerated rate, and the forehead wrinkles I inherited from my Papa are becoming noticeable enough that dear Liam had to ask what those lines were drawn on my head. Haha! I'll certainly resemble Benjamin Button in no time.

Since I shared a recent "bigger" photo of myself last time, this time I give you one of myself at my smallest adult size, at 19 years old and 124 pounds. (Please excuse the photo of a photo, our scanner died a couple weeks ago.) This photo drives home the point for me that I am not built a thin person, and it's ok. I maintained what could be considered an anorexic calorie intake at that time, rarely consuming more than 300-500 calories a day in the form of a little bag of pretzels and a salad. I drank diet pop or water. And I was still heavier than what the "experts" said a 5'1" female should weigh. It wasn't because I was trying to be thin, I was just busy. I was working two jobs, had recently moved out of my parents' house, and when I got off work I was at my boyfriend's house. Food was an afterthought, if even a thought at all. By the age of 21 I had barely increased my food intake a day, but my weight had crept up by 10 pounds. All I'd eat in a day during the week would be a frozen bean burrito (one of the few foods I kept in my fridge) or a single cheeseburger snagged from the drive-thru on the way to the bar. Sometimes I'd splurge if I had time and get a 6 inch sub from Subway--but a veggie sub because they were cheaper. Once when I was 21 I resolved to start eating healthy and bought a bunch of celery. It sat uneaten in the fridge so long it permeated everything around it and infused my beer with celery flavor. Celery Coors Light did not catch on. And no wonder my metabolism is shot.

Age 19

Age 21

12 pounds to go! I haven't seen this weight since 2009 and am 3 pounds less than when I got married.