Weekly weigh-in: A reason to celebrate

Last week's weight: 190
This week's weight: 187
Difference: -3
Total weight lost: 84.8

I was pretty ecstatic when I stepped on the scale this morning. I even weighed twice just to make sure I wasn't seeing things or that I didn't have one foot hanging off slightly. But the number was the same both times -- 187 pounds.

This is a major milestone. I don't know if I've blogged about it before but I know I've told several people during this process that getting to 187 pounds would feel like a huge mental accomplishment. That's because of a traumatic experience in my 10th-grade high school gym class. I don't remember why we were being weighed in classes, but it was done in front of everyone. I weighed 187 pounds and was mortified that everyone could see the number. The same day we were supposed to run a mile around the track and I was so upset (and out of shape) that I couldn't do it. I remember my gym teacher yelling at me in front of everyone that if I didn't get out there and do it, he was going to give me an F in his class. I didn't do any running, but I did walk around the track for the remainder of the class (crying part of the time).

Although I had clearly developed poor eating habits long before that, I honestly believe that was the moment when I started using food for comfort. I was old enough and smart enough to know better. In some ways, I feel like this is my chance to turn back the clock and make better decisions this time around.

And after months of faltering, I finally seems to have regained my footing. I'm right on track to achieve my goal of reaching 90 pounds lost by July 1 -- only 5.2 pounds to go. Of course, it won't be easy, especially since I have a vacation the first week of June. But I'm confident that I'm making smart choices again. Even when I splurge, I don't go overboard or I splurge on healthy snacks. And it feels amazing to be seeing results on the scale again.