Perhaps the remaining fat I am obsessing over in my beltline is not as much “fat” as it is extra skin?  I realize that having lost 110 pounds now there is extra skin to deal with — could it be it has accumulated in my belly area and what I thought was extra stomach fat is actually just skin?  How can you tell the difference?

Anyway, 158 pounds is not frail by any means.  It is not the type of sickly weight that anorexic girls hover around.  No one should be “worried” about me and think that I’m getting too small.  I’m only ten pounds away from my goal weight now, and I do honestly plan to stop weight LOSS mode and switch to maintenance when I get to 148.

Is it possible that when someone tells me I don’t need to lose more weight that one of the following is true:

1. It is just one way of paying me a compliment?
2. They are jealous and don’t want me to lose any more weight because it makes the gap between my weight and their weight greater?
3. They think I’ve deprived myself of fatty foods long enough and want to suggest I can start eating normal size portions?

I don’t think I obsess (all the time) about my weight loss efforts and I don’t bring it up in conversation unless someone else brings it up.  In fact, I am fairly modest and blush whenever someone makes note of how good I look or how fantastic I’ve done losing weight.

To those that have been in my shoes — how would you respond to the statement “You don’t need to lose any more weight”?

Even after a week which included candy being thrown from parade floats and the grand opening of a new Italian restaurant just blocks from me (both of which I sampled) I still lost a pound. Today’s weigh-in showed 170 pounds. So, I have only two more to go in the initial 100! My earlier “guesstimate” of Halloween being the point at which I reach 168 might not be too far off at all.

One nice thing I’ve noticed in the last five pounds or so is that the accumulated belly fat is FINALLY starting to go away at a rate that matches the other parts of my body. I guess there was just so much “extra” there that it wasn’t disappearing from that spot with the same feverish intensity as on my arms, face, legs, etc. But!!! Progress is being seen and with the remaining 20 pounds I hope to lose (after the 100) I think I will be very pleased with the end result. Sure, I think it is human nature to always be a little dissatisfied with some part of our bodies, but I’m going to focus on the positives and appreciate the fact that I will have rid myself of 100+ pounds of garbage!

If you were to look on the blog header, you think that my GW (goal weight) is 168, as it will be at that weight that I will have lost 100 pounds from the day I started on my latest weight loss journey. I set that as a goal weight because it was a magical round number, not because it meant anything in particular to me.

Many people want to be the size they were in high school, or in college, or on their wedding day. For me, that is not necessarily the case, as I am already smaller than I was in college and on my wedding day. (I don’t remember for sure what I weighed when I was in high school, but I think I am close there too.)

Going based on BMI, I will be at 22.5 when I weigh 140 pounds. Should that be my goal weight? For my height, any weight between 120 and 160 is considered “Healthy” and no longer “Overweight”. So, around 140 would be right in the middle. That seems low to me, but perhaps it is just my perception based on what I have always weighed!

I don’t want to stop short and deny myself an even better health, but then again, as a 40 year old woman, I am not striving for perfection and I will not be strutting any runways!

With all things considered, I am going to make my ultimate goal be 148. Once I reach 168, which will mark 100 pounds lost, I am going to celebrate. I will continue working towards 148. If I don’t make continued progress (beyond the 100 pounds) or if the remaining 20 pounds take me a whole additional year or two to come by, it won’t matter. I am not going to dwell on the pound-a-week pace not being met, and in fact, I am hoping I can omit the daily calorie counting. After a few months, I’m getting pretty darn good at predicting how many calories are entering my mouth even if I don’t pre-plan a meal with the help of Lance Armstrong’s “Daily Plate” caloric content lookup!

I’m hoping that somewhere between my current weight of 183 and my ultimate goal of 148, I will have lost more of this stubborn belly fat! With only 15 more pounds to go in my original 100, I don’t think it will happen before the 100 pound mark, and this is the biggest reason I don’t want to stop at 168. I feel like I have the arms and legs of a 150-pound woman already but the belly of someone that still weighs well over 200! Ugh.