Well, well... what have we here?

I have to say after last week's disappointing plateau, this week has brought some great accomplishments.  Tomorrow is my weigh day, so these aren't necessarily scale victories, although I am hoping to see a more positive number this week.

I'm talking about the thing I've been waiting three and a half long months for... a drop in size!!  That's right!  I've gone down a pants size!  My old ones were giving me a serious droopy diaper look (none too flattering) and so I decided to venture online to start looking for a couple of new pairs of jeans.  Being 6'2", stores don't usually carry pants long enough for me in the actual locations, so I am forced to buy online, try them on at home and return via the mail if they don't fit.  I took my waist and hip measurements and according to the websites that I normally buy clothes from, I was not quite to the next size down yet.  I was a full inch away!  BOO!  So, I decided to take my chances, order a couple of pairs anyway and if they were too small then I would just deal with my droopy drawers until I did fit into them.  Well, they arrived today and VOILA!  My thinner ass fit into those jeans!  EUREKA!  Guaranteed proof that what I'm doing is working!  Words could not express how happy that made me.

Another good thing that happened this week was I realized how much I actually can accomplish when I put my mind to it.  Sunday afternoon was POURING down rain.  Like, blowing sideways rain.  I hadn't exercised the day before because my ankle was giving me some problems, so I had to do something.  I wasn't going to be satisfied with just doing some toning/strengthening exercises.  Last week's plateau had me scared!  I knew I needed to go for a run.  Luckily it was slightly warmer, so what did I do?  I laced up my sneakers, put on a hat and my raincoat, I went out into that monsoon and I ran!  I couldn't run the Reservoir like usual because it would be riddled with puddles and would have been impassable.  So, instead I went on mapmyrun.com and found the northern loop of the park was a little over 2 miles long.  I set out, and just a few short minutes into my run I realized what I was in for: the run was FULL of hills!  Big hills...  I had to walk for a few minutes here and there but I did it!  The sense of accomplishment I felt when I set foot back into the apartment was unreal.  I hadn't felt that good since the day I realized I could run a full mile.  I did that same run today with Stacia in the 21 degree weather.  (Windchill was probably in the teens.)  It was still tough, I still had to walk a few times, but I have a new short term goal!  Hope to be able to run it straight in a few weeks.  We shall see.

Speaking of Stacia, she brings me to my last high point of the week.  Because of our schedules this past month, we hadn't been able to hang out for almost the entire last month.  I think the last time we saw each other was Harry Potter?  When she walked in the door she almost stopped in her tracks and said to me, "You're half the person you were just a few weeks ago!  You look AMAZING!"  She was near tears.  She was so proud of me.  It choked me up.  Most of the people that know me see me on a pretty consistent basis and therefore aren't able to see the transformation as well as someone whom I haven't seen in a while.

I know I said this at Thanksgiving, but I have to say this again.  I'm so grateful and thankful for all of my friends that haven't helped me through this.  Both the ones in NYC and the ones who I just talk to on facebook.  It's SO essential to have a support system like this when you are going through a life transformation.  They are who keep me going and push me.  At the end of the run today Stacia made me finish it out by running as fast as I possibly could.  Would I have done that by myself?  Um, no...

Aside from these wonderful little events, I did have a funny event happen the other night in the form of a date. A really bad date.  Like, a funny scene out of a romantic comedy, bad date.  We met online.  He's 40 and he seemed nice and normal. We had emailed for a couple of weeks, then moved on to talking on the phone and texting.  I felt comfortable enough to meet him for a date.  There had been a couple of things that made me go, "hmmm..." but I figured it was at least worth going on a date to see if they were deal breakers.  Yeah, he had one major flaw that was a definite deal breaker: he is perpetually stuck in the mid-90's.  We were going to watch a movie and when he took his hat off I realized he had that long style hair that a lot of guys had in the 90s.  You know the one, mid eye level and parted down the middle?  He was also wearing higher waisted light wash jeans.  All he was missing was a flannel. Yikes.  The worst part was when he didn't understand that I wasn't a fan of Phish.  He proceeded to play me song, after song, after song in an attempt to convert me.  He was a bit rude about it when I wasn't exactly happy.  "Well, since you don't seem to like anything, who do you listen to?"  While I enjoy some music that isn't exactly current, I have a feeling I would be able to sing a song of a few more Grammy nominees this year than he could...Needless to say, a second date will NOT be on the agenda.  Oh the joys of being single in New York City.

So, I have to say all in all, it's been a pretty great week.  No matter what my scale says tomorrow it can't take away my non-scale related accomplishments.  Nothing can take that away from me.

Side note:   My good friend is visiting me this week from out of town and so I most likely won't be writing anything new until after the holidays.  She departs on the 20th and then the next day I drive home.  (12 hours! FUN!)  I'm really looking forward to it though.  Will be a great couple of weeks.  Maybe I'll find time to eek something out though.  Who knows.  If I don't find time to write, HAPPY HOLIDAYS!