The Measure of Success

I have not hid it, but this winter has been hard for the whole weight loss goals. I was sick endlessly last fall. I have also struggled with figuring out how to fit in exercise without the benefit of the great outdoors.

I knew going in to my appointment with the nutritionist and the endocrinologist today that I had likely gained weight. Not much, but weight is weight. Every time in the past I have not lost as much, there is more talk about weight loss drugs. Not that I don't appreciate the care about my weight, but honestly that number is secondary to the other issues I went in for. (the facial hair of a teenage boy if you're keeping track)

I wasn't looking forward to it. I mitigated it with a little retail therapy before the appointment. I needed some more basics. It would seem that my XXL basic t-shirts are no longer suited for public wearing. They are even pushing it for PJ's. So, I went searching for new shirts. In turn, I got a surprise.

When I was pregnant, and after I gave birth, I was wearing a men's XXL t-shirt. Not a small item of clothing. Today, I bought a men's medium hoodie. (women's hoodies rarely fit my monkey arms and cover my long torso sufficiently for comfort) A MEDIUM!

The XL women's shirts I got seem... large. Granted part of that is the fit, but I went in to my appointment confident that I had had a better winter than I thought.

When I got married almost five years ago, I weighed 10 pounds more than I do right now. In the almost 9 years since I moved back to Minnesota, other than that period where I was too broke to eat enough, I have steadily gained weight. Sure, some diets have worked short term, but I have never managed to make it through the winter without gaining most of it back.

Until this winter. Two pounds is all I've gained since September. Two pounds is nothing. It is a giant bottle of water. It will be gone before I know it.

I have no reason to be discouraged. I made it through winter. I have succeeded. In a month, the sun will set late enough that I can get outside to exercise. By May, I will be planting my garden, and by June, harvesting something. By August, I will be even hotter than I was at the last Blogher while I take NYC by storm (on my birthday no less).