One pound away

All this week I’ve been fighting with one pound. As of this morning, the pound has won.

For the past 8 weeks I’ve been working out around 2 hours a day, 5 days a week attempting to lose the 40 pounds I gained while pregnant – and 25 I had remaining when my son was 6 weeks old. On Monday, I was one pound away. How exciting! Just one pound! I’ve been losing about 3 pounds a week, so I thought for sure that last stubborn pound would be gone within a few days.

This week, I did 1 hour of rowing, 3 1/2 hours climbing straight up on the treadmill at 3.8 mph, a couple hours on the elliptical machine, 1008 crunches (pushing 60 pounds each time), 710 leg presses & various pilates and arm strengthening exercises. This morning, I’m still hanging on to that last pound.

I know one pound is just 3500 calories. Supposedly all you need to do is burn 3500 extra calories working out, or cut 3500 calories from your diet. Liars!! This pound seems to think it’s found a permanent home regardless of what I do. In the grand scheme of things, I know one pound isn’t a big deal. I also know it’s not the last pound I have to lose. I know eventually it will be gone. It can’t stay forever, can it?

In addition to keeping me from my pre-pregnancy weight, it’s also keeping me in the “obese” category according to the BMI. If I lose this one pound, I’ll only be overweight…which would be a nice change from the obese label I’ve been living in the past year or so. Speaking of BMI. I hate it. I loathe it. Yes, I’ve still got some weight to lose, but to label someone currently wearing a size 10 “obese” is just nonsense. No wonder so many women have negative body image.

I’ve been focusing on this one stupid pound all week. I can’t stand it anymore! I’ve decided (after posting this) not to think about the pound anymore. Instead, I’m going to focus on all that I have accomplished in the past 8 weeks. I’ve dropped 24 pounds. I’ve shaved over 5 inches off my waist and 21 inches overall. I’ve lost over 12% of my body weight and gone down 3 sizes. I’ve exceeded my goals for losing the weight and have established a very regular workout routine. I am back in all my pre-pregnancy clothes, even the skinny jeans. Last night, on a date with my husband, I couldn’t wear the dress I’d planned to because it was TOO BIG! I should be celebrating all those things today. Not obsessing over one measly pound.