This is the 3rd week for my goal pants and shirt; I didn’t try on the shirt, today, but I did try on the goal pants, and I noticed a difference.  Great!

The funniest thing about this is that I took progress pics when I switched to these goal pants, and the rear view shows a pretty distinct plumber’s crack.  I didn’t really realize how much until I looked at the pics yesterday; they had been sitting in my camera for a few weeks.  This morning, there was a noticeable decrease in crackage. Ha! What a way to gauge weight loss, hmmm?  These goal pants are mid-rise, and the ol’ bubble butt just didn’t want to be fully contained in those first pics. They also fit a bit better in the crotch; it didn’t feel like they went all the way up, before.

I had a great reward at the gym this morning, and when I woke up at 6, I almost decided that I’d go later in the day, but I’m glad I went ahead and went, now.  Not just for the obvious reason that it’s behind me, now, either.  Mind you, when I go to the gym, it’s to get in the pool, so I don’t worry too much about how I look; I just put on a bathing suit and something over it, put a brush through my bed-head hair, and go.  When I enter the gym, I never really think about being seen, because in truth, the way I look first thing in the morning, I really don’t want to be seen.

I have to walk in the front door and then to the back of the gym, where the women’s locker room is.  I was just about to go in the locker room when a young, thin, fit man stopped to talk to me, and said something pretty close to this: “I hope you don’t mind me saying this, but I just wanted to tell you that I noticed that you’ve really been working hard these last few months, and that you must have lost a lot of weight, and I can tell you’re walking better, too.” (I mention the “young, fit” part, because I live in a small town, and the gym attracts a lot of older people who will often try to start conversations in any way they can.  It wasn’t the case with this guy.)

You could have knocked me over with a feather.  I was so surprised!  I told him that I did appreciate it, gave him a brief update, thanked him, and went on into the locker room.

My last weigh-in was 36 pounds down, and I figured it would take a good 40-60 pounds down before someone said something, but I really didn’t figure it would be from a total stranger, at a time when I look my worst.  What an awesome way to start the day!

Mind you, I’m not at all driven by whether people notice my weight loss or not, but I do admit to having a trigger that I mentioned several times when I tried to lose weight last year; that mental I could quit now before anyone notices the weight loss frame of mind.  I also have a mental 40 pounds number that is also another you can quit now trigger.  I don’t know if I’m down 40 pounds, yet, and won’t know until my goal jeans fit, but one hurdle has been jumped.  It’s a really nice reinforcement.

All this comes the day before my 50th birthday. Yep, it’s a “big year” birthday for me, and while I usually don’t get hung up on the obvious birthday markers (for some weird reason, 37 was difficult for me, but not 40!), I have often thought about where I wanted to be at 50.  Where I am and where I hoped I’d be aren’t the same, but I am glad that I’m making a successful effort at improving my health.  I’m feeling pretty good, these days, and it has given me more enthusiasm for other parts of my life. This, friends, is a very good thing.

So while 50 might be a landmark year, I’m seeing it as a nice healthy start toward where I’d like to be sometime soon.