I am definitely below BMI of 30 now, which means I am no longer obese! Today I weighed in at 157.4. I have set a Halloween goal to be 149 and it will be a tough challenge, given how slow my weight loss is now ... but, to be positive, I am still losing weight. When I go to update my weight in my ticker, the chart shows steady downwards progress. I am most definitely not a fast or even an average loser at this stage ... I've been losing about 5 lbs. a month the past couple of months, and that is with fairly vigorous exercise on a regular basis (3-4 days a week).

I am just getting all that weight stuff out of the way because what I really want to focus in on today is talking about non-scale goals. When I first started setting weight loss goals just prior to surgery, I had identified weight loss and non-weight loss goals. Some of the things I really wanted to do were to go swimming again (preferably in the ocean), inner tube down a river, go hiking, and inner tube (sled) down a mountain in winter. I have done the swimming and inner tubing, and this weekend bought my first pair of hiking boots and went on an easy (paved trail) hike with my hubby yesterday ... so I am hitting my non-scale goals! DH is very pleased with how interested I am getting in activities. Before surgery I would never do anything active because it was just too hard, physically, to do things. Now that I have lost over 70 lbs., I have far more energy and stamina to do things, and now I want to do them.

I did some clothes shopping yesterday ... I am 99% sure I will end up as a size medium (8-10) and right now I am wearing a size 12 (yay!). It was kind of a thrill to try on some Petite Large size tops and see they were loose fitting! So, I bought a bunch of clothes that are size M and they are a little form-fitting now, but I know in the next couple of months they will fit better. For now, I can layer the tighter fitting shirts under other shirts or jackets, and it doesn't look that bad.

I definitely need to work on strength training, and I will hit the gym once or twice this week to get started on that. I have a lot of flab on my arms and belly (yuck) and hope to tone those areas up over the coming months.

I also did some "maintenance" activities yesterday ... got a slightly new hairstyle, had a pedicure and had my eyebrows waxed .... we are definitely into fall here in the Seattle area (first real rains have come this weekend, and it has been markedly cooler the past few days), so in honor of the change in season I am sprucing myself up some.