NSV - Non-Scale Victories

Let's talk about some NSV's shall we?

I feel like I've probably done a post about this in the past, but I think it's time to revisit the topic.

The scale is such a fickle thing. Sometimes it's great and shows you just what you want to see or reflects your efforts. Then there are those times when it absolutely drives you crazy.

Whether you are loving on the scale or not, it's always fun to look at the little victories that have absolutely nothing to do with what that nasty ole scale says.

I've obviously experienced a lot of NSV's since losing 55+ pounds from my absolute highest weight in 2014.

8/2010 vs. 11/2018

- I've gone down several sizes in clothes.
- My wedding ring is so loose that I can't even shower with it on anymore because I'm afraid it'll fall off and end up in the drain (yet I refuse to get it sized yet because I still have 40+ pounds I want/need to lose).
- I can wear my birthstone ring that my parents bought me for my 16th birthday - I haven't been able to wear that ring in probably 10 years.
- I could ride any and every ride I wanted to at Cedar Point this year with no worries about whether or not I'd fit.
- My knee high black boots that I had to buy in a wide so they would zip up my legs, now have a gap on my calf.
- I actually don't mind looking at pictures of myself (and sometimes even enjoy it)!

The scale has not been reflecting the same victories lately and you know what? I'm totally OK with that. I haven't been consistently doing what I need to do to see that scale reflect my efforts. Well, actually, the scale is reflecting my efforts. My efforts aren't reflecting my goals.

Here's another NSV though....last year I did a very similar thing; I consistently lost weight until May and then starting eating/drinking too much so I maintained my weight within 5 pounds between May and November until gaining another 7 pounds back in the month of December. In 2017 my highest weight loss in one month was 9.2 pounds. In 2018 I had 2 months that were higher than that. The lowest weight gain in one month in 2017 was 2 pounds; this year 2.2 pounds was the MOST I gained back in any given month (and 2 of the months that I "gained" were 2 tenths of a pound). If this is all about my weight how is it a NON-scale victory?? Well, the non scale part of it is that my behaviors have changed enough to make these changes happen.

There have been 2 more NSV's lately that got me thinking about this today.

1) In the last week I have had several people comment on my weight loss. The scale is actually UP 2 pounds from my lowest weight in MAY;  but people are noticing a difference now (and I actually think there is one).

Proof of that change - this is 9/29/18 to 12/5/18 - weight difference on the scale = maybe 5lbs

2) Probably one of my biggest NSV's yet happened last night. I went to the Cavs game and they were doing a t-shirt giveaway. I can remember plenty of times when I would worry whether or not the XL shirt that you get for free would fit. Last night I actually took the XL shirt they leave on your seat and exchanged it for a SMALLER SIZE!!! I was wearing a size large shirt last night and was still so nervous to make the switch. I doubted that it would fit and when I tried it on this morning to be sure I was so incredibly happy. Not to mention the fact that I love that they even have the option of changing the sizes. It also meant that my kids could exchange their XL shirts that wouldn't come close to fitting them for the medium shirts that will fit them much better for the next several years.

So I may be a little frustrated with myself lately because I can't seem to get my mind back to doing what I need to do to actively lose; but I'm still doing something. As of this morning I am less than 3 pounds from my lowest weight in May and I even hit a lower weight one day in November that put me in a new decade (but I'm not really counting that as my lowest weight because it was a day I got on the scale WAY later than normal and it's a number I literally saw once and haven't even been within 2 pounds since that one day).

I am trying really hard to be able to put a minus before the number I add to that calendar for December. Even if it is -.2 for the month I will be ecstatic. In 2017 my December number was +7, which equated to gaining back pretty much half of what I had lost in 2017 (since prior to December I was already up something like 6 pounds from my lowest weight that year). That will NOT happen this year regardless of how the next 2.5 weeks go (OMG, do we really only have 2.5 weeks of 2018 left?!?!). These are probably THE most challenging 2.5 weeks of the year,  but I can DO this! Including today there are 19 days remaining in 2018. There is frankly NO reason for me to have more than 3 "free" days in those 19. Let's end 2018 with a bang and have this officially be the year I lost the most weight!