Today, I reached my first milestone: I have lost 5% of my starting weight by weighing in at an even 296 pounds. I also reached a mini-milestone by being under 300 pounds for the first time in a long time (I think it’s been around eight years). Good news all around!

Obviously, I’m happy with my progress thus far, but I know I still have a very long way to go. I can’t let myself get too giddy. In the past, I would celebrate a good weigh-in with a day and night of not tracking points. Naturally, I would eat like a pig and feel OK about it since I was celebrating. But the celebration would continue into the next day…and then for the rest of the week. Before I knew it, I had gained the weight back and would have to get to the same milestone again. Usually, I wouldn’t get to it again, because I had gone too far. I had eaten too much the week before, so I usually decided that I had fallen off the weight loss bandwagon and that I would need to start all over again…after a few weeks of binge eating, of course. Yo-yo dieting, indeed.

Today, I “celebrated” by continuing the same routine of dieting and exercise I have been following. And I feel great about it. Granted, I ate a slightly larger dinner than normal, but certainly nothing too extreme. I’m still very much on the weight loss bandwagon.

People may be wondering if I notice any change in appearance. At the moment, I don’t see a difference, but I can feel it in somewhat subtle ways. I wore a polo shirt today that used to feel rather tight, but it feels a lot more comfortable on me now. My jeans and khakis are getting loose, but they aren’t too big to wear yet. Instead of having -50 muscles, I feel like I have -10 muscles. These are all small things, but they definitely help raise my confidence in the weight loss program that I am following.

Here’s to reaching many more milestones. Thank you everyone for your constant support!