three days and counting.

Six months ago I was frantic at the prospect of going to Las Vegas not having met any of my weight goals. Mostly because all I was doing was intermittently starving myself and praying that it made an impact on the scale.

This time around, I'm actually doing something about it. This time around, I actually EXCEEDED my goals.

I started my period yesterday. I think it was a little late? Not too late though, maybe just a week to ten days. It didn't worry me at all because it was two months late in November so I'm happy to have some semblance of a routine again. I'm 100% certain this is Diamox related, but I haven't talked to Dr Stern about it and I trust my BC so I'm not too worked up about it. Minus the part where my uterus is trying to kill me.

On the one hand, Diamox does wonderful, wonderful things, especially in relation to my period. I don't bloat which is GREAT. My cramps are minimal, manageable at worst. But the last two months have been especially brutal in this department. The flow is high and dense. It's almost impossible to sleep without making several bathroom trips... scratch that, it's impossible to do anything without making several bathroom trips.

Putting those issues aside though, it's an intense four days and then I'm done. Could be worse, I suppose. And for the first time in the history of my vagina, my period actually has GOOD TIMING for once. I should be done by Sunday, Monday at the latest, so that I don't have to spend my entire vacation worrying about bleeding through my pants. Ugh, women problems.



I spent the whole day yesterday with one of my BFFs. We went shopping, it was just supposed to be a short trip to take advantage of the buy-one-get-one-free sale on loose powders at Hot Topic (I got pink, orange, and gold for Vegas), but I was enjoying the shopping atmosphere so much that we took a gander around the mall. I remembered seeing this dress on the Old Navy website that I thought would be perfect for the wedding next week so I went to find it. Alas, they had it in TWO colors, both of which I picked up and took to the dressing room. While searching the racks, I found two other dresses that I decided to take with me to the dressing room for shits and giggles. I was certain that the first dress I picked would be the one and instead it looked like shit... in both colors. I tried on a frilly coral colored dress next and it was screaming TAKE ME HOME. The last dress was one I took out of pity because it looked so sad on the rack. I was positive that it was going to look horrible, so you can imagine my surprise when I tried it on and realized THAT was my wedding dress.

After dinner we went back to my apartment to try on the dresses some more, and that's when I had the genius idea to pair the wedding dress with a pair of black tights. The problem, however, was that the tights didn't fit when I bought them almost two months ago (I could pull them up to mid-thigh before the fabric reached its stretch limit and rendered me an awkward mermaid). But I couldn't return the tights so I tucked them in the back of my sock drawer for a skinnier day (I was thinking along the lines of next winter). Alas, I needed these tights to fit TODAY. I rolled the dice and came up a winner! The tights are a little snug around the bottom, but I am SO FREAKING THRILLED that in two months I have slimmed down enough to pull these tights over my thighs and around my bum. BAM - screw you, 30 pounds... I didn't need you anyway.

In addition to the tights, I am rediscovering the thrills of wearing heels. I had such a hard time admitting it before, but being so heavy made it damn near impossible for me to walk in heels. It wasn't that I was out of practice, it's that my very heavy frame had no business balancing on the very tiny surface of a stiletto. To compliment the wedding outfit, I pulled out some of my FAVORITE silver heels.

Picture this, picture this:

Champagne colored silk dress, sleeveless, knee length, sits high and round on the neck
Black tights
Dark silver shoes (very similar to these except mine only have 2 straps... full disclosure, I HAD MINE FIRST. Celine be jackin' my style)
silver jewelry
cropped black cardigan for weather emergencies

Do you know what this reminds me of? That Versace monstrosity Celine wore to the Vanity Fair Oscar after party a few years back. But I'm going to look SO MUCH HOTTER. I'm not sure what to do with the hair yet, but I can tell you that I am SO IN LOVE with this outfit that I'm planning on wearing it to Celine AND to the wedding. Here's to hoping I don't wreck the fabric.

The purpose for sharing all these completely unnecessary details is sevenfold:

1. To prove that persistence pays off
2. To prove that every little bit counts
3. To display the succulent fruits of such awful labor
4. To put things in perspective
5. To congratulate myself
6. To remind myself where I was, where I've been, and where I hope I'm headed
7. To keep it fun!

1. Over the holidays, EVERYONE noticed my weight loss. Not just the people I see every day, not just the people I haven't seen in ages, I'm talking ev-er-y-one. Myself included. When it was 2 pounds, 5 pounds, 10 pounds, hell... even 20 pounds, I wasn't entirely sure that it was making a difference. But now that I'm closing in on 30, I SEE IT. I FEEL IT. I WANT TO SHOUT IT FROM THE ROOFTOPS. I kept at it, and it was totally worth it.

2. Yesterday while shopping, I told my friend I had to workout. Regardless of the time of day, I HAD to go. At 11pm she brushed it off and said it was "too late" and we should probably just call it a night. I said no, and went to the gym anyway. I'm a normal person living a normal life, sometimes I have to go to the gym at 11pm. Sometimes it's 4am, sometimes it's middle of the afternoon. The point it, my weight loss has come in 30-minute bite sized portions since it's not practical for me to spend half a day exercising. No one believes me when I say I only exercise for 35 minutes a day -- there's NO WAY you could do half an hour and get results like this. But it's true... if you do it EVERY DAY. Every little bit counts.

3. There's no better feeling in the world than slipping on a piece of clothing that didn't fit two months ago to find that it fits perfectly now. Shopping in smaller sizes is SUCH a mood lifter.

The last four are self-explanatory, just a reaffirmation to myself that this is a process, I am on a journey without an end point in mind. It's about stopping to smell the roses, and by that I mean stopping to enjoy the fact that your feet are skinnier than before.



Happy new year.