Over halfway now!

I was able to make it for a weigh in after all this last Thursday, on my way to the airport to fly to Coventry. I had to pop in for my food packs and Mary had time to weigh me. I'd lost 7.5 lbs over the previous 2 weeks, which means I'm now over halfway to my goal! :-) I expect the rest to come off more slowly than the first half but am hoping I'll be down to my goal weight by Christmas at the latest.

I had a fantastic few days in Coventry, staying with the organiser of UK Ravelry Day and staffing a stall for Stitches on the Bridge. The overall flavour of the event was not at all unlike big belly dance events I've been to and/or organised myself - a huge number of women with a passion and all the extremes of opinions and feelings that go with it! The hero-worship of the knitting gurus was very familiar to the adoration of the belly dance stars too! It was a very interesting and eye-opening experience altogether! And I don't deny that I got a little caught up in the fandom, though I like to think I'm a bit older, wiser and less impressionable than I was when I was immersed in the belly dance scene... All that said I was very taken with the unassuming charm of Jared Flood and Meg Swansen. I also had my first exposure to the utter delight of a live-on-dvd Elizabeth Zimmerman, the now-deceased mother of Meg Swansen. What a joy! I'm now a big fan of all 3 of them. Ruth aka Woolly Wormhead was also very nice and fun to meet and share a meal with. Jo, the organiser, and her husband Doug were great hosts and really made us feel at home, along with Doug's mum, Christina, and their young children, Robbie, 6, and Zoe, 4. All very off topic for this blog but well worth a mention!

One reason I mention it all is to confess yet again to succumbing to the craving to eat! I had found myself thinking about steak pies last week, and then found myself in a pub restaurant selling just that on Friday in Coventry...! In fact the steak pie in question had the addition of stilton cheese which just made it far too irresistible... I admit it really was delicious and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The downside was that I really struggled not to eat for the rest of the day - and failed. I also felt physically uncomfortable, too full. My stomach has shrunk and no longer has the capacity for a full meal. Clearly the slow introduction to real food over the 12 weeks of the Road to Management programme is there for a reason. It was "interesting" (I guess!) to note just how much more difficult it got to resist the craving to eat as the day went on. I was prowling the kitchen in the late evening, desperate to eat something delicious before the self-imposed deadline of a new day prevented me having anything else. It was not good, not comfortable and not healthy.

As a result, as I sat on the return journey plane yesterday, I resolved to aim for 100 days of "abstinence", following the example of the twelve steps, which aims for 90 days. I'm only too aware that I've been sponsored to do this, not to mention that the longer it takes me to reach my goal, the more it's going to cost me and those who are supporting me with the programme costs. My weight loss will slow down as it is, so I can't expect to lose the second half in as short a time anyway. I don't want to go on not being able to eat normal food for any longer than I need to, so the quicker the weight comes off the better.

So my mindset, when faced with food I'd really like to taste (like the many delicious looking home-made cakes at yesterday's UK Ravelry Day!), is back to "This time next year".

On the positive side, here's a wee list of things I'm very happy about:

- I can fit into airline and train seats with no problem at all and perhaps even a little leeway! Last time I flew (in 2007), I had to have an extension to the seatbelt.

- I can just about walk down the isle of the plane and the train without having to move sideways. Emphasis on just about!

- When sitting, I no longer have a big tummy to rest my hands on and can very comfortably sit with my hands in my lap.

- I no longer have to embarrassingly hide a large cleavage when I bend over.

- I can feel all sorts of bone under my skin that I forgot I had!

- I can wear an amethyst bracelet which was a self-chosen present from Laurie in 2003 and to which I used to have to add an extension.

- Today my scales showed 16 stone 6 1/2 lbs.

- The plantar fasciitis in my right foot is a lot less painful than it used to be - a LOT less!

- I can now comfortably cross my legs (how many of you realised that fat people have a problem with that, I wonder).

- Although I'm still quite big, I no longer feel like a fat person!