Finding myself (and a weigh-in)

Here I am, in the last work week of the year for me. Hard to believe that one week from today is Christmas Eve (aka, my favorite day of the year). Harder still to believe that with all the celebrations that have been happening, I have managed to lose weight.

Today's weigh-in: 206 on the nose. That's down about a pound and a half from last week.

I've been somewhat diligent counting the calories, though Friday and Saturday of last week were difficult. Lots of snacks + plus two parties + plus cinnamon whisky = tough logging intake! So there is no day-by-day recap of what I ate vs. what I burned. However, I will say that I have kept up my running streak (as of yesterday's run, I've run every day since Thanksgiving; that's 25 days in a row! Granted, unless I've had a race or a specific run on the training plan, it's been just one mile, but still ... I have run every day for almost a full month! That's pretty incredible. I'm proud of myself for making the time to do it.

There's a lot to be proud of this year, and a lot of things that have set me up for tackling even greater goals in 2013. This year, I became a half-marathoner; next year, I'd like to PR in the same race. This year, I became a triathlete; next year, I would like to improve on my race time.

This year, I lost weight, then gained weight, then began to lose it again. Next year, I would like to reach my goal weight. And stay there.

Goal weight is a tricky thing for me. It's like trying to hit a moving target. When I first started on the weightloss journey, I thought it would be enough just to get down below 200 pounds. It's been years of working at it, bit by bit, and I will definitely celebrate when I get there. But now that I'm hanging out within six pounds of no longer being considered obese (yes, my BMI says I still am) I think I may have to revise the goal. At 180, I will still be technically "overweight", but I think I can get there.

I also think I'd like to wear a two-piece bathing suit this summer. We'll see.

The fact of the matter is, I have done something incredible: I have become someone I've never been before. I have unleashed my inner athlete and uncovered the real me.

And she's pretty cool. I'm excited to see where she takes me next year.