It's the little things that make the best mornings

Jackie has a wonderful way of putting things into perspective for me. I think, even more than kicking my butt in the gym, this aspect of the trainer-trainee relationship is absolutely priceless.

This morning, I came clean about my behavior this month. She, of course, knew I'd been struggling with a plateau, and I told her that I had done pretty much nothing until a few days ago to start combatting the problem. In fact, I'd really been lazy and done my best to work against myself. So, I said, by Monday, my hope is to have lost 40 pounds so far. And I reminded her that our original goal was to have lost about 50 by now.

She said, "Forty pounds, that's still two pounds a week (this month.) That's healthy weight loss." She also said that 50 pounds is a lofty goal for three months. The weight comes on slow, and it needs to go off slow.

I know that's simple advice, but it really parted the clouds for me. I was like, "You're right. That is two pounds a week. Wow!" I mean, this isn't "The Biggest Loser." This is real life. I'm not forgetting my mistakes this month at all, but breaking it down in those terms really made me feel good about where I am.

To top it off, as we were leaving the weight room, we bumped into a girl I ALWAYS see at the gym. She and I are about the same size, and we always smile and say hi, but we've never chatted. So I stopped to ask her name this time. We introduced ourselves, and she said, "You've really lost a lot of weight. I can really tell." When your friends and family tell you that you look good, it feels great. But there's something a little bit extra special when a stranger says it, because they really don't have any reason to, so it feels more true some how. It absolutely made my morning.

So, smiling from ear to ear and knowing I had four more days until Monday (which is my month 3 weigh-in day), I decided to see where I'm at on the scale: 38 pounds lost so far. : ) I ran out of the locker room to find Jackie again and tell her the news. Only two pounds to lose in four days to be at a 40-pound loss.

Really, really good day. : )