What a Month!

After 18 days into my little October challenge, I hit the weight goal I originally set as my end of year goal, 155, which means I have officially lost 51 pounds BEFORE my 51st birthday! For whatever reason, I am losing about 1 pound per day for the past several days. I was 162 on October 1, so I have lost 7 pounds so far this month, and there's almost 2 weeks left of the month. I can't imagine it will continue to fall off me like this, but I'm so pleased with the progress my determination has afforded me! I have been staying on track with food, not drinking sugar-free things except with my weekend meals out (Diet 7Up or Diet Coke) and fasting on my 5-1-1 schedule. This week my longer fast was 18 hours. I missed a "real" strength workout on Monday. I was really sore from Saturday's workout(lots of squats and push ups) and my IT band syndrome was really flared up to the point where I felt like my shin and knee boned were rubbing together and pinching a nerve. I did roll on my foam roller a bunch and I did some squats, leg lifts and used my balance board at my desk in between charts, so I did make some effort, but not the same as a dedicated workout. I found myself wanting to skip my strength workout this morning too, and I really had to remind myself why I am avoiding it (it's challenging because I'm not strong/fit) and why I need to do it (to maintain functional movement as I age). So I did get my workout done today and I did fine. The not having sweeteners or flavor in my water (and especially coffee) is still not something I love, and not chewing gum when I'm out and about has my worried about my breath, but I'm going to carry through at least until the end of the month. Then, I might try adding it back in during my eating window to see if it affects my weight negatively or not. Now that I'm having such good results, I am a little nervous to take the chance, but I won't know unless I experiment. The other factor that is different this month is that my fasting window is determined and I'm not having sweeteners in my fasting window, because they can spike insulin even though they are sugar-free. I have thought about delaying my morning coffee to have it with my first meal, and adding heavy cream to it, instead of drinking it black, which tastes like I imagine licking an ashtray would taste.I still don't know if I want to eliminate coffee altogether or eliminate the morning caffeine pill and have coffee instead. It would require some thought and dedication to switch! Overall, this has been a somewhat unbelievable experiment. After so many plateaus with my weight, I am finally moving the needle somewhat effortlessly. I need to get to 151 and keep going down in order to feel like I am past the curse of my past experience where I saw my lowest weight at 152 then it steadily went back up until I was over 200 pounds again. I haven't been in the 140's since I graduated high school 32 years ago! My non-scale victory this week is that I bought some new fleece-lined leggings and the shop only had 2 sizes, M/L or XL, so I chose the smaller size because my current leggings in a different brand are saggy on me and they are XL. I worried all the way home that they would be too small but they actually fit well and they are warm! I don't think I am solidly in a size medium yet, but I can't remember a time I ever fit into a medium anything. All the challenging moments have been worth it this month, and it was a great reminder that obstacles just give me the opportunity to come up with creative solutions!