25 pounds down, 1/4 of my way to my goal

While I officially started tracking my weight loss at 297 pounds, I weighed in at 300 a few days previous to it. This morning I weighed in 271.5, making it 25 pounds from my measured starting point officially. One of the best bits of advice I got from this sub was to celebrate your successes, so I guess this post is for me to do that. Here's some thoughts on my first two months of seriously working on my health.

- It's a huge cliché but also very true: the first step is the biggest one. I wanted to lose weight and get healthy for ages but it took a moment of clarity in my personal life to get me to make a serious commitment to it. I'd liken it to when I quit smoking a decade or so back: I knew it was bad for me and knew I should quit, but couldn't do it until I actually wanted to, instead of just thinking I should.

- On that topic, I let not knowing everything before I got started be an excuse for way too long. Yeah, I made some mistakes, and I'm sure I'll make plenty more, but learning what works for yourself is part of the journey you won't know until you actually start it.

- Libra (and I guess Happyscale, although I haven't used it) is a godsend. I'm too compulsive to not weigh myself every day, but having an app that shows the trend lets me focus less on where I'm at, (which fluctuates up and down a few pounds for any number of reasons) and more on where I'm headed.
- Drinking water is my new habit. I'm putting away 4+ liters of water a day every day, and it's amazing how much that helps at literally every part of my efforts; keeps you hydrated for workouts, keeps you feeling full at mealtime and helps build the muscles that will burn off those calories.

- CICO is good stuff, but makes me unhappy if I don't feel satiated by the meals I'm eating, or feel like I'm being denied things I enjoy. The game for me now is to fit in lots of food, get enough protein, and still stay at my 1000 calorie deficit every day (as a vegan no less). I've learned it's not about denying yourself food, it's about fitting it into an overall healthy pattern of eating. On Friday I ate some pizza and Saturday had a few drinks and it felt good to know that I wasn't "cheating" or failing, it was accounted for and part of my plan.

- This community rules. I thought it was going to be a lot of corny affirmations and dumb slogans, but what I've found here is a deep well of support, empathy and inspiration. Thanks to everyone who participates in this sub for providing me with motivation and advice. It has been invaluable.

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