Maintenance- The Secret to Long-term Weight Loss

This is a post I've been meaning to write for a while, ever since one of my nutrition lectures opened my eyes to the 'facts' about weight loss. I was up extra early this morning. I've had breakfast, dressed, applied for 4 jobs and checked out week 8 for the 12WBT. Now I still have an hour until my gym class, so I figured now was the time to get writing. It's true what they say. A healthy diet and exercise really does give you more energy. Who would have thought?

So I will stop rambling and get to the point.

A few weeks ago I learnt a rather depressing fact: Almost everyone who loses weight will eventually put it back on. Apparently losing weight is the easy part. The hard part is maintaining the loss.

In America they actually have a registry for people who have lost at least 13kg and kept it off for over a year. Long-term weight loss is so rare that they want to keep track of and study the people who succeed in order to work out how they did it and what makes them different from the people that fail.

Here's what they have found out from people who have achieved long-term weight loss:

• 45% lost weight alone while 55% got help and support from a program. I think this just tells us that joining a program may help, but it is definitely not the deciding factor between success and failure. 
• 80% eat breakfast everyday. While the time of day that you eat ultimately doesn't make a lot of difference to weight loss, eating a healthy breakfast gets you off to a good start for the day and prevents you from bingeing or seeking out energy dense 'quick fixes' later in the day. 
• 75% weigh themselves at least once a week. While it is never good to obsess about the number on the scales, weighing yourself weekly is a good way to keep track of things, even after you have reached your goal. You are then able to notice small increases in your weight and make the necessary lifestyle modifications to get on top this before it becomes a big increase!
• The majority watch a lot less TV (less than 10 hours per week) than the national average. Watching TV is one of the most sedentary activities you can do, so chances are, if you are not watching TV, you are doing something less sedentary. You are probably not mindlessly snacking either! 
• 90% exercise, on average, for 1 hour per day. While diet is definitely the major factor in weight loss (you have to be very active for exercise to significantly impact your weight), exercise plays a big role in weight maintenance. Even when people do regain weight, those who are active do so at a much slower rate.

Overall, I'm not sure how useful this information is. I mean there's not really much information there that isn't common sense.

Ultimately I think we all know what the secret to permanent weight loss is, whether we want to admit it to ourselves or not. The answer is consistency; sticking with a healthy lifestyle for the long haul. 

Most people start on their weight loss journey looking for the 'quick fix' or the 'easy way'. For some people this might be a magic pill or miracle diet. For others it might involve a halfhearted attempt to be healthier. I spent years looking for the easy way to lose weight. I ate healthier, but didn't exercise. I joined a gym then never went. I tried the latest diet again and again. I even tried prescription medication, convincing myself that if a drug could help me lose the weight, the maintenance would be easy. After that last attempt I ended up bigger than I have ever been. I did all this despite all my nutrition education, which just goes to show, while educating yourself about health is important, it doesn't automatically lead to weight loss! 

It seems that the change and the success comes when you finally realise that it is not going to be easy and that it will not happen overnight. It did for me anyway. You need to stop looking for the quick fix and finally decide that you are willing to do whatever it takes, for however long it takes. Decide that this long term goal means more to you than any immediate gratification that comes from eating or drinking. When you become determined to do the hard work and to make a permanent change, you just do what it takes, and eventually it's not as hard as it was all those other times. You literally JFDI! 

The fact is, every diet will work if you follow it. Now, I'm not saying that every diet is healthy, because there are some shockers out there. But every diet will make you lose weight if you follow it, because every diet follows a few basic principles and ultimately they all involve calorie restriction through one means or another. 

But the most successful approach will always be to follow an eating plan that is not excessively restrictive, that suits your tastes and your lifestyle and that you can maintain in the long-term. Basically, if you are going to stick to something, it needs to be realistic.

We need to stop the hype with diets and start talking about healthy lifestyles. Diets don't work because they have a start and a finish. Even if you have enough willpower to eat only cabbage soup, or fast every second day, or go gluten, dairy and sugar free until you lose enough weight, there is still the mentality that "this will eventually be over and I can go back to eating normally". For successful weight loss, you need to adopt healthy habits and keep them for life. Sure, you can eat some more calories once you are no longer trying to lose weight and sure you might be able to relax a little bit, but if you relax too much, you will just end up back where you started.

It's hard, it takes time and it's a long-term commitment. But it is totally worth it. 

Thanks for reading :)

Katie. 

P.S. I bought a bikini when I was 16 that was about 3 sizes too small. I bought it to inspire me and motivate me to lose weight. Last night, 10 years later, I tried it on and it fits! Food will never make you feel that good. Trust me!          

Week 6 Overview and my Birthday Blowout

Hello there!

Week 6 of the 12WBT is over and done with, meaning we are half way there! Unfortunately this was the week where I kind of got off track and let things slip a bit. I think this finally happened after doing so well for so long because:

• I was very stressed/ distracted with exams and other things for the first part of the week so I wasn't really focusing on the healthy lifestyle thing. I was still 'doing' it, but I wasn't 'feeling' it or 'living' it if that makes any sense at all. I was on autopilot. 
• My mum came back from her overseas trip and suddenly all the organisation I'd achieved while she was gone fell apart. I was no longer solely in charge of shopping or deciding what was for dinner. Because everything now has to be pre-approved again and the shopping is never done in advance I'm finding it really hard to plan things. Very frustrating. I had a talk to mum and said that just because we can shop everyday doesn't mean we should, or that it's the best way to do things! Hopefully things will be better this week now she's out of holiday mode. 
• I only lost 0.1kg this week. I'm not too worried about this. I mean, obviously more is better, but being so close to my goal weight, I'm not expecting huge losses. I've also been extremely bloated this week. I was a bit disheartened by this weigh-in though because such a small loss meant I probably wouldn't reach my goal of getting below 60kg by my birthday. 
• When I gave up on reaching that goal by Sunday, I kind of unconsciously gave up on trying to restrain myself from eating too much over my birthday weekend. 

Surprisingly though, I'm not really beating myself up about this. Yes, I massively over-indulged, but I enjoyed some amazing food! And if you can't pig out on your birthday, when can you? So in the interest of confessing my sins and being totally honest, here's what I ate this weekend:

Saturday: 
The day was okay! I had a healthy 12WBT breakfast before the gym. Then I met my friend for coffee and had a skim cappuccino. Since I don't normally have snacks on treat meal Saturday and I knew the boyfriend was taking me out to dinner, I had an extra healthy lunch from Sumo Salad (only 206cals). That of course meant I was starving by dinner time and I succumbed to a creamy linguine dish with chicken, mushrooms, olives and semi-dried tomatoes because it was the special and sounded pretty yummy. It was yummy. At least I got full quite quickly and let Mr. Boyfriend finish off at least a third of it. He had promised me dessert as well, but instead we decided to raid the supermarket for snacks for the movies. DANGER, DANGER!
In the lolly aisle I go a bit crazy. I have a massive sweet tooth and I'm bad at making decisions, so I want everything! And then I am stuck with more lollies than I can eat in one movie, and my mentality turns into "I better eat them as quickly as possible, then they will be gone!". Cue a day of bingeing on lollies and chocolate.
So before the movie I ate a crunchy ice cream. That was pretty yummy I must say...
My boyfriend ate the other 5 in the packet luckily (yes, he is one of those annoying people that can eat literally 5 times as much as me and never put on weight!), so there was no more temptation.
In the movies I had some maltesers, some party mix lollies, some marshmallows and some sour skittles. I eventually stopped eating because I felt a bit sick :-/. 

Sunday: 

I didn't feel so great on Sunday morning. I think I had a sugar hangover! I had the least filling 12WBT breakfast I could think of (the breakfast crumble) because we were going out to lunch with my parents and some friends for my birthday.I decided to just enjoy myself and eat what I wanted to.
I had a chai latte before lunch and forgot to ask for skim milk. Oh well.
For lunch I had the most amazing lasagna I have ever tasted. I knew it couldn't possibly be healthy, but it was vegetarian at least! And again, I didn't eat all of it (normally I would have for something so delicous, so it's a little achievement at least). The boyfriend came to the rescue again.

  This is my slow-roasted tomato lasagna with nettle bechemel, topped with a dash of truffle oil- The portion that didn't end up in my belly at least!

I also had a few triple-cooked chips... because who can resist triple-cooked chips? 

After that I got a skim cappuccino, because it seemed like a good idea at the time. I was then bought a shot of black sambuca, because everyone has to have a birthday shot! I couldn't say no to that! 

Then came dessert... 

   This is my slow-cooked apple and pistachio crumble with semi-freddo (and a birthday candle).

Again, I did leave some of this for my bottomless pit of a boyfriend to eat. But I did have a taste of a scrumptious brownie. And I did have to taste each of the 5 ice-cream flavours in his mojo sundae. 

Needless to say, I was pretty stuffed after this lunch. But it was seriously the most amazing lunch I have ever had. 

I didn't have any dinner per-se, after all that. But I did spend the afternoon/evening in the "I have to eat the rest of the junk food in the house today, because tomorrow I'm going back to healthy eating". So my dinner consisted of marshmallows, lollies, chocolate, chips and a cup of tea. But like I said, part of the fun of birthdays is not having to worry about 'being good'. And I'm not getting down about this, because I already agreed with myself that I was willing to deal with any consequences on Monday. And I had the most lovely birthday :). 

 Some of my presents- <3 my new Lorna Jane hoodie and my awesome Polk audio sport ear phones.

Amazing moon on my birthday too- Biggest full moon of the year. I felt special ;)

Week 6 Exercise:

I only managed 4 days of exercise again this week due to exams. But they were pretty decent workouts at least! I seem to be burning more calories all of a sudden. I'm not sure why, but I'm not complaining! 

Monday: 45 minute pump class plus abs (486 cals).

Tuesday: Exam in the morning and then had to pack up and move out of the place I was house-sitting, then get back to study, so no exercise today. I did get in a decent half hour of walking though. My exam location was at the far end of my uni, as far as possible from the tram stop! 

Wednesday: Another exam, so I did get to do a half hour walk again! But no workout. I honestly just wanted to chill out after exams! 

Thursday: Back to exercise! Did the prescribed 12WBT gym machines cardio workout and burnt 800 calories! I couldn't believe it. My best result ever, in only 70 minutes! Told you I'd started burning more calories.  

Friday: 60 minute pump class (385 cals).
Saturday: After my success with the cardio workout on Thursday, I decided to do the week 7 one for my Super Saturday Session. I didn't get to finish the last part of the workout, because I was running late to meet my  friend, but I did get 70 minutes in and burnt 700 calories. I swear the rolling treadmill intervals nearly killed me... or nearly made me pass out at least! The last minute, running at 10km/ph with 9% incline, was torture!

I was meant to do 20 minutes worth of planking this week... but I actually just forgot because I was so pre-occupied. I did 5 minutes on Thursday, but that was it. It's all good though, I'm pretty good at planking (I'm almost at 3 minutes), so I think I'll be right!

What's on for Week 7?  

This week I'm getting strict. No going over on my calories, even on treat meal Saturday, and I'm going to do all my workouts! 

In case you were wondering, I had gained 1.5kg this morning after my weekend of being a fatty. This just makes me determined to get things right from now on. There are no more celebrations in the near future to use as an excuse. I'm hoping that I don't have to record a gain this Wednesday, but if I do, I do. I did an extra-long workout this morning to try to compensate a little bit! 

The challenge this week is to do 1,500 tricep dips. I'm pretty good at tricep dips, but this sounds like a lot! I did 50 this morning, so we'll see how I go! 

Week 5 Review- What I remember anyway!

I am back! My last exam was this afternoon, so now I have 3 weeks to do whatever I please :).

I may as well do my write-up of the 12WBT week 5 now, even though we are well into week 6.

To be honest, week 5 is a bit of a blur. When exam time comes I go into "study mode", as I like to call it. I pretty much lose touch with the rest of the world for a while. My life consists of sleep-eat-study-repeat. This time I tried to get a bit of exercise in there too!

Weigh in:
I lost .5kg this week, which is pretty decent! Puts me only .7kg away from my goal of being under 60kg by my birthday (June 23rd).

Exercise:
Keeping a record of all my food and exercise on My Fitness Pal really helps jog my memory!

Monday: Body pump and CX-works. I'm getting ripped as! 515 calories.

Tuesday: RPM class. 409 calories.

Wednesday: Had to miss my body balance class and go to a compulsory employment appointment :(. A bit of relaxation would have come in handy this week too! This meant I didn't have time for a workout. As a chronic procrastinator, my study time is very precious in the week prior to exams!

Thursday: Decided to try one of the 12WBT 'Gym Machines' cardio workouts. All I can say is Wow! I really enjoyed it coz it was varied, with jogging, rowing, sprints and biking, and it really made me work! 664 calories later (that's a lot for me!). 

Friday: Normally I would do a strength workout on the gym machines today, but because I was pushed for time and because my head was full and I didn't want to force it to think anymore, I did another pump class. 430 calories.

Saturday: No SSS for me this week. I had to pick my parents up from the airport first thing in the morning. By the time I got home it was time for food shopping and (you guessed it) study.

Overall, my exercise regime wasn't too bad this week considering. Still got in 4 decent workouts!

Food:
I must say, having an eating plan really helped this week. Knowing what I was eating for each meal and what I had to buy meant one less thing to think about. I stuck to the plan pretty consistently. I was distracted by study, which meant I wasn't thinking about eating in the evenings so much like I normally do when I'm just watching TV or something.
I did blow it a little bit on treat meal Saturday though. After an especially stressful week I was particularly craving dessert. I bought some apple strudel and custard and ate it til I was stuffed. Luckily it doesn't take too much to make me feel stuffed nowadays. I would have kept going if it wasn't for that unpleasant overly-full feeling! I was about 400 calories over my limit for the day. Not great, but it could have been worse!
I was back on track Sunday, but I tell you, the left over strudel kept calling to me and I was so tempted. It took a lot of willpower to say no. And while I did say no, I was disappointed in myself. It felt like the old habits and the old me were fighting to return. I thought I had gotten over these temptations and it wasn't a challenge for me anymore. I guess under severe stress the habit of using food as a comfort is still there.

Weekly Challenge:
I actually had to check the website to remind myself what last week's challenge was. That's how 'with it' I was last week.
Anyway, the challenge was to go to bed early. While I wasn't actually consciously aware of the challenge, I definitely succeeded. I've been making an effort to go to bed early for a while now. It's not too difficult. Regular exercise makes me want to get up early and go to bed earlier. I have always been a shocking sleeper though, and unfortunately it hasn't helped with that. I do have more energy though, so it doesn't get to me so much.

The challenge for week 6 is to do 20 minutes worth of planking. It's Wednesday now and I still haven't started on this one, so I better get to it!

Coming up:

Now that I'm not so preoccupied by assignments and exams I'm going to write some more interesting posts. I've learnt a lot of great stuff in nutrition this semester that I'd really like to share with anyone who wants to know. 

If anyone is reading this, I really encourage you to comment as well! I can see that I have page views but I would really love to know what people think.

If there's anything you would be interested in knowing/reading about in regards to my weight loss journey in particular or anything else to do with health, nutrition, weight loss or behaviour change, feel free to ask! I have a lot of personal experience, I am only one subject away from completing a health science degree, plus I have a personal trainer for a boyfriend! You're in pretty good hands.

Comment or e-mail me: creatinghealthykatie@gmail.com 

12WBT Week 4 Review

12WBT- Week 4 Review 

Weigh in:

Week 4 was mini-milestone week, which meant that on top of weighing in, we had to redo our measurements and fitness test as well. I was looking forward to this because I have been a bit disappointed with my losses so far and wanted to see what the tape measure had to say! I actually bothered to calculated my calorie deficit at the end of week 3, and worked out that based on maintenance calories of 2000 per day, I should at least lose 1kg in week 4. But weight loss is not as predictable as that, so I wasn't holding my breath. 

Come weigh-in day and I lost 1.1kg! I was so happy with that! It puts me only 1.2kg away from my original goal of being below 60kg by my birthday, and my birthday is in 2 weeks. Will I make it?

I've also lost 11cm in the past 4 weeks:

• 2cm from my chest
• 4cm from my waist (I finally have a waist circumference in the 'healthy' range!)
• 1cm from my hips
• 2cm from each arm (at first I thought my arms hadn't changed, so I was sad, as this is one of the hardest places for me to lose weight, but then I got my boyfriend to redo the measurements and they were smaller!)
• 2cm from each thigh 

I also improved on my fitness test:

• 1km time trial: 4 seconds faster  (4.46 to 4.42)
• Sit and reach: 1cm further (3cm to 4cm... I really need to work on my flexibility!)
• Wall sit: 29 seconds longer (1.32 to 2.01)
• Pushups in 1minute: Same amount as last time (35), but I doubled the amount I did on my toes (7 to 15) 
• Ab Strength (plank): 41 seconds longer (2.00 to 2.41) 

Overall, I'm really pleased with the progress I've made over the past 4 weeks. 

Exercise:

Monday: Body pump and CX-works. Increased my weights :). It's funny, I used to hate body pump, now I'm loving it!

Tuesday: RPM. It's funny. I'm working just as hard, if not harder in this class, but finding that I'm not burning as many calories. I used to burn at least 400, but now it's down to about 350. I guess that's what happens with improved fitness and weight loss!

Wednesday: Body balance and 12WBT fitness test. I really love Body balance! I was so uncoordinated to begin with, but now I'm getting the hang of it. It's challenging but relaxing at the same time.

Thursday: Nothing. There's no good classes on at the gym on Thursday, and I'm sick of doing the workout videos, so I find Thursday the hardest day to get motivated to work out. Plus I have so much study to do at the moment, and that study has taught me that for exercise to have a significant effect on weight loss, you have to do a lot of it (at least an hour a day). For this reason, I am feeling a bit less obsessive about sticking to my 6 days of exercise, especially since I had my biggest loss after taking the whole weekend off! I will aim for at least 5 days, if I do 6, all the better. I might try a cardio based gym machines workout next Thursday.  

Friday: Strength workout at the gym plus 20 mins of cardio. Really enjoyed this workout. I'm liking strength training more and more. Especially now I can see how toned I am getting!

Saturday: I did the 12WBT week 5 SSS at the gym. I struggle working out what to do for my SSS each week. Since my gym is so big (with cardio and weights in different areas), the previous gym SSS programs have been a bit inconvenient to do, so I have just been doing home workouts based on the workout videos, running and a bit of toning. I was getting very sick of that, so when I saw that the week 5 SSS would be very easy to do in the women's only section of my gym, I was excited. This was my best SSS ever! 750 calories! I had to go for a bit longer to get to that number, and I was sweating like anything and struggling towards the end, but I really enjoyed myself!

Food:

My food was pretty spot-on again. Even on Saturday, after my huge SSS! I planned my meals again for Saturday, and this time I didn't go over my 1200 calories at all! And I even had cheesecake! 

I don't know if it's been the meals I've made this week, or if my stomach is shrinking, but I've found myself getting full a bit. This is the first week that I have experienced feeling full while following the 12WBT. I'm not sure if it's a good thing or not! 

The challenge for this week was to try different foods. I didn't really attempt this challenge. I grew up with a hugely varied diet (kids at school often thought the contents of my lunch box was weird). I've tried a lot of things, and I like a lot of things. The few things I don't like, it's because I've actually tasted them. Plus I've been cooking for my boyfriend this week, so I had to make sure I was catering to his tastes as well. 

Week 4 completed and I'm still going strong and really enjoying myself :). 

Weird things about weight loss #1

Now, I'm sure nobody really wants to hear about my hair removal habits, but I noticed something interesting this morning, so bare with me. 

I shave my underarms in the shower pretty much every day, so there's never really any hair there.

The other day I was looking in the mirror & I noticed a patch of hair that I must have missed. I made a mental note to get rid of it next time & forgot about it. 

This morning in the shower I was shaving away, as usual, when I caught a glimpse of the patch of hair. When I took a second look, I didn't see it at first, until I started investigating. Then I found it, on the inside of my underarm, invisible from my perspective unless I was looking for it. "Weird", I thought, "I can normally see under there perfectly fine!" 

Then I tried to shave the patch of hair (which was actually getting quite long) and it was really difficult to maneuver the razor to the right spot, plus I couldn't actually see!

Then it clicked! My underarms have lost weight! Before there was all this fat there to fill in the cavity. Now it's disappearing and I can't see all the way under my arm anymore! 

I guess I'll have to take more care when shaving from now on! 

12WBT Week 3 Recap- Better late than never!

Weigh in

I lost 0.3kg this week. I was a little disappointed because I have been following the plan so closely (besides my over-indulgences on a Saturday night). But, a loss is a loss, so I am happy with that. It helps that I can see quite obvious increases in muscle now, and since I don't have a lot more weight to lose, the increase in muscle could definitely be affecting my numbers.

Exercise and step-up challenge

Monday: Pump class followed by a CX-Works class
Tuesday: RPM class
Wednesday: Body Balance class in the morning and my last session as a guinea pig for my soon-to-be PT boyfriend in the arvo. He told me my balance is shocking. I told him that's what the Body Balance classes are for!
Thursday: I slept in and woke up all sleepy and achy, then just didn't get round to a workout. I was feeling a bit guilty because I haven't missed a workout yet, and I read a post on the 12WBT Facebook page saying that tonight we should go for a walk after dinner instead of watching T.V. It was pouring with rain, so that was not an option, but having realised it was already Thursday and I had only done about 50 out of my 800 step-ups for the week I decided to get some done. I used our knee-high coffee table (with no shoes!), so it was quite challenging. I did about 100, and then realising that it got my heart rate up as much as any other workout, I decided to keep going, since I hadn't done a workout and all! Once I started I was like a machine, I just kept going and going... For an hour, until I had done 750 step-ups and completed my challenge of 800 for the week. Exhausted and sweating like anything, I had a shower, a cuppa and went to bed soon after. No T.V for me!
Friday: I was expecting to be sore after my hard-core step-up workout the night before, but all I felt was a slight ache in my calves. I did a strength based workout at the gym.
Saturday: The muscle pain appeared with a vengeance! I guess that's why they call it delayed onset muscle soreness. I'm guessing the added leg work on Friday didn't help either. I woke up in agony. I literally could not walk, other than some weird zombie-like shuffle that didn't involve bending my knees. The whole back of my legs, from ankle to butt was feeling it! I decided it was probably best not to exercise in this state. I wondered if I was making excuses, and did feel a bit guilty, especially when someone suggested I could do swimming instead (swimming just is not my thing!). Oh well, your body needs to rest at some point, and there's really no better excuse than "I can't exercise because I'm so sore from exercising so hard". I decided I would do some kind of exercise on Sunday instead and borrowed my boyfriend's foam roller for the evening, in an attempt to maybe massage away some of the pain!
Sunday: Woke up again without the ability to walk. So much for exercising. I decided a weekend of rest was what I needed, and I would get back to it first thing Monday, pain or no pain. Plus I did two workouts on Wednesday, so that was my justification!

Food

Again, I didn't have a lot of trouble sticking to the meal plan. I've found myself customising the menu more and more as I discover recipes that I really enjoy. I find it easiest to just repeat a few of my favorite breakfasts and lunches during the week (unless there's something new that sounds really yummy on the plan). This also means I don't have to buy as much food that might end up getting wasted as well. I do like trying different dinners each night though. I only swap ones that I'm really not keen on for ones I know I like.

And what about my treat meal this week? I'm sure everyone is dying to hear.
This week I planned out my menu for Saturday, instead of just having a set breakfast, a vague direction of "leftovers for lunch" and no specified dinner. This helped a lot. I knew exactly what I was eating for the day, and all my meals were calorie controlled. I decided to make the 12wbt Apple Tart (only 156 calories!) for dessert and bought some custard to go with it. A lot better than apple pie and ice cream!
I must admit I did have a few of the pieces of baked sweet potato that I made for my boyfriend to go with his meal (they just looked so delicious!). I also added some mixed berries to my dessert and had a cup of tea with it. But, even with these sneaky additions, I was only 100 calories over my daily limit. A lot better than the thousand-odd from the last two Saturdays!

I'm not sure if the fact that I didn't exercise this week helped me have better control over my eating, or if it was the planning or both. It is Saturday of week 4 as I write this, and I did a whopping SSS today (my best ever!), so I will be able to comment on this after tonight I guess.

So, week 5 starts next week (it's going so quickly!), so hopefully I will write up my week 4 summary tomorrow. On time! But for now, back to studying for exams.     

More motivation in the form of clothes!

Just a quick post for now. I'm going to write a longer one about my 12wbt progress soon, but I've been a bit short of time lately. I have exams coming up, so I'm studying like crazy. Plus my parents are overseas putting me in charge of cooking/cleaning/walking doggies. And my boyfriend is living here while they are gone and he likes distracting me. And Centrelink has decided I need to be looking for jobs RIGHT NOW and attend all these appointments! Then I'm trying to exercise for an hour a day on top of that... So a bit stressed! 

But just thought I would post about what made me happy this morning: 

This is a size 8 hoodie that someone left at our house ages ago. I remember trying it on last year (curious coz I've never been a size 8) and being happy that I could just zip it up (I think it must be a big size 8). 

Curious again, I tried it on today and now look! It's gone from very fitted to baggy! 

It's easy to lose sight of how far you've actually come when you haven't yet reached the destination. But tangible evidence like this really gives you the boost you need and the motivation to keep going :).