Why yes, I HAVE lost weight!

I've become a little obsessed with this photo lately:

I simply adore the women in it... but I admit, that's not the only reason I love this photo.

It's because I look so gloriously, wonderfully skinny.

(I choose to embrace the vanity, 'cause I worked darn hard for it!)

This is how I looked in this same dress last year:

Okay, so I'm not in the same position, so maybe the difference isn't readily evident, but it's there.

I've lost 20 pounds since January! Actually, I lost it by the end of April and have been maintaining ever since. Feels darn good to know that I can! I really want to keep it off this time.

My main motivation was this photo:

Wow. I am practically spilling out of this dress and I couldn't get the gloves to stay up for more than a few minutes at a time. I really hate the way I look here, in spite of the good hair and make-up. I felt so uncomfortable with that cleavage all night.

I decided to finally stop whining about feeling fat and do something about it.

Since I have never been a fan of the gym, and am not a consistent exerciser, I went the lazy route: controlling my diet. This is not to say I starved myself. Far from it! I went the South Beach Diet route which is mostly portion control and paying attention to which foods I'm eating. I did the two week no sugar/no carb cleanse, but they say when you're hungry you should eat something like a handful of almonds or some string cheese. It was hard -- I love chocolate and it was sometimes difficult finding something satisfying when I went out to dinner -- but I was always able to find something that was health(ish) and usually tasty. I did NOT starve.

I admit, now that I've reached the goal I'm not quite as careful, but I'm being better. It's nice not to feel so out of control.

The funny thing is, I look back at the photos of when I thought I was so fat, and, sure, my face and figure were wider... but I really didn't look that bad. I was not as fat as I thought I was. I generally try to dress in a way that flatters my figure anyway, so I rarely wore things that made me look terrible. My perceived large size didn't even deter boys from asking me out. Losing weight was something I wanted to do for me, and I'm thrilled, but it's nice to know that I can still flaunt my figure if I fluctuate a bit. (Do I use that as an excuse to eat a brownie once in awhile? You bet! I'm so weak!) Losing weight doesn't change who I am. It just gave me a bit of extra confidence in myself. I set a goal and I reached it! It's awesome!

You'll notice also that losing the weight didn't make me automatically toned and flat-stomached. It's a little disappointing to realize that even if I lose another 15 pounds (which I don't plan to do because that seems extreme) I'll still have flabby arms and a pocket on my stomach. I'll have to exercise to achieve optimum toning... and I'm not quite ready to do that, yet. But I am a little curious what I might look like if I tried... we'll see.

Anyway, people who haven't seen me in awhile have been asking, so I thought I'd just set the record straight :)

And, since I'm on the record, here's a photo of me from last night in that same polka-dot dress:

Quite the difference, eh?