Have you lost weight?

It's the golden question for those who are trying to lose weight. The question is asked, you blush, your heart beats a little faster. You look down and smile the biggest smile your face can possibly muster and say 'Why, yes. Yes I have." The rest of your day is spent in euphoria as your mind replays the question, replays the look in the eyes of the asker and your heart once again leaps a little in joy.

That's the question I got asked yesterday and let me tell you, it was better than any chocolate could have tasted. It definitely was better than a lot of the sore muscles I've had losing some of this weight! The thing is, I was feeling down on myself. Way down.

I'm in the Biggest Loser Challenge 12, right? Well, I lost weight over the last week, but barely any. 0.6 of a pounds. I know, it's still a loss. I'm glad I lost and didn't gain, I thought I might after starting this new workout program that's incorporating a LOT of strength training. I also know that I'm working at getting healthier and as long as I move toward that goal I should be happy. But I did so WELL last session in BLC 11. I lost pretty decent numbers. Almost at least a pound every week. I wanted that back this week for our first weigh in.

So when my co-worker said that, it made my day. Mostly because I know I've been pretty good about staying in my calories and I'm literally working my butt off. But since that scale hadn't shown it that morning, when my co-worker said it I about lost my socks with happiness.

Then I started talking about Sparkpeople.com. Oh my, when you ask me about my weight loss or my eating, I'll go off. Be careful. I'll talk you ear off because I get really excited about how all this is changing my life. I'll tell you about my calorie counter and how much I weight and how much I've lost so far (breathe) and about how much I want to lose yet and how the BLC ladies on my team are so awesome and how my sister joined too (breathe) and how excited that makes me and that our lives are getting better and healthier and I think that it's amazing that this Web site is totally free and (breathe) there's a new book out that's really cool and I ordered it and love it and am thinking about giving one to my mom and other sister (breathe) and yeah, I should get back to work, have a good day!

I laughed at myself out loud after talking that lady's ear off but she just laughed and said she wouldn't have said it if she didn't want to know. She just thought I looked good and wanted to tell me. She gets me. And my new obsession with losing weight. She's cool like that.

So I loved it. The scale disappointed me, but I forgot to evaluate the other areas of my life. In one week my clothes are fitting a little looser. I feel stronger. Yesterday I could do more pushups in my class than I did only the Friday before. This class is good, I'm feeling good, and that number? It's just a number. The reason I'm doing this is to better my quality of life and if that's not my priority I tend to lose focus. I get disappointed by that stupid number. I will continue to weigh myself, because in the end, when I see 179 again instead of 181, I know I'll cry a little out of happiness. When I see 169 instead of 170, the same thing will happen. That number helps evaluate too, I guess. But if you want to make my day? If you want to see the biggest smile spread across my face? Just ask, "Have you lost weight?"