u/Cast_Iron_Resolution

Getting my blood pressure taken has become such a point of anxiety for me over the last several years. Watching one nurse or tech after another struggle to find one to fit me, me holding onto it as it aired up listening to the velcro lose it's grip, praying it wouldn't burst open. Never knowing if the reads they did get were even accurate. Having my wrist read instead if they gave up.

My blood pressure itself (from what I could tell) had been creeping up as well into the early hypertension levels). One thing I had always prided myself on was that despite being a bigger girl, I'd always had "good numbers." So that was a real kicker.

But this week I've had two successes in a row. One, a nurse took my blood pressure with a normal (large of course) cuff and got a normal read. Then the next day, I had periodontal surgery and they strapped one of those electric cuffs to me (sorry I don't know if they have special name) and it automatically aired up and took a successful read right out of the gate 119/78. It went on to take good blood pressures consistently throughout the whole procedure.

My arm is still large, though now it's squishy/droopy. But I'll take the win because it's one more part of my life that is "normal" now for the first time in probably close to a decade.

I've been wearing 3X (US size) clothes for probably a decade. In fact, one of the biggest catalyst's for my push to take charge of my health was when I bought a new pair of 3X sweatpants last fall and they were TIGHT!

I put batteries in the scale that had been dead for two years and discovered I was at the highest weight of my life. 360 lbs. (That's a BMI of nearly 62)

Since then (November) I've lost 60lbs. In getting ready for summer, I needed to get a new swimsuit because I haven't worn or owned one in over 2 years. I ended up ordering two suits, some shirts, shorts, underwear, even a bikini top. All ambitiously in 2X. Everything has fit comfortably!

I've still got a long way to go, but it feels so got to have achieved this milestone.

This was my first big milestone since starting. I've been working since November and have lost 60 lbs. I had a stall last month and realized my calorie deficit was too low and gradually raised it up. It's still lower than most people's, but I'm working with a metabolism that I've wreaked havoc on.

BUT I feel great. In the past, calorie deficits were always about deprivation. I would get a rush by eating as little as humanly possible. The problem with that, is it doesn't last, and then I would always turn back to the rush of eating and eating. Or I would rebel and sabotage myself.

All this time I thought I knew about healthy eating. Eat salads, vegetables, low, low calorie. I honestly was clueless about protein. I thought people ate too much protein. But now I'm singing it from the rooftops. I eat high protein, and high fiber and feel satiated all the time. I love it and honestly the thought of eating this way for the rest of my life doesn't scare me at all. That's a true first for me.