Welcome to Overweightville, Population - Me!

Major milestone alert!  I am now overweight for the first time in more than a dozen years, rather than obese!  That's right, boys and girls, I have lost another 1.7 pounds for a total of 130.7 pounds down overall, to reach 203 pounds, for a BMI of 29.98 (I keep the trailing decimals in this instance because it works in my favour!). 

As you can see from the fuzzy screen capture at the top of the page, my weight is now in the yellow category (for overweight) rather than the orange category (for obese).  And as a nice added bonus, this morning's body fat reading was in the normal range.  Ever so slowly I am turning all the indicators in this application green - - my activity levels, blood pressure, resting pulse, steps, cholesterol and fasting blood sugar are all within normal levels (or better), and my weight and BMI are now only one step up from normal.  My waist measurement still needs to come down, but it, too, is headed in the right direction.

To say that I am happy about this understates how I feel to reach this goal.  It is something I have been working on for 17 months now, and it feels wonderful to accomplish this.  I have seen pretty consistent results throughout this process, but this was one of the important milestones, and one I am thrilled to accomplish. 

There are so many medical issues associated with being obese as compared to merely overweight, not to mention the stigma - - in the press, and in attitudes.  Being obese always made me feel like a second class citizen, and I carried myself as one.  As I have lost the weight, however, I have started to carry myself with more and more confidence, recognizing that I am worth the effort I am putting into this lifestyle change.  I am demanding respect for myself, and I receive it. 

Let's look at how far I have come to this point (which is only one point of a journey that will last, hopefully, the rest of my life):

I started using the elliptical as well as tracking my food last July.  Coincidentally, that is also when I got my Withings wifi scale and TactioHealth app (the source of the screen cap at the top of the page).  My personal tracking to that point was, although not primitive, certainly not as detailed as it is now. 

Since last July (just over a year ago), I have lost more than 95 pounds.  You can see from the lower graph that my body fat has also steadily decreased over that time.

But it's not just the weight that has gone down - - all my significant measurements have decreased, as you can see from the above chart. 

So where does this leave me with respect to my goals?  I've checked another one off, and added a couple of new ones to fill in the space between Onederland and Normal BMI:

Just 3.1 pounds to go now until I am less than 200 pounds - - I can't wait!