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PastaQueen

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The last 200 pounds are the hardest

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NyQuil: The ultimate weight-loss drug. Who knew? Back in January of 2005 I started out weighing 372 pounds, so now I’ve officially lost over 200 pounds. I suspect some of that will come back though when I stop eating chicken broth and Jell-O. Seriously, losing 6.6 pounds in two days? Unlikely.

I always imagined this day as some sort of big celebration, but I feel like I won the Olympic medal while on steroids. Yeah, I’ve lost over 200 pounds, but the final credit goes to whatever bacteria or virus has infected my nasal passages for the past three days. Still, woo-hoo! My jeans do feel a little looser and I can sit in those Michael Kors pants I bought at the thrift store even though they were a little bit too small.

The second 100 pounds were definitely harder than the first 100 pounds. It only took me seven and a half months to ditch the first century whereas the second one took another two years and two months. Whenever people hear about how much weight I’ve lost, they sometimes mention that they can’t get rid of the last 10 or 15 pounds they’ve been trying to lose. I completely sympathize. They are by far the hardest and don’t let anyone else tell you differently.

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  3. I can not believe that I am the first one to get to comment!!!! Congratulations!!!!! I have seen the whole experience from a front row seat and know how very hard you have worked. I am soooooo verrrrry proud of you!!!!!!

  4. OMG! What a milestone, I teared up as I looked at your scale this morning. I have less than 100#’s to loose but as I look at that number and know that you have had the eye on the prize for so long and you are within 10#’s of your final goal, I feel hopeful. Hopeful knowing that you are getting there, hopeful that I too could get there. Way to go girly! Now, maybe you should get over that cold so you can gloat properly.

  5. Well, I thought I was the first one. I guess my typing speed has slowed down. But I am still so incredibly proud of you and that deserves 2 posts to shout it out to the universe!!!! Loveya, Mom

  6. Aw man…I hope you feel better! Sicko weight loss IS a weird thing: you lose, but you don’t work for it. But congrats anyway! If your throat hurts, I find that hot orange juice is the best. I know it sounds gross, but it works wonders!

  8. I see there’s another Debbi-without-an-E up there. Not many of us around.

    Whether any of those pounds come back or not, that’s an awesome photo to put on the refrigerator, and a milestone to be celebrated. Have another mug of chicken soup for me.

    Hope you’re feeling much better soon.

  9. Just de-lurking to say CONGRATULATIONS! I adore your blog, and like many others, look to it for inspiration. Especially on days when the cupcakes are calling louder than the veggies!

    Feel better soon!

  11. Wow. That is so awesome! You’ve been an inspiration for me for a while now, and I hope I have the mental fortitude to stick it out til I reach my weight loss goal of losing 145 lbs. (I’ve only lost 13 so far…)

  13. Many congratulations! What a fantastic milestone, you’re an inspiration to us all! Hope you’re feeling better soon.

    P.S. Your mom sounds lovely!!!

  16. WOW! That is so amazing and inspiring to see. Even though it is probably due to the sicko diet it is still nice to see that number. WooooHooo!! What an accomplishment.

    I have less than 1/2 that amount to lose and it seems impossible to lose and keep it off. You are such a good example of how hard work pays off.

    CONGRATS! CHEERS!! BRAVO!! WAY TO GO!

    Hope you are feeling better soon so you can really celebrate.

  17. Wow. Just…………wow. You hear of people who start and then it gets hard and they give up. The really amazing thing is sticking to it all the way through. Congratulations!!!

  18. what an AMAZING accomplishment! thank you for sharing the scale pic because it makes me feel like i’m right there with you… i can’t even fathom what it must be like to have a body that’s half the size it used to be… i would be touching and looking at it constantly… :o)

  19. Thank you for saying that – I get so tired of people rolling their eyes when I say my last 10 are hell because this fat has been around the longest.

    P.S. – hope you’re feeling better.

  21. WOW!! I’m so happy for you!! Even if it took a diet of Jello and chicken broth, just seeing that number makes me so happy for you! I know it will be “real” in the very near future for you!

  22. What’s cool about you is you longevity. You hung in there, took the good with the bad and kept on rolling. Now you’re so close to your goal you have to be able to taste it. Oreo cake flavored perhaps? I can’t wait for you to reach your goal because you completely rock. I hope you feel better too.

  23. Woo-hoo!! Congratulations!! 200 lbs down is just a breathtaking accomplishment, whether you had some help from the cold germs or not. Wow… you are just a tiny hair away from really being down to the infamous last ten pounds! I know you’ll do it and I’ll be cheering when you do!!

  25. When my husband and I got sick with the flu last year, neither of us could hold anything down for two days. He lost ten pounds, and I gained one. Go figure.

  30. Congrats on seeing the new lowest number on the scale; no matter how fleeting, it’s still a victory!

    Yep, the last 10 are the hardest. Partly, I think, because they aren’t as consequential as the rest. I’ve definitely let up on my diet strictness–I’m letting myself enjoy food more than I did when I had more weight to lose. In May, I didn’t eat any of my daughter’s birthday cake because I’d only lost 30 pounds. This month, I had cake AND ice cream, but I’ve lost 54 pounds and only have 8 to go. I feel good in my body, and feel like I can now life my LIFE instead of living a DIET. But it slows weight loss down, for sure.

    Good luck getting your last pounds off. I plan on being in fighting shape and my lowest weight by the Indy Half. You will be too, I bet!

  34. OMGosh! WTG!! I have been one of your readers for a looooooong time. Years, I’m sure! I am so happy for your accomplishment!! Sick or not, you deserve that weigh in!!

  35. VERY cool! That’s a big milestone!

    And you are so right. I have been chipping away at those last 15 pounds for the past year….arrrrgh.

  36. Congratulatons! What a good-looking number!!!

    You may not gain the weight back if you eat lots of bacon and hardboiled eggs, hard cheese and other protein during the first days of wellness. You’ll be really hungry, so you should be able to eat more quantity than usual. These proteins should do it. If I’d known that, the last time I got the flue I wouldn’t have regained all my weight (only 15 lbs, so not so hard to get off again, but still…).

  37. Hey – take off your socks! They must weigh a few ounces. ;-)

    Seriously, you rock. And so does your Mom.

    PQ – Then people just make fun of my freakish toes. The socks stay on for photos.

  39. You are AMAZING!!! I read your blog constantly because I’m always wowed by what you say and how you say it. You’ve got quite a knack for words :)

    Be so very proud of yourself….you deserve it!

    P.S. Can’t wait for your book!!

  42. 2 0 0 P O U N D S ! Awesomely, incredibly wonderful. You are one amazing woman, PQ!

    Your metabolism ramps up when your body is busy fighting off the cold/flu–not that it’s the way anyone would want to lose weight. But that has to be an upside to enduring all the sneezing and snuffling.

    Congrats!

  43. Wow – way to go!!! That is an incredible and very inspiring post. Thanks for your good example and persarverance!!

  44. OK…so you lost 6.6 lbs in 2 days due to illness.

    A LOSS IS A LOSS BABY!!! WOOHOO!!! CONGRATS!!!

    Take care of yourself and feel better soon!

  45. You go girl..amazing i’sant a big enough word.. cant wait to see you at goal. You will be a TV star with that accomplishment.

    Gonna read your book.

  47. “Whenever people hear about how much weight I’ve lost, they sometimes mention that they can’t get rid of the last 10 or 15 pounds they’ve been trying to lose. I completely sympathize. They are by far the hardest and don’t let anyone else tell you differently.”

    I can relate to that! :)

    Good for you on your achievement! You’ve come a long way!

  50. Woohoo! I know what you mean about losing while ill, but it’s still amazing.

    As for Jello/jelly… I eat it about every other day, because I have a really sweet tooth and it’s low-cal. This may be kind of sad in an adult, but hey.

    (Now I’m wondering what IS so allegedly freakish about your toes. You may be provoking even more speculation by keeping the socks on.)

    PQ – A year and 20 pounds ago I did post one with my toes. Check out the freakiness!

  51. Hello Pastaqueen

    Awesome!!!! What can I say that has not already been said. Your an excellent example of willpower, determination, persistance and hard work. Congratulations. Thanks for sharing your sucess with us.

  52. I couldn’t help but notice the scale you weighed in for your 200 lb loss (and super congrats by the way, I’ve just made 5 stone as of yesterday so milestones for me too) at any rate, I couldn’t help but notice it was a different scale from the one you promote on the right side of your blog. Any reason for this? Do you rock more than one scale? Did the other one turn out to suck?

    Sorry I’m such a nerd when it comes to details.

    PQ – Yeah, I am a weirdo who has two scales. I started out with the one in this pic because it weighs up to 440 pounds. After a year I got the one in the sidebar because it does fancy stuff like measure your fat and hydration levels, though it only measures up to 330 pounds. However, I still do my weekly weigh-ins on the old scale since it was the one I started on and it gives me a slightly different reading (+ or – .4 pounds) than the other scale. I thought it better to be consistent through out the whole process.

  55. One time I had pneumonia and lost about 15 pounds in two weeks. Not recommended! Also not permanent, in my case.

    Hope you’re feeling better soon.

  56. OMG!!!! I don’t post often (in fact this is my second post in almost a year), but I had to congratulate you for this milestone. I have been following your progress for months, waiting to see when you would get to that 200-pound loss mark! As someone who has about 200 pounds to lose, it means that much more to me to see someone achieve that goal without surgery. You have inspired me in more ways than you’ll ever know, and I hope that this success continues to open up even more possibilities for you.

    You so rock, you skinny minny you!

  57. I just stumbled upon your site a couple of weeks ago…and now I must de-lurk to say “WOW!! CONGRATULATIONS!! YOU ARE SUCH A ROLE MODEL!!!” You really are. I’m on the other side, with 100+ to lose and I keep telling myself “it CAN be done.” Thank you so much for publicly telling your story so that the rest of us have the courage to keep going, too. Sometimes it seems like an impossible journey, but to know it’s achievable, and see postcards along the way, really helps. Thank you.

  58. Hi,

    Congrats on reaching this milestone, remarkable. I was so happy to see your “freaky” toes, mine are the same way and I’m equally concerned with keeping them under wraps. Open-toed sandals=verboten in my world and socks are my best (inanimate)friends.

    I went to see a podiatrist about it and I was prescribed orthotics. They don’t fix the craziness but they do prevent it from getting worse. As a by-product I’m now able to run longer distances more comfortably and my inner thighs are more toned because the whole leg is in better alignment. Check it out if your insurance covers it. Sorry for providing unsolicited advice but orthotics have made a bizarrely huge difference in my everyday life.

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