We hop on the scale. We write down what we eat. We measure various parts of our bodies, and we go through complete changes of wardrobe. Along the way, we have non scale victories to help us see how we are doing. We get feedback from others on how good we look. Even with all that, we sometimes lose perspective of how we are doing. At least, I do. I'd wager there might be one or two others like me here.

Today, I got a real dose of real perspective on how my weight loss journey is going. I was visiting my parents and helping my 82 year old father with a few chores around the house. One of the things I did was pick up some 50 lb bags of sand and salt for the driveway and walkway at their place. I mean literally. I grabbed them out of the back of my truck and carried them up the front stairs of their house.

If you want a real good idea of how you are doing on your loss of weight, grab 50 lbs of sand, sling it over your shoulder, and walk upstairs. Do it a few times. Then realize you used to carry that and more, every single day of your life, everywhere you went. I'm down 117 lbs right now. I had no desire to throw two bags on my shoulder to see how it felt. I was content with one.

Funny you should say that. I don't know exactly how much a cylinder head weighs but I threw on in my backpack and carried it around for a bit this last weekend. I know that it has to be a bit short of my missing 81 pounds but I can guarantee that my body didn't miss it one bit!

See, here I am posting about this, and you are already a head of the game.

It didn't take my cranium long to see a head joke!@@LittleBill

That's because you are firing on all cylinders.

You two could appear in comedy clubs together!

I can't life 50 pounds (yet) but I now can carry the Kirby monster up and down the stairs by myself and open jars without help for the first time in years.

You two could appear in comedy clubs together!

I can't life 50 pounds (yet) but I now can carry the Kirby monster up and down the stairs by myself and open jars without help for the first time in years.

That sucks! The Kirby, I mean. I can't help it, it is a character flaw. Mrs. LittleBill is pretty strong from helping me out all these years with remodeling, firewood, moving stuff around the shop, (the occasional wrassling match) etc, but I am still the chief jar opener around here.

A friend of mine who is a mentor to me uses children to measure my weightloss. For example, as of today, I have lost an 11 yr old girl. Puts things in perspective for me. I am not going to lift bags of sand! :-)

A friend of mine who is a mentor to me uses children to measure my weightloss. For example, as of today, I have lost an 11 yr old girl. Puts things in perspective for me. I am not going to lift bags of sand! :-)

Congratulations!

A friend of mine who is a mentor to me uses children to measure my weightloss. For example, as of today, I have lost an 11 yr old girl. Puts things in perspective for me. I am not going to lift bags of sand! :-)

Amber alert! (This is the only time that an amber alert is funny)

25 pound bags of dog food are good perspective too...

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A friend of mine who is a mentor to me uses children to measure my weightloss. For example, as of today, I have lost an 11 yr old girl. Puts things in perspective for me. I am not going to lift bags of sand! :-)

Amber alert! (This is the only time that an amber alert is funny)

OMG. You made me laugh so much. However, I am going to rethink my measurement!

Every year we send a huge box to my in-laws in Russia. I was mailing it this week. The box weighed 60 pounds, and I couldn't carry it by myself.

Since I'm 90 pounds down, I can't imagine how I used to live. No wonder I felt like crap all the time.

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Edited December 22, 20169 yr by Vinasu

I love this perspective! Just this morning I was telling my husband about how I can effortlessly take the stairs up to my office now. 3 months ago I carried an extra 50 pounds. I cannot fathom carrying this 50lb bale of hay up the stairs before.

Also of note, I just read that the average make octopus weighs 100lbs. That's my goal. Lose an octopus.

That is awesome. I remember reading an article about a gentleman who was quite overweight and wanted to go on a 10 day hike with his sons boy scout troop. He got in shape by walking with a back pack and each week he would carry what he lost. He dropped like 90 pounds.

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Also of note, I just read that the average make octopus weighs 100lbs. That's my goal. Lose an octopus.

I must be working on a giant squid then.