This was a big week and a proud week for me. This was the week where I finally cross the 50 pounds lost mark – I lost over 15% of my body weight and about 3 months. Plus, most importantly, I did it my way using my plan and enjoyed the process. I am so proud of myself for being able to do this and having this kind of success during a year where other successes were few and far between.

I definitely would not have been successful without all of the support I have received. First off, my wife Liz has been amazing through this entire journey. She has been supportive and helpful. She has been understanding of me talking about it all the time. So has been very supportive of me saying that this is my top priority and not thinking that it means that she is any less important to me. She is a great partner and the past 90 days remind me of why she is such a great wife.

Beyond the support of Liz, I have huge support amongst my friends. People like Julie, Beth, Patti and the list goes on, encourage me, they listen to me and they are genuinely interested in me. Plus, I posted my 50-pound milestone on Facebook because I use social media as an accountability tool and motivator (and because I tend to over-share my life on social media). I got 120 likes on my post including lots of supportive and encouraging comments. See, social media isn’t evil!

As a reward for myself for hitting the 50-pound mark, I decided to take a PTO day off work just for myself and called it “Tony Day”. I spontaneously grabbed coffee with a former boss, I got my car washed, I got my hair cut, I had lunch with a friend and I went shopping.

As you can imagine, 50 pounds lost has quite the impact on the fit of my clothes. More specifically, my clothes don’t fit and look ridiculous on me. On several occasions, my pants have almost fallen completely off of me despite my belt. Plus, some of my shirts really look like a second person can get inside them with me. As much as I know that I have a transitional body right now, I cannot delay replacing clothes any longer.

For years now, me going to get new clothes meant that I was going to the same big & tall store. So, that was my go-to this week. I went in and tried on a lot of clothes. Pants were a success and I bought 3 pairs of jeans. I am down 4-6 inches on my waist and nearing the bottom end of the big & tall store’s sizes, but am not there yet. Shirts, on the other hand, were a bigger challenge. Even the smallest size big & tall shirts were too big on me. So, I walked out of there without shirts. Then, I went to Old Navy (where I had previously struck out) and found that their classic fit shirts (not slim fit) are perfect for me. So, I bought 3 new shirts too. So, overall, a productive day and a great reward for my work. Plus, I think it is great that I can finally say goodbye to the big & tall store. That is something I didn’t expect to be able to do in my life.

Here is my first new outfit from a non-Big & Tall store…

Last week’s stats:
Distance walked/run: 35.8 miles
Total calories burnt: 29,366
Total calories consumed: 14,797
Weight change: 0.4 pounds lost