Nearly two years ago, I began to pay attention to my weight. The scale (and my doctors) told me I was definitely overweight and my BMI told me I was bordering on obese. On Christmas Day 2011, I started a food journal. I recorded everything I ate and did my best to estimate the calories. It worked. Over the course of about 9 months, I lost 45 pounds — reaching my target weight. Happily, I’ve kept them off.
Since that time, people have often asked me if I felt different. In all honesty, most days I don’t notice. However, this week, I’ve noticed.
There have been multiple times over the last couple of days as we’ve trekked through Lisbon and Madrid when I’ve realized I would not have been able enjoy this as much if I was still carrying those 45 pounds.
There are some simple and basic things that have made me take notice of the advantage of being smaller, notably many European water closets are quite tiny. This trip I’ve realized exactly why they are called water closets, since I’ve been in many that clearly used to be closets! They are a tight squeeze the size I am now, it would have been downright uncomfortable to manage before.
And, don’t get me started on the shower stall in our train cabin! I remarked to Jeff this morning that our cabin would have been impossible to maneuver and truly miserable if we hadn’t both lost the weight we had.
But most notably, my ankle has not locked up.
My right ankle was reconstructed when I was 16 and I have fairly severe arthritis. Two years ago, had I been walking even half as much as we’ve walked the last three days, I would have required a day of down time to recuperate and I would have been searching for the nearest soaking tub in the hopes hot water would loosen it up.
No doubt, my legs are sore, tired and I desperately need to do some yoga hip openers, but my ankle has held up remarkably well.
I’m grateful to be at a healthy weight and able to squeeze in as much exploration as possible.
Holly Potter 
