Nine

The number "9" is a funny number. According to Wikipedia, in Chinese culture the number is a positive one because it sounds the same as the word for "long lasting." However, in Japanese culture, it has a negative connotation because it is close to the word meaning "pain" or "distress."

To me, the number "9" means a little bit of both of these.

I stepped on the scale today expecting to once again weigh in at the same weight I have been for the last three weeks. To my surprise, the number was 1.4 pounds less! This brings my total weight loss (since I started keeping track in mid-April) to 9.1 pounds!

This means I am less than ONE pound away from a goal I thought would take me six months to reach if I could even do that. I am not going to lie--it has taken a lot of hard work, sacrifice, sweat, tears, whining, you name it to get to this point. However, whenever I have a morning like this one, I am motivated to keep pushing myself and it makes everything I've been through worth it.

After I lose the 10 pounds my doctor ordered, I will keep going. I have a personal goal weight in mind and I would like to see if I can reach it. Besides, I've become addicted to how great I feel (and as you know, I'm very number and reward driven). Also, the more weight I lose, the greater I increase my chances of lowering my cholesterol and not having to depend on medicine to do it for me for the rest of my life.

So for me, to get to the number "9" required a lot of pain and distress at times, but it's also something that will be long lasting for me. I wonder what the Chinese and Japanese think of the number "10." I guess we'll have to wait and see!