162: My Magic Derby Number

With a new class of derby girls coming through (myself kind of included!) I've heard a lot of talk of weight loss and getting in shape. It seems that just about anyone who starts skating has a partial motivator of improving his or her body. Between adjusting to post-college life and sitting on my butt through ACL surgery and rehab, I had some weight to lose. Skating took the 10 pounds I'd gained off pretty quickly, to be honest. I became convinced that for the first time in my life, my 5'4" self wouldn't be clinically overweight.

Part of the recent body talk includes a certain subset: those of us who do not keep losing weight over time. That is, guys or girls who skate more days than not and yet the scale does not reward us. I'm only a year into skating, but actual derby girls (I don't think I qualify until my first game) have complained about a weight number that does not budge. Our clothes fit better and we feel great, but it's frustrating when the numbers are dropping for others around us.

Growing up, I was definitely a "fat kid" and clinically morbidly obese. Even since I lost some weight and got in shape, I've always considered myself curvy somewhat heavy. In the last six years, I've seen that 162 is my "magic number." When I work out consistently and eat healthfully, my scale will say 162. This puts me at 17 pounds overweight. With a family history of every health problem you can think of, I'm not particularly thrilled about this.

But I just know I'm building crazy leg muscles and slimming my waist. So I decided to look back at some snapshots of things I'd worn to work over the past year to see if there was any improvement. Surely all this work is for something, right?

September 2010, a month after my knee surgery. (This skirt is now too big and I gave it to a friend.)

Also September 2010. I love this dress. I'm happy to report that it is really too big for me as well.

November 2010. Okay, maybe I bought this dress because it was a size 10 and I hadn't been able to squeeze into that size for years. It still fits, but much better now.

Also November 2010. Real vintage, baby! And really too big now. Sad Kelly.

April 2011. Love this dress! I'm sure it still fits and I will wear it, but I hate dry cleaning.

October 2011. Healthiest 162 pounds I've ever been.

I'm now particularly glad I caved to vanity and asked coworkers to take photos of my outfits every once in a while. I also think maybe I should just throw my scale out a window.

The difference a year of derby makes:

This is not intended to brag but to show how awesome derby is and comfort those who are in the same position.

Derby love!