I celebrated a very special milestone earlier this week, when I tried on — and purchased! — jeans that were sized in the single-digits. For someone who has been a 10, 12, or even a 14 for as long as I can remember (i.e. high school), this was kind of HUGELY AWESOME.

(So awesome that I tried taking pictures of my ass in the dressing room mirror, but got annoyed because the lighting wasn’t great. MY ASS, FOR POSTERITY!)

Single-digits! J-J-J-Jeggingsssss!

So I thought I owed you guys a little update on how this whole weight-loss thing has been going. Ready? Here we go!

As you may remember, I joined Weight Watchers six weeks after C was born. I lost 23.5 lbs. in the six weeks immediately after having her, but I knew I wanted help losing the rest of my pregnancy weight, plus more. Ideally, I wanted to get to about 25 lbs. below my pre-babies weight, which would put me squarely in the “healthy” BMI range.

As of Sunday’s weigh-in, I’m down 56 lbs. total since having my daughter in April (32.5 lbs on the Weight Watchers program, plus 23.5 lbs. before starting the program). But I actually weighed myself yesterday, and I was down another two, for a total of 58 lbs. Although it could be back up on Sunday — you never know!

I’m really, really proud of myself, and it’s been a lot easier than I ever imagined. The first few weeks were tough, as I adjusted to eating healthier, not eating out as often (I’m a huge fast-food lover), and eating smaller portions. But now, it honestly feels like second nature.

I must admit that I’m not a very good Weight Watchers “user” in the sense that I haven’t tracked my daily points in about two months. I was diligent about it in the beginning, but now I seem to have figured out how many points are in things, and can go through the day and stay within my limit automatically. Some days, I may not be eating all of my points, so I really should be better about this — especially since I’m breastfeeding.

Here are some of the little diet changes I’ve made in my day-to-day life that I don’t even notice anymore:

• I don’t drink a whole glass of orange juice anymore, ever. I used to drink it every morning, without fail. But since joining WW, I realized how much sugar I was drinking, so now I just have a sip of D’s cup before I hand it to him. If I’m having a big eggs-and-toast breakfast, I usually have an inch of juice in a glass, but that’s it.
• I’m careful about “hidden” dangers. I use skim milk in my tea, instead of whole (whereas in the past, I didn’t care). We buy low-fat or fat-free sour cream, so we can use more of it. I use lots of salsa (zero points) and I’m wary of ketchup.
• I’m wary of cheese. I LOVE cheese and used to use tons of it, but Little Sis had an excellent point when she said cheese is something that’s more about the texture and the idea, rather than the taste. She’s absolutely right. I still use it (often) but I always think first: “Would I notice if there wasn’t cheese in this?” If it’s a cheeseburger or omelet, then yes, it goes in. But if I’m making a chicken wrap, the answer is “No, I wouldn’t notice,” so I don’t put cheese in. I think this has helped me a lot.
• I’ve built in healthy routines. I used to think I needed lots of carbs in the morning, like bread, pancakes, etc. but now I know those aren’t really good for me. So I made a habit of eating a little bowl (3/4 cup or 1 cup serving) of Fiber One with skim milk every single morning, while I stand at the kitchen counter and do my makeup. I always, always, always do my makeup first thing in the morning, while the kids are eating breakfast, so now I make sure to eat my healthy cereal at the same time. I always eat more breakfast afterwards (like an egg, a pancake, a piece of toast, etc.) but I make sure this is the very first thing I eat, no matter what.
• I portion out my vice. I’ve mentioned before about my nighttime potato chip vice, and it’s still going strong! But I’m careful to always use the food scale to measure out 50g of chips (and putting the bag away!) before sitting down on the couch. It’s become something I don’t even think about, and I KNOW I’m eating fewer chips than before. Yes, sometimes the bowl looks pretty paltry — easily half of what I used to eat at a time! — but I put the bag away before I can think about it too much (while repeating “Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels!” until I’m blue in the face). I think I eat chips a lot slower now, to make them last, so that’s a good thing.

So tell me — am I the only one who takes photos of their own butt, and puts them on the interwebz? I am, right? Damn.