I decided it was time to get serious about weight loss around the time the scale hit 160 lbs. At that weight none of my pants fit, nor do most of my dresses and suits. The high 150's is about where I stop feeling attractive. It's important to stay out of this zone and being in the zone usually acts as a kind of wake up call for me.
Now that I'm hovering around 147 lbs ...meh. This is the zone where motivation is tough. My favorite jeans don't fit well, but I can physically get them on. All of my dresses fit and most fit well. My biggest suit is now too big instead of just right. I can get my climbing harness over my hips without unbuckling the buckle. I look decent, just not great.
The upper 130's zone is where I look great. It's the zone where a few of my size medium t-shirts are too big and I don't hate my arms. I also tend to feel really good in this zone because it isn't possible for me to maintain it without some reasonable exercise and healthy eating.
The difficulty of course is working up the motivation to get from the meh zone into the great zone. I've been sluggish the last month or so. I worked hard up until the end of October (though the halloween candy got me the last couple of weeks) and then more or less took a break for all of November. But I want to kickstart the weight loss again. It is time to get back to work and make good decisions over the holidays. I can go to the firm holiday party and not eat from the bread basket. Go to disneyland and stay away from the giant rice krispy treats. Go to Hawaii for a week and not over-indulge on tiki drinks and heavy food. I can run and be active while I'm there. Drag the family hiking and kayaking. This will be the plan.