I lost a pound.

Hooray! Yay, me.

Just kidding—but I’m only half-joking.

Okay, maybe I’m not really joking. I’m completely serious because this is the whole point of this post.

In my quest to lose weight, I’ve been consistent with running but my dietary habits still have a long way to go. I wish my weight loss journey was a little faster, but the reality is that it’s going at a glacial pace. I’m eating too much, I admit, and this has not been helping me shed the necessary pounds to get to a healthier weight. I’ve done my best to cut out unnecessary carbs from my meals, but I’m still eating a lot of bad things. Mostly, I’m eating a lot of fried foods that are already pre-packaged and pre-made. This is all stuff I buy from the grocery store that I include in my bentos. I balance this all out by eating lots of vegetables, though. Luckily, since I live in Hokkaido, the summer season has brought in lots of fresh and seasonal vegetables in the stores.

I know it’s not a lot. One pound is infinitesimal. That’s probably just water weight and I’ll probably gain it all back in the next few days. The thing is, this weight has been pretty consistent for the past three days that I am actually happy about it.

I am going to rejoice in the fact that I lost a pound after a month of continuous exercise. Again, it’s not a lot, but it finally took me out of the weight range that I don’t want to be in.

It’s a small thing to celebrate, but I’m forcing myself to do it because recently, I realized that I’m just going through the motions of living. Every day is the same and there doesn’t seem to be anything significant that moves me or makes me feel a little bit festive.

Honestly, I feel a little bit down that I don’t have an achievement to be proud of. Recently, I haven’t done anything significant that deserves to be praised, so that’s making me feel a little sad that this is the state of my life at the moment. It makes me realize that I don’t celebrate anymore. Unfortunately.

At the same time, I’ve never been one to celebrate every little thing, though. Maybe because I think events have to be big and special to be celebrated. For example, I was watching television the other day and the topic of relationship anniversaries came up, of whether one was the type to celebrate them or not. I am definitely in the not category. Relationship one-month anniversary? Yeah, no. It’s not a significant enough occasion that deserves a little party. Six month-anniversary? Good for you guys, but nah, friend. I don’t think so, not for me.

One year anniversary—maybe. That’s definitely something to celebrate. And even then, maybe dinner and a glass of wine. Some cake, too, because cake makes everything special.

But I think this perspective robs me of the joy of celebrating the small achievements in life, and I don’t want to be that type of person who thinks like that.

These past few years, I’ve forgotten to commemorate the little joys in life. It might have something to do with the pandemic, of being forced to stay home all the time and forgetting that the world exists beyond my home and my workplace. This doesn’t mean that I’m ungrateful for the things that I have, though. It just means that I don’t actively make a big deal of things anymore. I am not sure whether this is a bad thing or a good thing. I’m going to take this as a sign that I need to slow down and appreciate the things that are not so ordinary.

I’m also forcing myself to celebrate this small achievement of losing a pound because I don’t want to get discouraged in this quest to lose weight. Once I lose the motivation to continue, I know I will spiral into feelings of hopelessness and I will give up again and become less vigilant about my health. I have to remember that it’s good to revel in small victories to keep up this lifelong journey to become a better version of my current self. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. I need to remember to stick to this frame of mind. And that includes enjoying the fruits of my labor, no matter how small and seemingly insignificant.

I wrote this post to remind myself that I don’t need occasions to be extra big and special to be commemorated. From now on, I’m going to do my best to celebrate the small things because it just shows that I continue to be grateful and appreciative for the life I am living.

So, here’s to me for losing a pound.