For those of us trying to lose weight, sometimes we lose sight of the fact that the number on the scale is not the "end-all" of being healthy.

I thought it might be fun to list some of our NSVs (non scale victories) that show that we are becoming fitter and healthier even though the number on the scale is not exactly where we want it.

I will start - please join in!

Some of my NSVs:

I can now fit comfortably into my size 8 jeans.

I was picking up a 50 pound bag of cat litter at the back of the local pet store and the store clerk came over and asked, "Do you need any help?" and I replied, "No, I can get it" and proceeded to pick it up and carry it to the cashier at the front of the store without any problem at all.

I was driving my car with my left hand on the wheel and my right hand resting on my right thigh. As my right foot came off the gas to hit the brake, I could feel my right quadricep bulging through my pants. Pretty cool!

During another car ride, when I had my hand on the steering wheel, I glanced at my arm and saw a new muscle popping up between my wrist and my elbow. I didn't even know I had that muscle, and there it was, popping up and saying, "Notice Me."

I can run 5 and 1/2 miles without stopping, swim a mile in under 30 minutes, and bicycle 100 miles. I can also swim, bike, and run back to back when I compete in my triathlons.

I can downhill ski all day without my quads complaining. And I can ski people who are much, much younger than I "right off the mountain."

As I lose weight and tone up my body, my husband of 30 years thinks I am getting sexier every day and he can't keep his hands off of me.

I was bending over at school the other day, helping a student, and another teacher whispered in my ear, "Your butt looks so small!"

I now have "oblique defintion" in my abs, and I am on the way to getting a "six pack" - I already have a "two pack."

My waist has shrunk 5 inches since I started eating healthy and faithfully exercising .

I sleep like a baby every night, and have flown through menopause with hardly any symptoms at all. My ob/gyn attributes this to my healthy lifestyle.

I have normal blood sugar levels in a family where my grandmother died of Type 2 diabetes, my father died of Type 2 diabetes, and my brother has Type 2 diabetes. My grandmother was obese, my father was obese, my brother and sister are obese, and I am at a healthy weight. I am beating my genetic history!

And I can't forget that I am in the category of "one tenth of one percent of women over the age of 50" that has completed an unassisted pull-up from a dead hang.

A Very Determined Lynette