Jun
24
2007
29.375 inches lost. Yeah me!!! It feels strange saying I’ve lost 29 inches. It feels good but it still feels strange. And sometimes I wonder about it and panic a bit.
Part of it is because I have been so public about this with journals on fitness boards and other places. Part of it because of the expectations I have of myself. Part of it is that I am just so damn scared I am going to fail at weight loss yet again.
I can’t think of when the last time was that I worked so hard on something.
I wonder what my body will look like without the layer of fat covering it.
no comments | tags: Daily Dose of Paula, Physical Fitness | posted in Weighty Matters
Jun
10
2007
If I were to go by the numbers on my scale, my weight loss journey would be considered a failure by some. If you look at a show like the Biggest Loser – you see people lose a lot of pounds in one week according to the scale. But in my case, you have to look at the pictures and the measurements to gain a true appreciation of how much my body has changed. I haven’t lost a whole lot of weight according to the scale, but I have lost inches.
There seems to be this pervading and perpetuated idea that somehow pounds lost equals success. Yet, in my case, and the case of many others, success can be seen in inches lost. Which brings me to the questions that have been rolling around in my mind. How useful is the scale in keeping people motivated to lose weight?? And by defining successful weight loss in terms of pounds lost instead of inches lost, are we perpetuating a vicious cycle of people who give up on their diet and exercise plans because the scale doesn’t budge?
If I look at my weigh-in numbers in Fitday over the last 5.5 months, I’ve been losing just over half a pound a week for a grand total of 15.4 lbs. The only trend I see is that I have a big drop, my weight comes back up a bit over the course of a few weeks, and then I have another drop. This cycle has been pretty consistent since the start of the year and honestly I doubt I would have seen it if I weren’t being so anal about everything and tracking it in Fitday. As a matter of fact, I didn’t even notice the cycle until a few weeks back when I decided to take the numbers out of my notebook and put them into the program.
For me, the ultimate measurement of my success has been the tape measure and progress pictures – especially since in the beginning, I was replacing fat with muscle mass. While my weight seemed to stay fairly steady, there were drastic changes in my measurements (current loss as of 6/1/07 is 25.875 inches) that were backed up by changes in my progress pictures. If I had not started taking progress pictures, I don’t think I would have stuck with working out because I wasn’t seeing any changes in my weight. For me at least measurements were and are a far better tool to see my progress and that progress is what keeps me going.
My friends on the fitness boards have a saying “Scales are ass.” and in my case they really are. Give me a picture and a tape measure to gauge my progress.
no comments | tags: Daily Dose of Paula | posted in Weighty Matters
Jun
3
2007
I was reading a thread about bikini wearing on one of the fitness boards and they had a picture of a old woman wearing a bikini (I’ll spare you the painfulness of the picture). It reminded me of several conversations I’ve had with my grandmother about wearing bikinis.
The conversations would start in mid to late spring when the sun would start warming things up in Iowa and continue until Mid-July when it would get too hot for her to be comfortable outside. Gram would bring up getting a bikini. Which for the sake of her neighbors and my imagination, I strongly discouraged. It would be one thing if Gram was in shape. But she wasn’t.
The conversation would go something like this:
“I think I should get a bikini so I can get a tan.”
“Gram. really you should get a one piece.”
“But I don’t like one pieces, they smoosh my boobs.”
(Gram was pretty proud of her boobs, and honestly for an older woman, she had some great tatas since she always wore good bras. Ladies, the lesson here is that you need good foundation garments to help keep the girls perky as you age!)
“Yes but for your body, it would be best if you had a nice one piece…”
Twenty minutes later, the discussion would end and she wouldn’t get the bikini.
Even though I’m still far from actually being able to wear a bikini. I recently went out and purchased my first one. I don’t know how long it’ll be before I can wear it, but it’ll be interesting to see what I look like when it happens.
no comments | tags: Daily Dose of Paula | posted in That's Life
