For all the exercise I have been getting in this week, the scale sure is being stubborn. I don’t think I have been overeating, nor do I believe that I am dealing with hormonal fluctuations right now. I’m not sure what is going on.
It can be so frustrating when I don’t see the scale reflecting back numbers that I believe I have earned. Even more so, when I know I must then look to other measures of success, it can get equally depressing when I struggle to find something else to serve as a benchmark of my success.
My jeans are not fitting any better. I haven’t lost any inches since the start of the month. I am not seeing any new definition in my muscles.
So, when all else fails, it becomes more about looking beyond the physical and examining what psychological benefits there are to creating and maintaining a healthier lifestyle. Perhaps that is where my attention should have been all along, but – as anyone attempting to lose weight can attest – that certainly isn’t where I have been focused.
But it is a vital part of the process, and, in fact, I think that its level of importance goes up as the results displayed by physical factors go down. My need to recognize that progress is still taking place in some manner increases as my actual weight loss slows. Validation of my efforts must still exist in some form or another.
So, after digging a little deeper I realize that my mood has been more elevated. I have found the growing intensity of my workouts to be invigorating and exciting. My healthy food choices are feeling even more natural and instinctual than before.
I am still having success. Even if that number on the scale never budges again, I know that I have implemented amazing changes into my life. I am a perpetual work in progress: with ‘progress’ being the operative word.
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Since I missed the last post, LOVE that ytou are doing the Dragon Boating!!!!
ReplyDeleteAs for this post, so glad you are looking at the positives. Also, as we get "lighter", it gets harder to lose & of course we have plateaus.... don't lose the faith! This is part of the normal journey!!!! You done good!!!!
Sometimes I just need to take a moment to remember that I'm doing things that are better for my health. That isn't always easy. I want movement on the scale, or in the waistband of my golf shorts.
ReplyDeleteI'm in the same 'boat' as you - except I'm nowhere near my goal. My measures of success are slowing down and it's getting harder to keep focused on the goal without the reward of dropping weight, smaller pants, etc. All the successes that came so easily with the first 35 pounds...
ReplyDeleteI can say that the next person to tell me that "Muscle weighs more than fat" in terms of my working out vs. weightloss is likely to suffer a mysterious blow to the head...
The closer you get to your goal (and you're there!) the less change you will see week to week. It's a much slower process at the end. It doesn't stop, but sometimes those victories are slow.
ReplyDeleteYou have done amazingly well. So consistent - I'm really impressed.
I had to step back and really examine my entire routine, finally having to admit to myself that I had started slowly incorporating some slight modifications to my eating and exercise regimen that were stalling my progress.
ReplyDeleteI can't relate...yet. So, I vote for Diane's comment since she's been where you are.
ReplyDeleteYour losses are so consistent that I'm hoping/excited to see some of that for myself now that I'm tweaking my food and making better choices. :)
Okay, I didn't mean that the other comments weren't good. I just know Diane better and not really anyone else who commented.
ReplyDeleteHope I didn't offend anyone.
I would agree with Diane as well - you're there, girl!
ReplyDeleteI just found your site thru Katie J. And I have to say I wish I found it sooner...We both started our journies at the same time, both at almost exactly the same weight. I started losing weight on August 11, 2009 at 252 pounds.
ReplyDeleteWe both lost our first 50 pounds in the same time frame, and also looking I found out we both went under 200 the same week.
But then I started slacking, you have lost another 50 pounds...me I lost 20.
Congrats to you! You are my inspiration to lose this 30 by this summer!
P.s. I hope you don't mind but I wrote a blog about you!
ReplyDeleteI agree with everyone cause I like too..
ReplyDeleteanyways.
they are right.
man does it slow when you hit near goal..
It slowed for me about 30 lbs out. I have lost about 5 to 6 lbs a month now for the last three months.
And that is okay, and you weigh less than I do and are taller.
You are normal bmi wise.
Maybe your body is giving a signal...
Keep it up and see how it goes...(you were going to have keep it up in any case....)
I say start creating a chiseled form to make jillian micheals jealous...good luck.
Well I personally think you look fan-friggin'-tastic already, lol....but I know that your personal goal is to lose more...and with the success you had at sailing down the scale in such an amazingly short amount of time, I can see where the scale moving much slower would bum you out. Good for you for examining the psychological benefits so you could keep a positive outlook when what you probably really want to do is take a sledgehammer to your scale, lol. It's true though...when you barely have anything left to lose, it tends to go much, much slower. Just keep doing what you KNOW is right with the eating and exercise...and it will happen in due time. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the encouragment, everyone!
ReplyDeleteLol, LauraLynne!
Katie, that's so cool! I will come and check it out!
Tammy, I love the sledgehammer remark... so, so true! Thanks, girl, your encouragment means a lot.