Gently

Goal Post #14

Last summer Nic's mom said “I like how you’ve been doing things gently” and the word dovetailed perfectly with showing myself kindness. Being gentle means listening to my body. Pushing myself, but not so hard I get discouraged. Sometimes it means agonizingly slow visible progress but surprisingly quick achievements in areas I didn’t anticipate. (The day I moved our super heavy coffee table by myself without thinking about it was pretty cool.)

Sometime in August, my weight loss stalled and hovered around 30 pounds down for ten weeks. That was more discouraging than expected. After all, this process is about getting healthier and that part was still happening. Maybe I was so close to my goal that failing to see it get any closer week after week seemed like a cruel joke.

Speaking of jokes, I was so discouraged I actually took one of those online “metabolism type” tests. With my goal only three pounds away, I wasn’t sure if they could help but thought it was worth a shot. It helped by not helping. They acted like the world was over and assured me I would NEVER achieve results without signing up for their system. Laughing about that helped clear some of the clouds to recognize how far I’d come - I could make it to the finish line without paying someone for a "miracle."  

While editing another post for this blog, I came across an article outlining three rules everyone can follow for loosing weight and keeping it off. It's so on-point with how I've been treating myself I almost stopped telling this story. After all, if the information is out there already, why add to the noise? If you've made it this far, please know the shear joy of writing keeps me posting.

still awkward posing I see

App updates are part of life and in October the one I use stopped tracking cumulative exercise (boo). Thankfully, I'd been collecting stats before that happened. Between May 2017 and September 2018, I rode over 560 miles on a bike, held 124 planks (112 Feb-Sept), stretched for 144 yoga sessions (132 Feb-Sept), and walked over 3.5 million steps (some of them were even running).

This past summer I achieved all of my exercise goals - including doing a handstand (only for a second, but still)! And, when it's absolutely necessary (to get somewhere on time or catch a wayward doggie) I can even run without wanting to die.

Twenty months in, I’ve lost 36 pounds total, burned 12% body fat and taken 6 inches off my waist (reducing my waist-to-hip ratio to .77). For those keeping track, 20 months is almost 87 weeks - that's an average of only 0.4 lbs lost per week. I almost forgot I ever struggled with heartburn it's been so long, and other digestive issues rarely happen. My back hasn’t seized up or even ached significantly in a year.

Just last night Nic told me his favorite part of watching me accomplish this is that I haven’t sacrificed enjoying life for thinness. Yes, I’m working hard and paying attention to what goes into my body, but that doesn’t stop me from occasionally consuming french fries, steak, cheese, wine, or anything else delicious.

 

goal-sized jeans freak out!
(didn't buy them, not flattering)
But they FIT! 

One of my favorite parts of taking things slowly is I can always find places to improve, a new challenge each month. For starters, I gradually started holding my morning planks a little longer until suddenly in September I realized I’d added 30 seconds without noticing. It is amazing to feel the difference in my midsection, especially when someone makes me laugh really hard (usually one of my sisters or Nic).

Currently I can’t exercise outdoors because 1) cold and 2) dark. My current plan for winter exercise is another yoga challenge, more burpees (but not too many) and some light weight lifting. I might even visit the gym once or twice. We’ll see what feels right.