Daily Archives: February 22, 2012

Part of the reason I chose to focus on progress this year is because it doesn’t come naturally. I am a pretty self aware person, I can usually recognize and articulate where I am at any given moment, but then I’m instantly hard wired to start thinking about how to get to the next achievement. If I’m not conscious, my life becomes a series of separate Navigation Entries, constantly starting at an arbitrary Point A, making its way to Point B. I rarely take the time to look backwards and recognize the big picture progress, instead recalibrating my Point A and finding a new Point B over and over.

Anyway, you get it. Some of you probably operate in the same way. Tell me I’m not alone here. LOL

So one of the things I’ve been thinking about a lot lately is getting rid of this last 40 lbs. (Point B Alert! Point B!) I’m not THAT obsessed with the number actually, but here is my rationale: I feel great right now. I’m making slow steady fitness progress, my clothes continue to fit better, I feel healthier, my eating habits get more and more streamlined (obviously with the occasionally deviation) but overall life is good. I’m trending in the right direction so I know I’ll get there eventually.

But also, I want to get pregnant. And pregnant like, soon. The “eventually” timeline that I’m trending toward is okay, but not ideal. If I all of a sudden got pregnant and did gain 20-40 lbs, I would NOT feel as fabulous. So one of my Priority Missions is to just drop those last few pesky pounds (HA! Few! I’m sure 40 lbs sounds like A LOT to some of you, but consider that I’ve lost 100. 40 sounds like a piece of cake!) At 40 lbs lighter I will feel confident in my ability to maintain my health and fitness during pregnancy, if that is in fact in the cards for us. :::knocks wood:::

(That was my long winded disclaimer that it’s really NOT about the scale, I promise. If there is anything CrossFit has taught me it is that all things considered, what the scale tells ya ain’t much!)

So I have a big and urgent goal and of course you know making an action plan was the best part! Indulge me and let me tell you my plan, would ya? I’m going to experiment with Paleo/Zone eating. I’ll tell you more about that when I finalize my strategy, but it will involve a little more ratio measuring, which I’m willing to do TEMPORARILY. (Fret not!) Measuring food is right up there with calorie counting to me: not a helpful long term strategy (though I have a much longer and more informative post in the hopper about why calorie counting is lame and OMG stop with that nonsense immediately!

But I really need to find the nerve to post it. FOR ME, it feels controversial since I try not to tell people how they should lose weight or whatever, but calorie counting is something I feel SO STRONGLY about, I figure I should get it out there at some point.) Remember getting bmi scales to keep track of your process and succeed with your goals.

Anyway — whew! That was an anxiety causing sidebar! So right now I do need to employ a new strategy to get from A to B. And it comes at the recommendation of one of my favorite trainers at my gym, Larry, and he’s a smart cookie so I’m going all in. More to come on that soon.

But.

I don’t want to get so focused on this last 40 lbs that I forget where I’ve come from. So I figured just for fun, the best way to do that would be throw up some old pictures, because who doesn’t love a good before pic, right?

Anyway, here goes.

On the left, the picture that made me want to lose weight. Everyone has one. This was mine and it popped up as a tag on Facebook and I just about died. Then I decided it was time for change. And change I did. So see, Facebook isn’t completely evil, right?

On the left, a group pic taken recently that I felt must less anxious about having tagged on Facebook.

Second is a pic of Garrett and I at a wedding a few years ago. Sorry if my loving hand gesture offends you. I can be salty sometimes. And on the right is a picture of us just a few weekends ago. While I think we certainly look happy in both, no doubt we are healthier on the right. So um…YAY??

The thing about weight loss is that it’s never the answer you think it is. It’s not going to solve your problems or mow your lawn. It’s not going pay your bills or magically clean your house. In fact, in some ways it creates new problems. (HOLY HELL CAN WE TALK ABOUT ALL THESE NEW WRINKLES THAT I HAVE NOW THAT MY FACE IS THINNER, MY GOD. Tell me that goes away over time. But I have heard some treatments like cellulite slimming that can help!)

It doesn’t magically make everything great despite how you feel when you are desperately wishing the pounds would melt away. So I think it’s important to find the balance between acknowledging your progress and moving on to the next thing. This is my attempt to do both, but man are they both a challenge!