Wow! Almost 3 weeks since my last post. I didn’t mean for that to happen but it’s okay. Overall things are as fine as they usually are in this chapter of my life. I have gotten a little off track from blogging because of several things: a wicked cold with 3 days of being a couch potato, sleep deprivation, a trip out of town, marital strife, blended family strife, too much life and too little time. It feels like it’s been a long road back in several ways. And the journey isn’t over.
In a personal sense, getting back to fitness and a healthy weight feels like a long road. While I initially thought, “No problem. I can lose 40 pounds in 40 weeks.” I now believe it will be a longer process. In talking with other friends who have been on a similar journey, it feels like I would be wise to be thinking more in terms of a year or maybe more. When one is committed, as I am, to lifestyle changes without drastic dieting, it takes a little longer. The good news is that the results last a lot longer, too. Often for a lifetime. Despite the setbacks of the last 3 weeks, I have largely stayed on task in the area of fitness.
While on a long road trip back from a weekend trip with a friend, we talked about this topic quite a bit. She, herself, has lost over 80 pounds and really changed her lifestyle simultaneously. She’s a great role model and source of inspiration to me. She lost the first 15 without doing much of anything except some vigorous yardwork. Then, if I’m remembering correctly, she lost 45 pounds over a year by changing her eating habits – mostly just eating her big meal at lunch, changing to soup or salad for dinner, breaking a chocolate addiction, and adding some activity to her days. She did some internal work along the way as well. Then she’s lost 10 more pounds in each of the last 2 years by keeping those habits up and by adding some more vigorous and regular exercise courtesy of her newly found energy. It was a long road back to her college days weight and the weight that feels right on her body.
I also feel that personally, I’m on a long road back. In remarrying last year, taking on a couple of resistant step-teens, and leaving my urban nature sanctuary to move to a suburb that isn’t a good fit for me in several ways, there’s been a lot to manage. I’m currently digging deeper to ride these waves and persevere in creating a new and improved version of my old life.
For me, part of this work is persevering in travelling the long road back to a fit and lighter body. The first 10 pounds are off. I can see and feel a difference. I am noticing some muscle tone. Woo hoo! I think, therefore I can! -think Henry Ford meets The Little Engine That Could. (Hey, it’s February in Rochester. I need all of the positive thinking I can get.)
Here are my current stats:
Starting weight: 164 lbs (Sept. 2009)
Current weight: 154 lbs
Goal weight: 141
End of Week: #23
Weight loss this week: 2 lbs
Total weight loss to date: 10 lbs
How I did during week #22:
1. Sleep – average of 8.03 hours (goal is average 8.5 hours)
2. Exercise – 7.25 hours (goal is now 9) – sick for 2 days
3. Strength training – 4x w/Jazzercise (goal is 3 times per week)
4. Yoga – 0 (goal is twice a week)
5. Meditation – 25 minutes (goal is 10 minutes a day)
6. Food – don’t remember
How I did during week #23:
1. Sleep – average of 7 hours (goal is average 8.5 hours)
2. Exercise – 4.25 hours (goal is now 9) – sick 1 day and travel for 3 days
3. Strength training – 2x w/Jazzercise (goal is 3 times per week)
4. Yoga – 0 (goal is twice a week)
5. Meditation – 150 minutes (goal is 10 minutes a day) – seminar
6. Food – don’t remember
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