Sometimes I get so caught up in meeting goals that I forget to look at the big picture. I like setting mini-goals for myself because it keeps me motivated… this shouldn’t surprise me since one of the reasons why journalism worked well for me is because I was always up against deadlines. I’m a procrastinator so deadlines would always light a fire under me to get started. With my current job, I’m on my own much of the time so I have to set arbitrary deadlines for myself just to keep me motivated and moving forward.
I was thinking about this last night when DH and I were out for a walk. Our neighborhood is hilly and we took a route on the outside of the back of the neighborhood. It’s been a long time since I’ve walked that way, but I remember the first few times we did the first year we lived in the house. The route has a steady incline for - I don’t know - 5 minutes before it levels out and I had no problem keeping up with my husband and the dog and was nowhere near close to being out of breath. I thought “Why did this use to be hard for me?” I started thinking about all the hills in our neighborhood that used to be a challenge. I used to complain or dread going back up the hill to our house because it was so hard. I mean, just walking up a hill was extremely hard for me. Forget climbing Pike’s Peak - I would have never made it to the top of the first saddleback for that matter. Climbing the stairs in my office building made me out of breath. Heck, climbing the stairs in my house made me out of breath!
It’s good to look back on these things and realize how far I’ve come. My official weigh in for the week is 174.0 - saw that 173.8 briefly on Tuesday but hey, it’ll be back before I know it! I still had a very good 1.6 lb loss for the week which is more than I could ever ask for, because I remember a time when I was dieting, quitting, dieting, quitting, dieting, quitting because I never lost more than 1/2 a pound per week. And then I’d cheat one day and gain back 2 lbs. When my husband and I talk about all the times I’ve attempted to lose weight and failed over the past few years, he says “It’s been a long time to get you to this point, hasn’t it?” and the truth is, he’s right. I don’t know what clicked for me this time around, whether it’s just the forces aligning or finally being done with my Masters degree so I took the opportunity to do something for myself after 8 straight years of being in college or just being finally fed up enough.
So today, I wanted to take the opportunity to look at all the things I’ve accomplished instead of looking forward to all the things I still have yet to accomplish. I want to look at the bigger picture, rather than the day-to-day scale reading.
- I’ve lost 39 lbs.
- I can run for over 30 minutes without stopping.
- I can climb stairs, go on hours-long hikes, and take walks with my husband without feeling like I’m going to die.
- I’ve reduced my body fat percentage from 48% to 31%.
- I’ve lost 31 inches off of my body since beginning this journey.
- I’ve gone from a size 18 to a size 12/14.
- I can go into a dressing room without fear that the largest size on the rack won’t fit.
- I’m no longer clinically obese.
- I have MUSCLES!
- I feel GOOD about myself for the first time in many, many years.
I can’t complain. A lot has happened in just six months.
Have you honored what you’ve accomplished?
