In my last blog I mentioned going through the "holiday clothes" to see what will fit this year. This made me start thinking about what I wore for the holidays last year and if they fit me or not. I realized that I must have lost weight since last year at this time so of course the clothes will fit me. If I have truly lost the weight, they should fit me even better, right? I say this with a little bit of fear in my voice because part of me was afraid to find out the real answer. To find out the answer I went to my records.
I went first to my paper Weight Record that Weight Watchers uses to record my weight each week that I attend meetings. I then went to my online etools on weightwatchers.com where I can record those weights. I used to record my weights faithfully each week but fell out of the habit a few months ago so I had to update my weights in there. I then played around with the site a little bit to find this really cool tool where I can tell it to show me my results for a specified time period. I specified the time period for the last 12 months. It then graphed my weights for the last 12 months all on one page with some statistics a the bottom of the page. One of the statistics was my total weight loss for that time period. Are you ready? (I'm not sure I am.) I lost a total of 9.2 pounds over the last 12 months!
Really?!? Are you kidding me?!? I've been working on this week after week and I've only lost 9.2 pounds in a 12 month period........52 weeks........366 days?! I even had an extra day for leap year and I could only lose 9.2 pounds! That averages out to .17 pounds per week! Make sure you look really hard to see that decimal in the .17. It was a bit disheartening. After I took a breath and thought about it I realized that it shouldn't be that shocking. I played the roller coaster game a lot this year, I just didn't realize exactly how much. Also, if I had lost more than that, I wouldn't be wearing the same clothes now that I have been wearing most of the year. They just feel a bit better on me now. Granted there were a pair of pants or two that I couldn't wear at all in the beginning of the year that I can now wear so that's something.
This exercise was a dangerous one. When I came up with the brilliant idea I thought I was going to pleasantly surprised at the large number on the screen and feel so accomplished. I don't consider this number anywhere near large so the accomplished feeling is going to have to be manufactured at this point. So here is how I am going to manufacture that feeling. I'm going to think of the positives in this outcome and list them:
1. I lost weight. Last year at this time I was actually a bit under my WW goal so I could have just stopped there but I plugged on to get the extra weight off I had gained from Samuel's pregnancy.
2. I had many weeks that I gained weight but I made up for them by losing weight the other weeks. At least I kept my goal in mind and didn't let myself end the year heavier than I was last year at this point. There was a time in my life when I ended each year with a weight gain. I have changed that part of my life.
3. My wardrobe fits much better now than it did a year ago, I just don't remember it. I know that a year ago I was probably wearing my clothes much tighter and was wearing some larger sizes. I am not wearing all of the same clothes that I was before my pregnancy with Samuel. Some of them can be a little bit uncomfortable at times but these last few pounds will take care of that. Most of my clothes can be put on without any thought about whether it will fit or not. I no longer need to be afraid to get dressed in the morning.
4. It's about progress, not perfection. This was one of my favorite sayings when I was a WW leader. I always tried to remind both myself and my members about how important it is to forgive ourselves and stop expecting perfection out of ourselves. If I am making progress toward my goals, I need to recognize that.
Now, I will think about some new goals for myself. Where do I want to see myself next year at this time? I'll let you know about those next time.
How far have you come? What can you work on this year? I know it's not the new year but I think before the holidays is a perfect time to set goals. Those goals may help keep us on track during the holidays too.
Have a great weekend,
Corinna
"But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like. But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevered, being not hearers who forget but doers who act - they will blessed in their doing." -James 1:22-25
Interesting column, Corinna! I'm sort of obsessive about keeping track of my weight, too. I actually weigh myself every morning when I get up, mark it down, then at the end of the month enter it into an Excel spreadsheet. I've got records for more than 2 years. Though it's not a huge loss - I can still see it, and knowing that I'm successful keeps me on that path. So, it's no wonder that when I switched over to my winter clothes I could actually take a couple pairs of slacks out of the "These don't fit right now" box and put them into my closet!! Tracking can be helpful in a couple of different ways. LW
ReplyDelete