Why I'm Taking it Slow With My Scale

Since I committed myself last week to three big changes (no going out to eat / only drinking water / minimizing sweets) I've also decided to try to minimize the number of times I weigh myself.  I was weighing myself more or less every day and it clearly wasn't helping.  I'd either get excited by my weight or depressed by it, and neither was a very big motivator for exercise.  This past week, I've managed to avoid the scale, but gave in today.  For the first time since I've started this blog, I think that I really, truly realized that even though I have a goal weight that I would love to reach, my weight isn't what this is about.

It's a little difficult to explain, because this all began out of a desire to look better.  I wanted to do it healthily, but more than anything I really just wanted to be skinny and I wanted to be that number on the scale.  I still want to lose the weight and I still want to look better than I ever have, don't get me wrong.  However, more than that I want to be healthy.  I want to be physically fit with muscle definition and an awesome cardiovascular system.  I don't want to be at risk for diabetes or other conditions that come with obesity or being overweight.  I want to know exactly what I'm putting into my body (which is why cooking at home and not eating out, save for special, occasions is huge).  Realizing that the scale isn't the be-all end-all and my weight is only a tiny piece of the puzzle makes me able to move on with the process (and hopefully be more successful with it!).

When I weighed myself this morning, after having an internal debate with myself and a discussion with Matthew about whether I should, I was really surprised to find that even though the number on the scale wasn't necessarily as low as I wanted it to be, I didn't really care.  I just kind of moved on because I know I've eaten more healthily this week than I have in a long, long while and I've been better at the gym too.  It turns out that I was right not to care one way or the other because some pants that have been a little snug lately are the most comfortable I remember them being since I bought them.  There are several different ways to measure progress and I think I've finally learned to accept that obsessively measuring my weight is not a productive one. 

There are many reasons why, including:

• Body weight fluctuates during the day and over the course of several days.  Even when you're losing weight, your weight will increase occasionally.
• Doing strength training can cause your weight to remain stagnant or increase even while your body fat percentage is decreasing.
• Seeing a higher number than you expected can cause you to lose hope or motivation.
• Seeing a lower number than expected can cause you to become complacent.
• Weighing yourself daily can cause you to become obsessed with your weight instead of becoming healthier.

The new system for weighing myself is once weekly.  A lot of people recommend once monthly, but I don't think I can handle waiting that long.  I want to measure my progress on a weekly basis, so that's what I'll do.  I'm going to set a time of day and weigh myself at that time every Saturday.  I'll also take a picture of myself so I can track my progress that way.  A lot of people have recommended taking body measurements, but I can't seem to get consistent measurements so I'm holding off on that for now.

I'm finally really, truly motivated to give this my all for all the right reasons and I'm looking forward to seeing where it takes me!

Back to Basics

I've been struggling majorly to keep up with the goals set forth in this blog.  I have not been nearly as successful as I would like with both my German and my weight loss.  I've lost weight and gained muscle since it started, and I've definitely improved my German, but I haven't achieved the goals I've been trying to attain yet and it's been almost a full 18 months since I began this project.  As such, I'm going to start all over with a different approach.

There are a few changes I've been able to make and stick with since I started this blog and the biggest one is giving up soda.  Since I've been successful there, I'm instituting a few more similar changes for the next year.  They are:

• Giving up any liquid that isn't water (or tea I brew myself, if I'm in dire need of caffeine)
• Giving up going out to eat
• Seriously limiting my sweets intake

I'm also going to do the following:

• Attend church regularly and become actively involved in our parish
• Start operating a cupcakery out of my home
• Study the German language.  Really study it.

Those are quite the list of changes.  Let me explain how I got to this point.  The biggest reason is that I'm content in my life, but not satisfied where I'm at with my goals, as I already said.  I also feel entirely too complacent.  I felt like I needed to institute some changes and really do what I'm passionate about, so here I am.

Because the weight loss has been relatively unsuccessful, the changes I'm instituting there are pretty big ones that should be enough to shock my body into dropping past the rut I've been stuck in and actually making some real progress.  There are some exceptions to the rules, but there aren't many.  I will, for special occasions (birthdays, anniversaries, vacations) go out to eat or drink things besides water.  On a day-to-day basis, however, the rules stand.  As far as my sweets intake, I'll allow myself one day per two weeks to indulge a little.  It may be a cupcake or a few girl scout cookies, but it'll only be one serving.

As far as the other lifestyle changes, Matthew and I have found (as have many others) that there is definitely something to be said for attending church.  Truly accepting God into our lives has allowed us to feel more at peace than we ever have.  I love having a community of people who share my beliefs and who are passionate about the same things I am.  Matt's already joined the Knights of Columbus and I am looking forward to joining the Social Justice club at Pius, as well as the women's group.  I'm also really looking forward to using my talents baking by providing cupcakes or other baked goods as necessary for parish functions!

On that note, since baking is definitely a natural, God-given talent, I've decided to use it to my advantage (and honor Him in the process)!  Even though I'm limiting my sweets intake, I still love to bake more than a lot of other things, and operating a cupcakery will allow me to do something I love.  The best part is that I will donate 5% of the total order price from EVERY order to the church (or charity) of the purchaser's choice.

The business will be called Kelsey Likes Cupcakes.  I don't have a website (yet), but I can be contacted via email at kelseylikescupcakes@gmail.com or by phone at (402) 455-1173.  I will make pretty much whatever you want and my prices are really reasonable. :)

Finally, as far as the German goes, I want to actually get out my textbook and grammar books and go through them until I can explain German grammar and word order better than English.  In addition, I want to go through all of the German movies and TV shows my sister lent me until I can actually understand spoken German when it's at a conversational pace.  I don't have a timeline for this goal, but I'd like to be much better in August than I am now.

On that note, I need to get back to the cupcakes I'm working on for a dinner tomorrow.  Hope everyone has a great rest of the weekend!

Tschüss!