February Goals
Oh January. In a lot of ways you were awesome but mostly you just kicked my butt. January began with some stress and anxiety when Michael lost his job. But we made the best of the situation that we could. In fact, we had a fun time celebrating my birthday and played in the snow a lot. That’s always good!
1. Transition to working out in the mornings whenever I can (to avoid the massive crowds after work) or work out at home. NOPE. STILL HATING WORKING OUT IN THE MORNINGS.
2. Get back into running. I really miss running during my lunch hour at work. Ideally I’d like to do that once a week –weather permitting and body permitting. While January is not the best month to get back to running outside, it would be ideal in my attempt to avoid the gym crowds. SORT OF. IT’S SLOW.
3. Learn how to use my new camera to take better photos for my blog. SLOWLY BUT SURELY.
4. Finish the first draft of my book. I am 95% done with the first draft. This is completely doable! DONE!!
I’m pretty happy with the stuff I did in January. I may only be running 1 mile at a time, but at least I’m trying. I’m trying to choose goals that are less overwhelming considering all the things that have happened lately. And goals that are free are even better.
February Goals
1. Take a manual photography class.
2. Continue Spin class once a week.
3. Work on my 32 Things.
4. Enter a writing contest.
And now for the weigh-in. For no reason in particular, I decided to try and avoid the Candy Room at work. So far I’ve avoided it for over a week. It felt good to avoid it and I saved so many calories each day with that simple act. I think it also helped me have a much better weigh-in.
Measurements:
Hips: 35.5 (previously 35)
Waist: 33 (no change)
Thighs: 18.5 (no change)
Biceps: 11.5 (no change)
Weight: 144.2 (previously 145)
It feels really good that I can avoid the Candy Room at work. I felt like the candy had less of a pull over me. Each day that I was able to resist it gave me the confidence to keep going. That’s a lot like how my weight loss worked. I was inspired by seeing the scale move and that kept me working hard. Positive reinforcement = positive change.
Something else I wanted to point out was the benefit of only weighing-in once a month. That scale can make me crazy. Seeing the fluctuations can derail me like nothing else, which is stupid. I did a little experiment to prove just how much the body fluctuates. For one week I weighed myself every day: 144.6, 146, 145.2, 145, 144.4, 144.6 and finally 144.2. See what I mean? If I weighed myself every day it would make me crazy to see the numbers go up and down like that. Even once a week I see a number shift that can sometimes be drastic–but each month I’m almost always back to where I started with no gain. Anyhoo, that’s my two cents on the scale!
QUESTION: How did you do in January? How often do you weigh yourself?
Jill
I have such a nutty relationship with the scale. I weigh about 5 times a week. Once I get the last 5 off I want to weigh once a month- so I can avoid the crazy fluctuations that happen that make me CRAZY. I don’t know if I will be able to handle once a month- but that is my goal eventually.
You are doing great at maintenance! I hope I can follow in your footsteps!
Lisa Eirene
I had a nutty relationship with the scale, too. Why don’t you try weighing once a month while you lose the 5 pounds? Maybe not worrying about those five pounds will make them melt off!
Jill
The thought of only weighing once a month really scares me. I think I would feel out of control-
It does sound like it might be a good idea- I need to think about it….
How did you transition to once a month?
Lisa Eirene
It’s definitely a scary thing, I am with you there. I was scared to do it too. I decided to just do it for one month. That was the only commitment I could make to myself. I stayed off the scale for a month and was happy to see ZERO change. That told me that what I am doing works and my body is adjusted to my workout and food goals. I also enjoyed having less stress in my life when I only weighed once a month. It wasn’t something I thought of except for a day or two before I’d weigh in. It felt nice not to worry about that stupid thing!
Roz@weightingfor50
Good luck with your February goals Lisa. I’m SURE you’ll meet them all. Have a great Wed.
Lisa Eirene
Thank you, Roz!
Jennifer@knackfornutrition
The scale makes me nuts too!! I hate that it messes with my head so much. I try to only weigh in once a week but often its usually closer to 3-4x a week!
Lisa Eirene
I went through that too. It’s a hard cycle to break.
Sarah
The scale and I have a pretty chill relationship. Its only function in my weight maintenance routine is to provide me with a number once a week to plug into my body fat monitor. That’s the number I prefer to focus on since it’s a better gauge of health than just the scale. I also take my measurements weekly but honestly I could really stop that now, they haven’t changed in 2 years.
I have considered monthly weigh-ins but realized that I need the weekly accountability of knowing that the decisions I make every day have an impact in the long-term.
Lisa Eirene
That’s great that you have a good relationship with the scale. My relationship has its ups and downs. And yes, my measurements haven’t changed much either! But I still like to check in!
Suzanne @WorkoutNirvana
Nice! I know what you mean about working out in the mornings. I have a 6 a.m. client and while I can manage to train her, I don’t know how she musters the motivation to do it that early. As far as the scale, I’m with you that too much weighing is counterproductive. There’s water retention to consider, and every day fluctuations. I like your healthy approach and look forward to reading your book!
Lisa Eirene
Thank you, Suzanne! I appreciate the support. 🙂
6 a.m. is hard enough for me to go to work, let alone get up earlier than that and work out!
And yes, I think that water retention is a big part of the fluctuations. If I eat something super salty, I always see a gain on the scale.
Laura Jane @ Recovering Chocoholic
I’m a daily weigher. I did fairly well in January. I somehow managed to to get up at 5am before to get a workout in before work. What photography class are you taking? Is it online or in person?
Lisa Eirene
That’s awesome that you can get up so early to workout! Go you!
The photography class is in person. I don’t know much about it. I bought it through Groupon recently. I’m looking forward to the class!
Dan @ Essentials of Nutrition
Like most my Jan goals were hit or miss. Such is the nature of goals, I suppose.
I weight myself at the same time (after breakfast, before shower) 3 times a week. Gives a good estimate of where I’m at.
Lisa Eirene
That’s good, Dan. I think whatever works for people should be consistent. If it’s once a day, once a week, or once a month. At least be consistent each time.
Erin
This is my first post, but I read your blog regularly. I’m also a fellow Portlander!
I weigh-in once a week. I find that I get obsessive if I step on the scale more then that.
I did well this January. I’m in the middle of my weight loss process ( down 15lbs) with about 80-100 more to go. I’m finally feeling like I can tackel this process. One day at a time. I finished the C25K and ran 30 miles last month. I also started the New Rules of Lifting for Women, and its kicking my ass! In a good way!
I’m taking a 35mm film class right now and LOVE it! .
Lisa Eirene
Thank you for reading, Erin! And commenting. 🙂 Congratulations on losing 15 so far. You are on the right path and it sounds like you feel like you’re moving forward.
Where are you taking the film class?
Erin
I’m taking it at Clackamas Community College. Its a twelve week class that meets once a week. I think that most of the CC in the area have a dark room and class.
Lisa Eirene
That sounds like a great class. There have been a few classes at CCC that interested me.