Monday, September 16, 2013

success is a tricky bastard

I just realized I didn't update y'all on the 6-Week Challenge Part Deux.  I didn't really chronicle my progress all that well either.  It was kind of a bust.  Oh well.

As of last Saturday, I was 3.4lbs than when I started.  I juggled the same 4 or 5 lbs up and down, and landed pretty much where I began from.  I tried some things, played around with protein, stopped religiously tracking my caloric intake.  One week I gained almost 6lbs.  As I stood there on the scale, blinking in disbelief, I thought about what I was feeling.  Anger? (A little.) Disappointment? (Yes.) Confusion? (Who's talking?)  And then it passed.  Really quickly.  I shrugged, and didn't really give it much more thought.  

Why do you care what a scale says if you know
you've done better than it's letting on? It's
a fickle bitch.  Throw it away. 
I have had a bit of epiphany.  A scale no longer represents the best indicator of my progress.  And that, my friends, is why success is a tricky bastard.  Six weeks ago, I was floundering and unhappy.  Every pound was a battle and every gain was devastating.  I measure my success in new ways now.

Now I can heft 12lb dumbbells at boot camp.  Now I can fit into my little sister's "hand-me-ups." Now I can walk into a CrossFit gym and not only feel like I fit in, but feel like I can nail whatever they throw at me.  Now I can run a 5K in under 26 minutes.  Now I can see that I'm not just a number on a scale.
I'm pretty awesome.  That scale is a bitch anyways.  It was always jealous.

So I have a new challenge for myself.  It might be a tough one, but I'm going to do it anyway.  I'm going to put my scale away, and I'm not going to touch it for 6 weeks.  Every week, I am going to find a new way to measure my success. And I'm going to buy the pants, because I've earned them dammit.  

I think this might be my greatest success - my life is no longer devoted to "losing weight" but to "living healthy."  And "getting jacked."  And "finding the perfect pumpkin spice latte."  Shut up, I can stop any time. 

1 comment:

  1. Atta Girl!! My scale is most commonly used to weigh my pup... little bastard STILL hasn't gained 10 lbs. I was told once at a swim training camp "the scale is the most dangerous piece of equipment in the whole gym".

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