As of a couple of days ago, it’s been a year since I first started this journey. I technically started back in February 2014, but after losing little to no weight for four or five months, I looked at my Myfitnesspal tracker sometime last June and realized that I was eating a lot more than I thought. So I switched it up and got more careful.
Thus I think of June as my real “anniversary.” Despite certain weeks and even months during this year when I didn’t give a crap, and/or wasn’t eating well, I still think of this year as one coherent time of attempted weight loss. This is mostly because I never stopped, in my weird way, caring. Even when I didn’t give a crap, I did. I may also be biased because I hate the concept of “restarting on Monday” or similar second-chance plans.
So, one year later, what have I done?
Weight | % Fat | % Muscle | Lbs Fat | Lbs Muscle | |
6/8/2014 | 191.2 | 42.8 | 34.8 | 82.7 | 67.3 |
6/9/2015 | 173.4 | 36.6 | 36.7 | 63.5 | 63.3 |
Difference | 17.8 | 6.2 | -1.9 | 19.2 | 4 |
In twelve months, I’ve lost just under twenty pounds of fat and also lost a few pounds of muscle. Percentage-wise, though, I’ve actually gained muscle.
If you told me a year ago that I’d lose twenty pounds over the next twelve months, I’d have been extremely disappointed and pissed. And it’s true, I really did want more from this year, and the “could have” and “should have” are dancing around my head. But twenty pounds is still twenty pounds, and even if it takes me a full additional year to lose another twenty, I’ll still make it eventually, right? Yes, it could have been forty or fifty, maybe it should have been, but I’ve realized that I could have just as easily ended the year with an extra twenty pounds.
It’s just so, so easy to be disappointed because I know I could have done so much better, but I know I still need to remember that it’s still progress - great progress, because virtually all the weight lost was pure fat - and that I should be proud of that.
All I can do now is focus on the next year. Of course, I’d like to get to goal, which is probably about another 45 pounds away. Maybe I can, maybe I won’t. But even if I don’t make it this year, I know I’ll make great progress towards that goal, and be in an even better place than I am now.
Right now, I’m doing pretty well. It’s weird, I’m not writing down my meals, just kind of going over it in my head. It’s easy since I’m not snacking. I know in the long terms I need to get back to tracking, but for now I’m feeling good where I am, and it’s working.
I’m a couple pounds down from the gains of those few weeks, and confident I’ll be back in the 160s soon.
I think your progress is terrific. In the first year of my blog I lost about 25 pounds. Sure, it would have been nice to have lost more. But, you know, there were plenty of years when I lost nothing or I gained. And, I think that I lost those pounds in a really sustainable way.
ReplyDeleteSo, I think your loss is absolutely terrific.
Thank you! And look at where you are now, almost back at your goal weight - it really does add up.
DeleteI think it's great too - you could be exactly the same or you could have gained 20 pounds last year - kudos!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment on my blog - I love your blog name! Although as a cheese whore, not sure I could ever say goodbye to it :D
Happy Friday!
I've definitely had those years where I ended up (a lot) heavier than I started. This is definitely a better place to be.
DeleteHaha, I could never say goodbye to cheese either. "Goodnight, see you tomorrow and the next day and the one after that" is the best I can do.
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