Weight Loss or Wellness Gain?

I’ve heard a lot about weight loss. I’ve also, like most, have failed a lot at weight loss. I’m almost positive that I have belonged to every gym in the greater New York Metropolitan area- I have drunk lemon juice and Cayenne for days, counted points, and eaten prepackaged food that was prepared to be nutritionally balanced 5 times a day (the brownies weren’t so bad..), I’ve had meat for every meal, with a side of meat and meat for snacks; this doesn’t even mention, Stacker, Xenadrine, and Lipo 6… and countless other diet pills I have choked down with the intention of losing weight. I never started with any other goal than to “lose weight”, never tracked – other than the occasional step on the scale, and of course was never successful.

I set upon a journey in February – to be well. I weighed 194 pounds, 5’3″, 35% body fat, my rib cage was 39″, waist (smallest point) 35″, hips (widest point) 49″. My goals were pretty simple: to be able to do a single pull up (we should all be able to pull our body weight up at least once, if for nothing else, for safety reasons), and to be able to integrate activity into my daily life. My goal was to move every day, to sweat at least 5 times a week, and to challenge my body every time it demands me to stop.

I had to keep in mind a few things:

1. The changes I was making had to be small enough to be sustainable (I will never be able to quit chocolate or cheese) – My goal is long term, so I had to be aware, and grateful for incremental change.

2. The small sustainable changes were not only for my eating, but also for the exercise I was planning on integrating. They had to be something I could maintain.

3. My perception (what I saw in the mirror) was NOT reality.

4. I didn’t get that way in eight weeks, I probably can’t revert in eight weeks.

5. I needed to make a goal, track metrics, and remember that a day off, heck, a week off, is not failure. Failure is Failure. Stopping is failure.

These were the beginning realizations that helped me on my journey – not of weight loss – but of Wellness Gain.

But – wait- I said February – and now it’s July – where am I now?

Stay Tuned… Let’s take a Walk to Wellness.

– See You at the Track –