K and I are back to climbing stairs. We started that again 2 weeks ago. Last week, I finished 64 flights of stairs (up and down) in under 25 minutes. It's a better time than when we were climbing the stairs back in the spring, but not a good enough time if we want to compete in Tackle the Tower next month (Tackle the tower is a race where you have to climb 38 flights of stairs as fast as possible). I'm working on improving my time every week. We will see how it goes on Thursday.
A couple weeks ago, a group of ladies met to keep everyone accountable in order to lose some weight and get healthy. I was asked to sit in on the group meeting and help with nutrition assistance and tips throughout the duration of the group. At the first meeting, everyone weighed in. I was asked if I was going to weigh in and I said no. Sunday, they had their first weigh-in meeting. I was asked again if I was going to weigh in and again said no. Why didn't I weigh myself then? Because I made the decision to step on a scale once per month.
While the scale is one way to measure progress, it's not the only way...nor is it the most important way. If you're looking to lose weight, lose fat, gain muscle, get healthy, whatever you want to call it, a number on a scale shouldn't be the only think to focus on -- to obsess about. Society is so concerned about that scale number, as if every single person has the same body shape, bone density, and genetics to where you can just input your height and age and a magic number is spit out as to what you should weigh. Do you know what that number is for me? 150. That formula says I should weigh 150 pounds. If I were to try to do that, I would have no muscle and look sickly. I have baby birthing hips. I have boobs. I want muscle. I want to be STRONG. I want that bicep bump that people have when they flex their arms. There's no way I would look good or be happy at 150 pounds.
The scale shouldn't be the only thing to focus on. As I said a couple posts ago, I stopped weighing myself weekly. I was becoming obsessed. The scale would sit in my bathroom and I would have to physically restrain myself from stepping on it every single morning. I became obsessed. And if the number wasn't what I wanted to see, I felt bad about it. I went through two months of a plateau on the scale. Every week, that number was not moving on the scale, yet I went down a pant size during that plateau. I went down an entire pant size but was too focused on that number on the scale that was just sitting there to be able to feel excited about the victory of sizing down in pants. Instead, I just felt frustrated and it made me want to emotionally eat. And that's when it happened. That was the moment I decided the scale was taking focus over the more important objective and it was time to back off. So, I still weigh myself, but only once per month now. I can't continue to focus on the number on that scale. I SIZED DOWN IN PANTS! I should feel excited about that! So, I am :)
I highly recommend choosing other avenues to check progress. Get a pair of pants that you no longer fit into that you want to wear again and measure your progress with that. Or measure yourself. Or check your body fat percentage. A pound is a pound...whether it's a pound of muscle or a pound of fat. If you replace a pound of fat with a pound of muscle, the scale isn't going to move but your body is going to look different!
I've also been measuring myself. I measure each bicep, waist, hips, and each thigh. Since measuring myself on day 1 (actually, I think I started measuring about 2 or 3 weeks into working out), I have lost 46 inches from my body. 46!! And of that 46 inches I've lost, 17 of those inches are off my waist. 17. 17 inches. I had to take the measuring tape and physically see what 17 inches and 46 inches look like. It was incredible. My waist is only 6-8 inches away from my goal waist size. I'm not as far away from my goal as I think. And if the scale doesn't reflect it, I'm going to be ok with that. If I come in at 190 and I feel good with my body and feel like I'm ready to start maintaining, that's fine. Heck, even if I'm at 200 and I feel like that, I'll start maintaining. I know I will never be "skinny" and I don't want to be "skinny." I know I have a shape and I want to have a shape. I know I will never wear a size 2 and I have no desire to be able to. I know I'm not going to be 120 pounds and I'm ok with that. The scale is not going to define me. I will feel good about my body when I feel good about my body. Societal standards and a number on a scale aren't going to change that.
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