Non-Scale Goals Mean Non-Scale Victories... Bring 'Em On!
It's hard not to focus on the scale. I'm very number driven. At least I've found myself obsessing less and less over it as I've forced myself to only weigh once a week. I don't even have to have The Hubby hide the scale anymore. I just have to make sure it's not always in sight. Either way, there are so many other ways to judge my success.
So, that's my plan!!
I have a few irons in the fire right now, but almost all of them can result in a success that is attainable, valuable and measurable in some way or another.
It all started this past weekend. I joined a couple of friends on a FitBit Weekend Warrior Challenge. So, four of us battled it out over the weekend to see who got the most steps in 48 hours. I came in second! Now we're all in a Workweek Hustle Challenge - we'll be ranked highest to lowest on who can get the most steps between Monday and Friday. This one is a big struggle for me with a desk job and very short lunch hour (and an obsession to blog on that lunch hour - and following break if I don't have my thoughts together). Days like yesterday help keep me motivated thought.
Beyond my FitBit challenges, I have my triathlon training and my running. It's easy to see improvement with the apps I use, or even just how I feel afterward. And speaking of apps and all green FitBit categories, yesterday went great! My run felt good, except that I had to pee the entire time. I shaved another minute off of my pace and that's with my 5 minute walking warmup at the beginning. {{{happy dance}}}
Now that I know I can go faster, I need to not go faster and work on my stamina. Any race I want to do is going to be over 2 miles long!
I also wore my heart rate monitor for the first time at karate. Yeah, I jinxed myself on that one. Remember how I said yesterday that karate usually isn't too intense, so doubling up on run days shouldn't be too bad. HA! Yeah, well, I had to eat my words on that one yesterday. Everyone was making comments about being wiped out by the 1/2 way point! It was a great day to wear my monitor though. Check it out! Not a bad workout.
Of course, the best way to judge my progress is by my clothes. I haven't been feeling all bloated lately, or like I've shrunk my clothes. Not even after a weekend of eating pretty much whatever I wanted!
To one up that, I ordered a super cute swim suit online. I have NEVER ordered a swim suit online. I've actually never ordered clothes from a site that I isn't Old Navy or something similar that I already know how the clothes fit me. This was way outside my bubble and I'm nervous, but I can't wait for it to arrive. Here's the image from the ad (a friend who lives out of state said she wanted to order it and I loved it so much I told her I had to too)...
Obviously, I won't be a walking Photoshop picture, so I won't look like that, but it is pretty cute and I'm hoping it fits and looks good. Plus, since it is coming in the mail within the week, it's the perfect little motivation and visual NSV opportunity. Our next challenge starts April 18th and finishes Memorial Day weekend. With the current weather trend, I have hopes that we will have swim suit weather by that weekend! Is that motivation or what?
The other thing I've started is tracking in My Fitness Pal again. Technically, I don't have to. That's the thing about THM. They really stress that it is freedom from food. No counting calories or points. Very minimal elimination of things and even those things can be substituted in a healthy form for the most part. So, I don't HAVE to journal my food. I've decided to do it to see how I'm doing as far as balance and calorie intake. Even though THM works by just doing the program, by throwing in my planned workout regimen I'm going to need to replace some of the food I burn. By tracking everything in My Fitness Pal I will be able to see if I'm not creating enough balance in my food to sustain my workouts. If my weight loss stalls, it could very well be from not eating enough - as funny as that sounds. So, I'll be able to see it all in black and white. I can also see it as a victory if I keep do it and keep an eye on it to spot where I need to make tweaks. Basically, it's one big experiment. I love experiments!
So, I have milestones other than numbers on the scale. I have attainable, measureable goals that don't rely on those darn numbers either. If I meet my goals, the number on the scale will fall by default, so I'll just wait for that while I work on the rest.
Oh and just a quick check in on my girls. Their dad took them to South Dakota for a few days and the cell service there has been horrible, so we've only gotten little bits of conversation here and there. Emmy Lou did manage to share some pictures. I'm glad they are having fun, but I cannot wait to have them home again!!
So, that's my plan!!
I have a few irons in the fire right now, but almost all of them can result in a success that is attainable, valuable and measurable in some way or another.
It all started this past weekend. I joined a couple of friends on a FitBit Weekend Warrior Challenge. So, four of us battled it out over the weekend to see who got the most steps in 48 hours. I came in second! Now we're all in a Workweek Hustle Challenge - we'll be ranked highest to lowest on who can get the most steps between Monday and Friday. This one is a big struggle for me with a desk job and very short lunch hour (and an obsession to blog on that lunch hour - and following break if I don't have my thoughts together). Days like yesterday help keep me motivated thought.
All Green = Rockstar Status!
Beyond my FitBit challenges, I have my triathlon training and my running. It's easy to see improvement with the apps I use, or even just how I feel afterward. And speaking of apps and all green FitBit categories, yesterday went great! My run felt good, except that I had to pee the entire time. I shaved another minute off of my pace and that's with my 5 minute walking warmup at the beginning. {{{happy dance}}}
Now that I know I can go faster, I need to not go faster and work on my stamina. Any race I want to do is going to be over 2 miles long!
I also wore my heart rate monitor for the first time at karate. Yeah, I jinxed myself on that one. Remember how I said yesterday that karate usually isn't too intense, so doubling up on run days shouldn't be too bad. HA! Yeah, well, I had to eat my words on that one yesterday. Everyone was making comments about being wiped out by the 1/2 way point! It was a great day to wear my monitor though. Check it out! Not a bad workout.
Of course, the best way to judge my progress is by my clothes. I haven't been feeling all bloated lately, or like I've shrunk my clothes. Not even after a weekend of eating pretty much whatever I wanted!
To one up that, I ordered a super cute swim suit online. I have NEVER ordered a swim suit online. I've actually never ordered clothes from a site that I isn't Old Navy or something similar that I already know how the clothes fit me. This was way outside my bubble and I'm nervous, but I can't wait for it to arrive. Here's the image from the ad (a friend who lives out of state said she wanted to order it and I loved it so much I told her I had to too)...
Obviously, I won't be a walking Photoshop picture, so I won't look like that, but it is pretty cute and I'm hoping it fits and looks good. Plus, since it is coming in the mail within the week, it's the perfect little motivation and visual NSV opportunity. Our next challenge starts April 18th and finishes Memorial Day weekend. With the current weather trend, I have hopes that we will have swim suit weather by that weekend! Is that motivation or what?
The other thing I've started is tracking in My Fitness Pal again. Technically, I don't have to. That's the thing about THM. They really stress that it is freedom from food. No counting calories or points. Very minimal elimination of things and even those things can be substituted in a healthy form for the most part. So, I don't HAVE to journal my food. I've decided to do it to see how I'm doing as far as balance and calorie intake. Even though THM works by just doing the program, by throwing in my planned workout regimen I'm going to need to replace some of the food I burn. By tracking everything in My Fitness Pal I will be able to see if I'm not creating enough balance in my food to sustain my workouts. If my weight loss stalls, it could very well be from not eating enough - as funny as that sounds. So, I'll be able to see it all in black and white. I can also see it as a victory if I keep do it and keep an eye on it to spot where I need to make tweaks. Basically, it's one big experiment. I love experiments!
So, I have milestones other than numbers on the scale. I have attainable, measureable goals that don't rely on those darn numbers either. If I meet my goals, the number on the scale will fall by default, so I'll just wait for that while I work on the rest.
Oh and just a quick check in on my girls. Their dad took them to South Dakota for a few days and the cell service there has been horrible, so we've only gotten little bits of conversation here and there. Emmy Lou did manage to share some pictures. I'm glad they are having fun, but I cannot wait to have them home again!!
Mt. Rushmore
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