Sunday, August 10, 2014

Battling Towards 299


I am within ten pounds of breaking 300.  Just ten pounds to go, but (Ugh!) I am currently on a plateau—my longest time in the doldrums yet.  It’s amazing how one’s body can retain weight; it’s baffling trying to understand what the body is doing.  It seems like a simple, calculable problem of thermodynamics—energy ingested minus energy exerted equals an expected weight loss—and in the long run it may end up that way but, as many dieters and exercisers can tell you, it often doesn’t turn out that way!

I think it must have to do with stress and hunger hormone, water retention, and the building of heavier lean body mass.  Whatever it be, when you’ve eaten a week’s full of 1,600 calorie days and worked out for six straight days, as I did, it’s literally stunning to see that familiar figure displayed on the bathroom scale.  There was I was, a stinging in my eyes when I read the number; and, in fact, I shed a silent, manly tear when I realized that all the work of the past week, if not for naught, didn’t add up to a subtraction in weight.

It’s like setting off on a long road trip in the dark:  you don’t know where you’re going, but you think you know the right direction; you are going full-out hard, because you’re trying to meet goals along the way.  You’re not reckless in how you proceed, trying to be safe as possible; but it’s dangerous by its very nature, and you risk bodily harm that could occur at any moment.  Finally, you pull off to the side of the road to stop and check how far down the road you are, only to find out that you’ve made a big circle and, making no progress.  You are where you started!—that’s how it feels.

Comparing our various “sorenesses” with a friend today after group, I made the connection between all the aches and tightness in my gluts and leg muscles to the tough new exercises that Laurie has incorporated into her circuit.  Where a couple of months ago I was swinging a 25lb kettle ball and doing seconds of speed squats, I’m now doing multiple minutes of speed squats throughout the session and am flipping up the big 45lb kettle ball!  It’s an increase in weight and duration that corresponds to an increase in my muscle mass and endurance. 


This week, instead of becoming blue due to not drawing closer to 300, I am taking solace in how much fitter I’m becoming.  Because this journey’s never been about getting skinny, it’s about becoming healthy, and healthy is how I shall continue!

2 comments:

  1. Mark I am so proud of you....I knowill the demons that come with food addiction and depression....it takes a strong resolve to fight those demons and win!

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    1. Thank you! I appreciate all your support!! I'm faking it 'til I make it and taking it one day at a time!

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