Measuring Progress

The question is not what you look at, but what you see. ~Henry David Thoreau 

This is one of the topics i spend the most time discussing with people individually, so i figured would be a good one to throw out to the masses.  prompted by the end of our first bootcamp of the year, and one of my favorite peoples individual journey beginning.  we revisit this A LOT, but just one more time for the people in the back - THE SCALE IS A TOOL.  period.  it is not THE tool.  or the BEST tool.  it has no way to JUDGE you.  it cannot make you feel better or worse about yourself -unless you give it that power.  so let's not do that.  put it in the category of a fork.  something you use alot, that is super helpful - but not always the right tool for the job.  give it the APPROPRIATE amount of attention.  and realize it needs other tools to be completely successful.

Change our thought, and the world around us changes. ~Richard Bach

this is zilpha.  i have her permission to use this before/after and share a bit about her journey.  the first thing i want to share is that she did not lose ANY WEIGHT in the 12 weeks she worked out with me.  she started out at bootcamp - 1x/week, with lots of modifications.  over the course of the 12 weeks, she got stronger, started doing more difficult things, added some weights and felt confident enough to come to some other classes.  one more time - she did not lose any weight.  but she got STRONGER.  her body changed.  her clothes fit better and she had better mobility.  she was able to get up and down more easily - had more energy and gained confidence.  and you can SEE those changes.  but they do not register on the scale.  

so here's the question:  would it be better if the results were not visible but the scale told her she was "successful"?  i HATE that we all still use the scale as the ultimate judge of our success.  we still have a "number" that we want to weigh - no matter whether we think we can get there or not.  there is still an ideal weight we think is the magic answer.  we might say we just want to ..... (fill in the blank), but we still know that number.

Win or lose, every time you do something in life be positive about it, be proud of the progress you're making. ~Troy Mullins, 2018

which leads me to all the people starting out on the journey.  of course the scale is the first tool they "go to" to see if they are having any success.  and it always comes back to this - there is a weight that we think is ok - and even if its different for everyone - its still there.  a few pounds over that weight is ok - for the most part.  but once you are more than 10 pounds over that number in your head, it becomes a weapon to beat yourself up with.  and maybe it motivates you to get your eating in order - or start a workout routine (or both).  which is good, i think.  but it oftens becomes the chain that holds us back from success.  if we dont see any change in that horrible number (that motivated us in the first place), then obviously we are not working hard enough or doing it right - or maybe its just not worth it.

so then how do we measure progress.  and the answer is, in a lot of ways.  taken together to create a picture of success.  its like life, right.  are you only using 1 yardstick?  it is money? it is family? where you live? where you travel? your friends?  it's impossible, right?  success in life has many factors - and sometimes some of them are great and others arent.  same with fitness.  lots of ways to measure success - and often they arent all always good at the same time.

its a JOURNEY.  just one more facet in your already complex life.  with different options for what success means.  so figure out what it means TO YOU.  maybe it is looking better in a bathing suit. but maybe its being able to keep up with your grandkids.  or go on a hike with your friends.  maybe its running a 5k or being able to do your own yardwork.  and maybe its a combination of all of those things.  your goals are not stagnant - and what success means at different points in your life changes.  so why we still hold ourselves to a single number makes no sense.

The young man knows the rules, but the old man knows the exceptions. ~Oliver Wendell Holmes,

this is me.  over time.  lots of time.  one of the way i measure
"progress" is with my annual january photo.  the reason i am sharing these with you is because they mean something very different to me than what i imagine you might think.  and yes, in 2018 i was jacked (thank you very much).  after an entire year spent lifting really heavy things.  a concerted effort if you will - to see if i could put on some muscle.  and whether or not you like that - or think it looks good or bad or neither - i was PSYCHED.  because i knew i had to get bigger, to get leaner.  it was just a part of the journey.  the fun part.  i weigh the same -within 5 pounds - in ALL of these pictures except the first one.  in 2015 i was 10 pounds lighter.  great cardio - very little muscle.  and its been a concerted effort on my part since then to change that.  i will NEVER weigh what i did in 2015 - and that is totally fine.  better than fine actually.  because once i was able to break away from what the number meant, i had to start looking at my fitness and "success" through another lens.  as you can probably see, some years we go heavy on weights, and some years we go heavier on cardio.  mostly though, as this point, its just about consistency.

start where you are. and just keep going.  you will get better, stronger, fitter, more flexible, healthier, more balanced - whatever those other metrics are you will use to monitor your success.  but you WILL be successful.  because the true success is in the DOING.  prioritizing yourself and your health.  progress comes with consistency over time.  and success will mean different things to you over that time.  which is great.  we are not supposed to stay the same.  so why would our expectation of what that stupid scale says remain the same?

One key to succeeding is to get it out of your head that there's going to be clear daily evidence that you are. ~Robert Brault

this is not to say i dont use the scale - obviously i know what i weigh. but its not the measurement of my success.  its just one of the tools i use to see where i am.  if it creeps up (which it definitely does) it helps me take a look at the other things - have i changed my food or am i going through something and eating my feelings (that's usually the answer btw) - or have i changed up things at the gym.  all of these factors contribute.  as do hormones, age, and a myriad of other things. use the scale like you use the other tools in your toolbox - be that a fitness tracker or a food tracker or a step counter - or a heart rate monitor. they all contribute to the bigger picture.

so back to my friend who is new to the fitness thing.  she is doing all the right things.  started a workout program.  tracking her food.  literally going all in - food prep included.  the whole nine.  its been about 5 weeks.  she feels better, her ass definitely looks better (her words :), her resting heart rate has gone down, she sleeps better, AND can progress through her workouts more easily - so she is definitely getting stronger.  BUT she hasnt lost any weight. and that ONE measurement has 10x the impact than any of these others.  that is the stigma of the scale.  and what i am hoping we can start to break. understanding HEALTH & fitness as true success, regardless of the scale.  i say this to everyone when we talk about weight.  i am technically clinically obese.  based on my height & weight.  according to some 1950 study about the "ideal" weight.  we havent updated those basic parameters in 70 years.  at my height, i "should" weigh between 104 and 131.  for fucks sake.  i think i weighed 104 in middle school. and i definitely havent seen 131 since i had kids. and that is JUST FINE.  i am fit.  i am healthy. no matter what the scale tries to tell me.

if you are still struggling with the scale, do me a favor.  either get on it EVERY DAY - so you can see how your weight fluctuates over time, and get rid of the anxiety it causes - or NEVER GET ON IT AGAIN.  take pictures.  use clothes.  use your health app.  find real life ways to SEE your success.  because if you are taking the time to make fitness a part of your life - YOU ARE SUCCESSFUL already. and the physical changes you are hoping for will come, they just might take longer than you want.  just stick with it.  you got this!!

Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time. ~Ruth Bader Ginsburg