Reassessment

Image via Wikipedia

Over the last week or so, I’ve reflected a lot about goals and accomplishment.

At some point this week, I’d hoped to have lost 30 pounds in 2011, which is 60 pounds or so (as I stopped minding the number in the last fortnight of pregnancy) overall since my highest pregnancy weight. As noted in the prior sentence, I’m going to also start listing the pregnancy starting weight moving forward. Some women begin their weight loss number from a big event or tippy-top highest-of-high weight (for me, the pregnancy high weight). Some women simply list their recent losses from their latest plateau (for me, my exergaming campaign). I had been doing the latter, but it was confusing a bunch of folks. So, from now on, I’ll also mention the 30 (or so) pregnancy pounds that were lost, differentiating them from the additional weight lost during this exergaming campaign.

The main reason for this week’s arbitrary goal has been seeing the aim of wearing a specific swimsuit. Without getting into it too much, I’d assumed that I’d look a certain way in the suit if I weighed a certain weight. Well, as with many prior assumptions, I was wrong. Point in fact, I look great in the bathing suit in question right now and I’m three pounds short of this week’s goal weight.

So, Dear Reader, as I know some of you want to know, here's the 8.5ish month weight loss progress report. I’ve lost 27 pounds thus far in 2011 and 57 or so overall since my high pregnancy weight. As mentioned in other posts, weight loss itself is not my only aim. I've gone much farther in all other goal categories than I'd ever expected by this point, or, in some cases, ever.

I could have made my weight loss goal and then some if I’d changed my eating by crash dieting, gone on a liquid fast (aka cleanse) or some such. I contemplated a number of those options, but at the beginning of the campaign, I’d committed to losing the weight through exergaming and other activities. If I was to radically change my eating, I wouldn’t be able to work out as I have been. So I made the conscious decision to continue eating healthily. I’m satisfied with that choice.

While the weight loss has slowed down significantly, I know that my body is becoming more muscle and less fat. Since muscle weighs more than fat, I’ve been tightening up, slimming down and fitting into smaller clothing.

Over the last couple of weeks, my weight loss seems to have bumped down from its plateau somewhat, due to Zumba Fitness and running. I really think this combo is killer for the metabolism.

So for now, I’ve reassessed, and have moved the 30 pound goal to sometime in September, which will still keep me on track to losing 40+ pounds by the end of 2011.

Where are you in your yearlong goals? What about the shorter term ones?

***

Check back tomorrow for our fabulous guest blogger, successful erotic romance novelist Shoshanna Evers!