- the discrepancy between scales again (note to self...I just assume that my official weigh-in result will be 4-5 lbs heavier than the result provided moments earlier on The Scale I Like)
- the fact that I only lost 2 lbs in the preceding week
In the grand scheme of things, I should be thrilled that I've dropped another 2 lbs but part of the fitness challenge is trying to reach target percentages each week and I keep falling just a touch shy. The competitive part of me is sorry that I started the South Beach diet (loving it!) and exercise regimen several weeks before the challenge because that's when 20 lbs just melted off. I'd be kicking butt in this competition right now if I'd waited!
However, that's not the point. I needed to lose it and there was no need to wait for the challenge. I have to keep telling myself that, especially when our fitness club posts the results of all four teams and my wife and I are the only ones on our team and, as a result, we're miles behind in the points tally.
During my private training session on Tuesday morning, after doing laps of walking lunges and squats while holding two 15 lb kettlebells followed by some upper body strength training, trainer D walks me over to the Stairmaster, which left me a total sweaty, gasping wreck the first time she had me use it. This time, I climb on and, as I trudge up its endless incline, D and I chat. I find myself increasing the steps per minute. Finally, at the 8:00 minute mark in a 10:00 minute sessions, D looks at me and says, "you realize you've been on this for 8 minutes and you've been talking with me the entire time. You couldn't do that before."
She's right. I'm finding that I can do a lot of things that I used to be able to do but haven't be capable of for quite some time.
At Friday night's team session, it was the dreaded intervals on the treadmill. The first session had been miserable with a series of quarter-mile high and low stretches. This time? Quarter mile low followed by half mile high, quarter low, quarter high, quarter low, quarter high and cool-down. I was dreading it. I've never liked running (bikes and swimming for me, thank you) but could do it when needed. Friday night? Cruised through the half mile and actually increased my pace on the final high impact quarter mile. What the hell's up with that? I even did the same workout voluntarily on Monday morning just to prove to myself that it wasn't a fluke.
Yes, I dropped 2 lbs last week and other people in the challenge dropped more. Good for them but good for me, too. Sure, the team stuff is fine, but I'm not looking for a trophy at the end of this. I'm looking for the opportunity to donate all of the new pants that I bought two weeks ago because I'm even thinner. I'm looking to keep dropping weight steadily and then keep it off. I'm looking to reach my next major target so I can buy myself an iPad as a reward.
I've got a long way to go and a lot of weight to lose before I get there but I'm just keeping it all in perspective.
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