So my journey first. I started when the pandemic sent us into lockdown at about 200lbs. Most of my work was cancelled and I suddenly had a ton of free time on my hands. So I gained about 10 lbs. One day I stepped on the scale and saw I'd made it to 210 and had a moment of reckoning. I looked at myself in the mirror and considered my path. Just about 7 years ago I was a lean 150. But as my work picked up and as life added burden upon burden, I started gaining weight. And for 7 years I'd allowed myself to gain with the excuse "Well I'm just too busy to work out or eat healthy". If I'd ever had time to get in shape, it was now, while the world has come to a halt. And if I can't do it now, well then I've just been lying to myself for 7 years.
So I set some incremental goals for myself. October 31, 2020 - 170lbs. February 28, 2021 - 150lbs. May 31, 2021 - 140 lbs. Then continue to track at maintenance level until (at least) December 31, 2021. I started running, taking it slowly at first, and tracking my caloric intake using My Fitness Pal. And sure enough, the weight started coming off.
I live in a pretty cold climate, and am very not fond of running in the cold, so I knew winter would be a problem for me. My October 31 deadline of 170lbs was to get my fitness to a level where I felt comfortable starting CrossFit.
I reached 170 lbs on September 25, 5 weeks ahead of my goal. So I decided, even though it was still warm enough to run outside, to start incorporating a few days of CrossFit into my exercise to ease into it. Now I've pretty much transitioned entirely to CrossFit with a couple days running when weather permits.
I'm so thankful for this journey and for being able to achieve my first goal. It's been a moment of growth for me as an individual. It's been a struggle at times, but I'm chugging right along and I keep pushing myself towards the next finish line.
Which brings me to my request for advice. Now that I've started CrossFit, my weight loss has slowed. Admittedly, my body composition has also changed substantially. I can feel myself strengthening and I can see progress in my workouts. I can even see a difference looking in the mirror. But not seeing that number on the scale move much is hard when my goals were all centered around target weight.
My brain likes the simplicity of numbers. It likes seeing graphs and watching trends towards objectives. But I think I need to reconsider my objectives and find goals I might aspire to that are not body weight. Does anyone have any suggestions for tracking other numbers / measurements, etc? I told myself I'd reconsider my February 28 goal on October 31, with the idea that I might introduce a different primary goal (i.e. % body fat or waist circumference). Just thought I'd see if anyone else has had success here tracking goals that aren't lbs on the scale.
(Of note, I acknowledge that many folks have truly struggled with this pandemic. We're all on unique journeys in this life and it's perfectly normal for us to respond to different stimuli in different ways. I hope my story can inspire you if you're struggling, but please don't let it take you to a place of despair. Find hope in the message that it can be done.)
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