Baby Steps

One of the things that has been adding to my frustration is the fact that (up until the last month) I had maintained regular workouts without losing a pound since November! It is really hard to keep giving your all when there is no obvious progress.

I weigh myself nearly every day, even though I know that does not make it the most accurate and that it is really not that healthy of a habit. When we moved last weekend the scale was packed away and I didn't weigh myself from Thursday until Tuesday after Memorial Day when I went back to work. Imagine my surprise when in just 5 days I dropped 4 pounds! Especially considering between being sick and moving I didn't work out over that stretch of days. I doubt it was true weight loss, and wonder if you can lose muscle that fast? Either way, for over a week now, I have been under 170 for the first time since Thanksgiving.

Have I mentioned three times since 2008 I have hit the upper 160s and stalled? What I wouldn't give to break that barrier!

Anyway. Regardless of how the weight came off, seeing a lower number on the scale motivated me to check my measurements for the first time in ... awhile. Like a month or more. I am not sure taking your own measurements is the most accurate, but I have done it for awhile now and it is accurate enough for me! In my 2013 year in review, posted in January of this year, I noted that over the course of the year I had lost 6.5 inches. The biggest changes were waist, stomach, hips, and thigh at an inch each. It was not like me to not write down what those numbers were more exactly. So, I went back to nearly a year prior, to February 2013 where I had shared measurements taken in January '13 - again not the most accurate data tracking (coming from a Special Education teacher) so I can only assume they are from the beginning of Jan '13 and the end of Jan '13. Here is what I posted then:

Bust: from 36" to 35.5"
Waist: same at 35.25"
Stomach: down a whole inch from 42" to 41"
Hips: same at 38"
Thigh: down a whole inch from 24" to 23"
Calf: same at 14.5"
Bicep: same at 11"
Neck: same at 13"
Wrist: from 6" to 5.5"

Compiling that post, with the vague post this January, and the measurements I took earlier this week; I get this:

Measurement	Jan ‘13	Feb ‘13	Jan ‘14	June ‘14	Change in 18 months
Bust	36	35.5	35.5	35.5	.5
Waist	35.25	35.25	34.25	33.5	1.75
Stomach	42	41	40	38.25	3.75
Hips	38	38	37	35.5	2.5
Thigh	24	23	22	22	2
Calf	14.5	14.5	14	14	.5
Bicep	11	11	11	11	0
Neck	13	13	13	12	1
Wrist	6	5.5	5.5	5	1
TOTAL IN LOST					13

Earth shattering? No.
Remarkable pace? No.
Progress? Yes! And in some of my most troublesome spots!

It is hard to see progress from inch to inch, but 13 inches is some pretty respectable progress, in my opinion! Here's a few pictures that show my journey since the start of 2012; I will have to work on getting/finding something from the last six months!

November 2011 - heaviest weight at 193

August 2012 - 27 pounds down at 166

October 2013 - back to 170ish, after gaining back up to 179



Working on focusing on the positive and what is going well!