What defines “success”?
Is it reaching a single end point or goal? Or is it feeling satisfied with the journey?
I’d like you to think about that today as our “NO-GAIN November” draws to a close today.
I set out at the beginning of this month not only determined to not gain any weight (which I didn’t), but to actually lose body fat. I know I talk a lot about not being weight-centric, so I want to reinforce here why that is. I work hard 3-4 days a week to lift weights. If the planets all align and the earth stays securely on its axis, I can get in 4 days, but realistically, it’s 3. Same thing with HIIT. On a good week it’s 2 days a week, on an awesome week it’s 3. I went in to the Thanksgiving weekend weighing 126 lbs. (this from the woman who weighed 106 lbs. just a few years ago…yes, I’m happy my weight is UP)! Today I woke up and because it’s the end of our challenge, I stepped on the scale (before I competed I never owned one) and it read 130 lb.
Should I be disappointed? Mad? Upset? Would YOU be???
The answer to that question is NO.
Why? Because it’s not humanly possible to gain 4 pounds in 4 days. To do that, I would have had to be completely immobile (except for a beating heart and breathing) and consumed 14,000 MORE calories than even the basic number of calories it takes just for my body to be alive. Not 14,000 TOTAL…14,000 MORE! I cooked, I cleaned, I went shopping, I walked the dogs, and I went to the gym. I also helped carry the tree in the house (since the hubs is on the mend) and got all the ornaments down out of the attic (it took me five trips up and down the ladder and then 3 more into the house).
So what happened?
- I did not keep up with my hydration
- I ate foods 3 nights in a row that were laden with salt
- I need to go to the bathroom (TMI I know, but it matters). When we are dehydrated, our body holds water in the cells and tissues so that it can continue to do what it does, despite the fact that we’re ignoring that signal that tells us to drink.
If you’re like me, you can go all day and not drink anything, either because you’re too busy, it’s cold, or you’re focused on something else. Throw in some Thanksgiving dinner, another dinner with friends, a few glasses of wine and a little constipation and voila’ there you have it. FOUR pounds on the scale.
What my scale won’t tell you is that:
- I’m back in the “skinny” jeans I haven’t worn since spring
- Or that my husband remarked yesterday, “Wow honey, I can really tell you’ve lost weight!”
- The scale also won’t remind me that my lips are chapped, I haven’t gone to the bathroom in three days, or that I still know my body fat is down by 2%.
- The scale doesn’t know that I ate healthy all weekend, went to the gym on Friday, enjoyed a piece of pie or passed on the mashed potatoes.
It doesn’t know any of those things!
So, when someone asks me if I was successful in my Challenge, my answer is YES.
- Three days of adequate hydration
- A trip to the bathroom
- Getting back to my regular routine and things will adjust themselves.
I didn’t, as I may have thought in the past, blow an entire month of hard work on the past four days…AND NEITHER DID YOU!