The Journey: Creating the Small Victories for Yourself

So last week I talked a little about the small victories. This week I'm thinking more about the wonderful little gifts i've experienced along the way.Sometimes we get in a rut when we don't lose the weight we wanted to lose on weigh in day. Or we try on that pair of pants that have been hanging in the closet waiting for us to just be skinny enough to work 'em a gain - and we're still not there. I'm here to say - that's okay. Keep going. You will get there. I still have a few more pants to conquer myself. So as much as i may be talking to you - i'm also reminding myself here.

Okay - first things first - you have to set yourself up to REALIZE the small victories. So if you are just weighing in every week, you really aren't helping yourself (or at least your self esteem) as much as you could be.

I recommend adding 2 things to your routine:
1) Start measuring. Measuring tapes are cheap and a great way to see progress even when it might not show up on the scale. I'm not an expert in all things measured or anything, but every week on weigh in day i measure my waist, hips, bust, thigh and bicep area. It makes you feel really cool after you do it for a month or so because you are like "wow - i've lost 4 inches!" (or something equally amazing).

2) Have your body composition measured. At my gym they have a little electronic body fat measurer (yes, very technical terminology i know). And you just put in your height, weight, male/female, age and then you hold on to it and it gives you a pretty decent estimate of your body fat % and how many pounds of lean mass you have.

I'll be honest - the first time i did this - i was appalled at my number. It made me feel like maybe i hadn't come all that far from the chubby middle school girl i was. But you have to start somewhere right? I made sure that i was alone, totally understood the instructions for how to work the device and then faced away from any area where someone might ACCIDENTALLY see any of my results (okay i still do this). I don't measure this on a weekly basis, although i could. But i do recommend adding this to something you do a semi regular basis.

Why? Well, because you can be losing weight and it might be muscle mass instead of fat. So you want to make sure you are losing fat and not just starving yourself and losing all the GOOD stuff you need in your body. In the long run - you want to be HEALTHY, not just skinny, right? So if you keep track of your body fat % you can see a more accurate picture of your health.

I measured my body fat again this week and i was pleased to see i had gone down 4% since the first time i checked it a few months ago. After doing a little reading and talking to some fitness guru's - I've been able to set a goal for myself based on my body fat % - not just pounds.

Here's the other biggie. I call it my "10 pounds and re-evaluate plan." I don't believe in setting goals that seem impossible. As i was cleaning out an old bin of writing a few weeks ago I ran across a note that i had written to myself about my goals. Sounds good, right? But i had set such an unrealistic goal for myself that no wonder it felt so impossible. No wonder i didn't get to that goal.

So now I set smaller goals so that i can celebrate small victories along the way. If you wait until you lose all 15, 25 or 50 pounds before you give yourself any sort of pat on the back - it might be a long lonely journey. Celebrate every victory! Every week, even a half pound is a victory. This journey is not something that will happen over night. It's more about you changing your life by adapting your lifestyle to be more healthy - and ultimately, you will end up being happier for it!

Even if you have 50 pounds or more to lose - don't even think about the 50 right now. Tell yourself your goal is to lose 10 pounds. When you lose 10 pounds, evaluate your situation - set up a new goal. Keep it manageable.

Don't forget - celebrate your victories! But i would avoid the bowl full of ice cream as your reward. What about a new shirt instead or a belt to hold up those now loose pants?

Until next week... :)