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Five years ago today, I joined my gym. Five years later, I'm still going.
I win.
Have you ever looked at the stats for long term weight loss? They are not pretty. After 5 years, only about 3% who have lost weight have kept it off. Maintaining changes to behavioral patterns is HARD.
Not that I have had perfect success. I crept up a jeans size about a year ago, and portion control has lost more than one battle to a binge. More than one workout has failed to happen due to the demands of the house, or work, or family, or a general "screw it" moment. Overall, though, I eat better and I keep going back to the gym for another workout, and my weight has basically remained stable.
My workouts have been a source of frustration. I seemed to have spent a lot of the last two years rehabbing injuries, only a few of which have happened in the gym. Most of those injuries have come from running or plyometric exercises. So I've stopped running, and I've sucked it up and done the rehab exercises to strengthen my elbows and shoulders. And I think I am finally physically ready again to do some very heavy lifting again. I'm already squatting 165, bench is above 100 again, and my deadlift is at 150 - very light compared to my personal bests, but with the elbow injuries, I need to take it slow.
But, if I want to increase my strength by lots, I'm not going to be losing weight, and I would like to, ah, unload another twenty pounds or so. It's a trade off I struggle with, especially when I haven't been able to demonstrably increase my lifts in over a year because of the injuries. Still, I am readily identified at my gym as "that really strong woman."
I don't know if I will continue with this annual post after this year. I am celebrating my accomplishment of getting fit, of losing weight, but those changes are now more of my everyday reality.
Which brings me back to where I started.
I win.
I win.
Have you ever looked at the stats for long term weight loss? They are not pretty. After 5 years, only about 3% who have lost weight have kept it off. Maintaining changes to behavioral patterns is HARD.
Not that I have had perfect success. I crept up a jeans size about a year ago, and portion control has lost more than one battle to a binge. More than one workout has failed to happen due to the demands of the house, or work, or family, or a general "screw it" moment. Overall, though, I eat better and I keep going back to the gym for another workout, and my weight has basically remained stable.
My workouts have been a source of frustration. I seemed to have spent a lot of the last two years rehabbing injuries, only a few of which have happened in the gym. Most of those injuries have come from running or plyometric exercises. So I've stopped running, and I've sucked it up and done the rehab exercises to strengthen my elbows and shoulders. And I think I am finally physically ready again to do some very heavy lifting again. I'm already squatting 165, bench is above 100 again, and my deadlift is at 150 - very light compared to my personal bests, but with the elbow injuries, I need to take it slow.
But, if I want to increase my strength by lots, I'm not going to be losing weight, and I would like to, ah, unload another twenty pounds or so. It's a trade off I struggle with, especially when I haven't been able to demonstrably increase my lifts in over a year because of the injuries. Still, I am readily identified at my gym as "that really strong woman."
I don't know if I will continue with this annual post after this year. I am celebrating my accomplishment of getting fit, of losing weight, but those changes are now more of my everyday reality.
Which brings me back to where I started.
I win.
