"Taking Measure(ment)s"

From July 13, 2009 to October 13, 2009:

Chest: 44.13 inches/42.5 inches; -1.63 inches

Waist: 41 inches/39 inches; -2 inches

Hips: 52.75 inches/49 inches; -3.75 inches

Bicep: 18 inches/16.75 inches; -1.25 inches

Michelle, Shapes' most amazing, wonderful personal trainer in the whole wide world (I'm given to over-using superlatives, but in Michelle's case, they're well deserved), took all my measurements when I met with her Monday night, and I actually remembered to ask her for the results so I could post them. If you're in the midst of getting healthy, and you haven't already done so, take some measurements and keep track of them. They will surprise you, especially during weeks where you don't feel you've lost enough weight, or it isn't coming off as fast as you might like (there are healthy guidlines for how much weight you should lose - check out www.sparkpeople.com for free help on exercise, nutrition, goals, and so on!).

I've done really well in whittling myself down, and I've improved in other areas as well. I have better balance, better stamina, better posture, less back or leg pain, more self-confidence, and an overall better attitude about almost everything!

I've gone from a lean mass of 145.48 pounds and fat mass of 97.52 pounds, with a body fat percentage of 40.13, to a lean mass of 134.98 pounds, with a fat mass of 77.92 pounds, and a body fat percentage of 36.60. I've dropped lean mass of almost 10%, fat mass is down almost 8%, and my body fat percentage is down almost 10%. I've lost over 12% of my starting weight. I have a way to go, of course, but I kind of feel like I'm entering the home stretch.

This is where I begin to endanger my struggle, and get lazy. Like so many others, I am a master at sabotaging myself. I've been slacking off on exercise, not getting to the gym or just exercising at home at least 4 days of 7. I haven't been keeping track of my nutrition, which means I might be shorting myself on some key elements like protein or carbohydrates. I haven't really fallen off the wagon with eating really bad food, but how would I know for certain, if I'm not keeping track? Faded ink is stronger than a "convenient" memory. I'm not drinking as much water as I know is healthy for me. All of these can have some bad effects, to say the least, the most important being weight gain and increased depression.

I didn't stop doing EVERYTHING in one day; and I didn't stop doing what I was doing all at once. When I'm slipping slowly down that slope, I don't even notice what I'm (not) doing; not all at once. Its like realizing that I'm addicted to food - it simply never occurred to me, because I wasn't facing the truth. I think its the same for everyone, regardless of whatever discipline we're trying to master. Mark Hall of Casting Crowns says it best in "Slow Fade" I think, where he says:

The journey from your mind to your hands
Is shorter than you're thinking
Be careful if you think you stand
You just might be sinking

It's a slow fade when you give yourself away
It's a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray
Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid
When you give yourself away
People never crumble in a day

I know Mark's talking about something here way more serious and sinister than me keeping to a healthy regimen, but the same principle applies and the decline is no less destructive... The lines blur, and the discipline you used to keep out of the fridge, to get in the gym or out on the hiking trail is the very same as compromising your principles, or taking just a little peek at pornography, or engaging in vicious gossip, or feeling superior to someone else because you've "got God"... when we love the Lord, we've got to marshal ourselves and keep to the proper paths. When self-discipline fails, everything else around us begins to deteriorate.

So! Time to catch myself up by my bootstraps and go on as I intend to continue. My favorite fictional childhood heroine, Anne Shirley, said that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet, and I'm taking that thought to heart and making her "tomorrow" my "today."

My prayer for you, dearest ones, is that you keep your eyes on the horizon and your heart on the Lord. He calls us all out of our safe little boats and invites us to walk with him (reference to another Casting Crowns song, I just can't help it), and face our fears. It ain't easy, but He didn't promise it would be. He promised to be with us always, to the end of the age (Matthew 28:20). I'm sure counting on that.

In the meantime, its time for me to get to the gym.