It is how we measure

I have had a couple rough weeks and although I had a blog ready to write a little over a week ago, I got busy. You see things haven't changed much since my last blog Sept 7th. The weight gain vs. loss became very emotional and I had actually gained 1 more pound back before it started to drop again. Ugh! I wish I could lose as fast as I gain, because it is a battle already without having to redo the loses. I guess over the years I could say I have lost lots of pounds the way my body rolls back and forth, but when you gain it back I guess it really does not count. Which leads me to my point for this blog.
I subscribe to many health related Facebook fan pages and emails to be sent to me for the purpose of encouragement and knowledge about healthy eating and exercise. I love getting them, because my husband really does not get how to help in this aspect of being helpful or an encourager. In fact sometimes I view him as my sabotager..if that is even a word. He brings home treats and processed foods saying hey it was cheap so I purchased...ugh! I am really working at a clean/whole foods eating approach!
Anyway, back to the tidbits I get via Internet resources, lately they have been about "not counting on your scale for success". I am having to do that lately as I am moving so slowly at the pounds coming off  that I have to find something successful in all of this. As I try to apply this method of success I realize how hard it is, because people don't come up to you and ask " Have you gotten any better at cardio exercises?" or "How is the coordination and balance coming along"? or "How is your strengthening exercises going"? Nope the question I always get is "how much weight have you lost"?
We jump on the scale to measure how successful we are and it gives us a number we can share. This is how we measure weight loss, no getting around that! But with my challenges and focus on weight loss, I lose sight of the other successes I am having. I guess there isn't really a way to measure the other things specifically. If there is I don't have access to them.
Since my weight loss is such a slow process and it frustrates me to tears and is hard to stay motivated, I need to rely on the other positives taking place in this journey. It isn't all about the weight loss, but what I am doing to improve my health and way of living. I am able to do so much more because of the exercises.
On my Wii there are uplifting things that happen and Wii told me to share that I am now a Gold Level which means I have logged 40+ hours ( that took place a couple weeks ago) ! My huge improvements over the last few weeks have been in the cardio exercises. When I started on Wii there is a basic 3 minute run to chose from and the first time I got brave enough to go for the run, I seriously did not think I could finish it. I was breathing like a bad case of asthma had struck me down, but Wii encourages you and when it said I was half way done keep up the good work, I could not let it down...LOL so I finished, completely unable to breathe and I was not able to do another thing afterwards. It took me awhile to get my breathing back to normal. Here is the measurement difference that motivates me, I am now running the long run which is 5-6 minutes depending on the guide I have and running that 3 times a day in intervals between other cardio exercises like the advanced step which I do 4-5 times in a row now! (step has helped me see improvements in my coordination)! You see I have not run in about 6 years because 6 yrs ago I tore my achilles. It was so painful and took about 6 months to recover from and another 3 years of severe charlie horse cramps in my leg that I have been afraid to run. I never wanted to feel that pain again. I faced a fear and have started running. Now yes, they are short runs, but getting better for longer runs and more intervals. Yesterday, near the end of my workout I opened yet another longer run and I look forward to selecting it and give it a go! I am not afraid to select cardio things I think may be tough to do anymore. I am learning to push myself beyond the current comfort zones. Next I want to run a mile, then work towards a 5K and who knows where all that will lead. I know there are bigger things ahead and I will get there. Heck, my husband pulled out a jump rope last week and he and Dixie were seeing if they could jump rope and how many rotations. I came outside and he said " I bet you can't even make it 10 rotations"...not sure if that was a dare or lack of confidence in my ability by him, but I took the handles and made it 15 times before it caught my feet and not because I couldn't do it. I was proud of myself! A month ago, I would have been afraid I couldn't even jump, not even once. Coordination happening and no fear!
I am starting to see that the scale is not the only way to measure my successes. Granted I want to see the numbers drop and it makes me feel good to see that, but there are other things to measure to see success.
I have one more thing I am going to share and this was an emotional (tearing up now) decision, but I am going to post my weight loss over on the right column. I thought about this for awhile and figured it could only be a good thing. I realized yesterday as I contemplated it even more that I should! After all when I tried out for Biggest Loser I knew a million + people would see what I weighed and if I was so willing to be on the show and expose that part of me I should be brave and do it on my blog. It is very embarrassing and makes me cry to realize I haven't tried to do anything about it till recently, but I recently had a friend post a blog sight to me that had an incredible motivating video. The blogger had his weight loss and running miles posted on his page as well. It was very encouraging for me to see the pounds and dates as they dropped, I decided that if it encouraged me, I want to encourage anyone reading mine that it can be done. I have posted a link at the end of a video on his page. Very inspiring!
There are many ways to measure your successes in your health. Some things start out in baby steps, but you have to start somewhere. Every little change reaps big rewards in your health. See what you can do to start and just keep pushing yourself forward. " When the going gets tough, the tough gets going!" Ben Does Life- Inspiration