in 2007, i had a physical for a driver’s license requirement. my physician looked at my stats and made a comment about my weight not being in the right range for my height class. when i told him i was regularly exercising, he wanted to check the pending blood work before finalizing his statements. he did clear me, but that thought lingered.
at the beginning of 2008, i decided that getting in shape was a little more than just exercising alone. i am not one for diets or crashing my system to get to a goal. in my personal experience, quick to go, quick to come back. i started to make small adjustments to my regular eating, primarily focusing on how much protein i ate and how much per meal i was downloading into my belly. it was a slow process.
i had made some soft goals to try to be at certain weights throughout the year. little by little, i would get down to my three or five pound goals. it fluctuated frequently and sometimes i would end up way above the upper limits i was resetting for myself. (i thought i would put on weight going to greece last summer because they feed us very well, but i was shocked to see that i weighed less when i returned.)
my start weight in january 2008 was about 230 lbs. my end of the year goal was to be at 205 lbs, a goal i did not meet. i was still hovering several pounds above that. but by the end of january 2009, i had reached the 205 lbs goal. i continued to reset the goals and made the next achievement to be able to drop a pants size (from a 38 waist to 36) by my birthday.
in celebration for my birthday, i took this friday off. i drove down early in the afternoon to old navy and looked for a pair of 36×32 jeans. i found a pair. i tried them on. they fit comfortably with room. i have actually returned to the waist size i was in college.
i have not yet reached the low number which i will consider my “normal” weight. i believe the height-weight chart has me around 180 lbs for my height. i think if i can reach 190 lbs and have the extra bit in muscle, i will be satisfied. (my low point right now is 198.5 lbs.) this is still a gradual process, so i don’t expect to his this goal until late in this year.
i did reach my birthday goal. i downsized my pants.
