Saturday 18 May 2013

Tracking Progress

As much as it's nice to see the scale going steadily down on a daily basis, this isn't an accurate representation of a person's progress.  And stepping on a scale on a daily basis can be disheartening, to say the least.

So what is the best way to track your progress, then?  Here are a couple simple guidelines:

1.  Take "before" pictures.  

Find someone you're comfortable with to take them, and don't look at it again until you've made some solid progress (several months down the road).  As uncomfortable as it is to take those pictures when you're just starting out, it's an amazing feeling to be able to see how far you've come.




2.  Take regular measurements.  

Your measurements will change a lot faster than your weight, usually.  I typically get my trainer to measure me once per month and write down my weight at that point as well.  You can measure yourself as well if that works out better for you.

3.  Don't weigh yourself every day!  

Weight can fluctuate several pounds over the course of a single day.  There are too many variables for this to be an accurate representation of your weight loss.  And if it's near to "that time of the month", women will tend to be a few pounds heavier than usual as well.




Sunday 12 May 2013

Barely Coping

I'll admit going into this new chapter in my life, I had a lot of assumptions.  I assumed I could handle childbirth & recovery, work, caring for a newborn and a toddler, going to the gym 4x per week, roller derby practice twice per week, planning and eating a healthy diet, and everyday household duties.  Turns out I can't.  Or, at least not without a lot of support.  I have overloaded myself with some mighty high expectations and am really struggling because of it.

The hardest part for me is that I haven't lost any weight since little Victoria was 2 weeks old.  She is now 6 weeks.  I really need to make exercise and healthy eating a priority, and soon!  It seems like when I have those two things in line, everything else in my life just falls into place.


Last night I sat down and made a list of the things I need to work on to help me cope.  Many of them are easy enough to do, as long as I make them a priority.  The tough one on my list is finding some kind of support other than my husband.  He has been fantastic, but is also working at least 72 hours per week, so there is only so much he can do.  I really just need someone else I can unburden to.  Really hard for me to do, since I like to pretend my life is perfect.

I suppose this blog is serving as my support network at the moment.  I do feel better getting these admissions out there, even if it is never published.  So, thanks for listening.