Friday, March 16, 2007

The Value of a Pound

Why is it that if we step on the scale and see a number better than we expected, (either lower or higher) it could make our whole day better and also the opposite, seeing a number worse than expected can be demotivating, even if we think we had done a good job the previous day dieting? Regardless or not if it's in fact accurate. Like when we go to the doctor's office, in the middle of the afternoon, and weigh in on that scale, we know it's going to weigh heavy (that's why we take off our shoes!), and it can mess up our whole day. Even if it's just one pound!

And why is it that we can consistantly lose (or gain, if that's your goal) and the day the scale doesn't budge in the direction you want, you feel defeated? And why, after losing most of the weight you need to, do you "forget" what it was like when you started, and find yourself complaining that it's still not enough, instead of being proud of what you've already accomplished? Why do you not ever really appreciate "where you are"? Remember as we go up in weight, we look back at when we weighed less and thought,"if I only appreciated it 20 pounds ago, 30 lbs. ago, 40 lbs. ago", etc..

So this is what I'm facing now. Even though I know I don't need to lose anymore, I confess, I secretly hope the scale still will keep going down. Today I had two people (seprately) comment to me not to lose anymore weight. And these two people I felt were being sincere. And I wasn't surprised, in fact I asked them for their truthful opinion, because I've been feeling the same way, but I can't help it. Yes, I can. (so I ate something!)

I admit that my face has become a little gaunt, but unfortunately my waistline hasn't! We cannot control where we lose our weight. My goal is to look healthy and athletic, not gaunt and anorexic. (or scrawny as Mark describes it!)

But seeing those 125's on the scale was fun! Amazing! Hard to let go. I admit I "look" better weighing a couple of pounds more, and I'm sure I'll get over it (gaining back). That one pound can start us feeling good or bad about ourselves depending on the direction it goes. So why do we give one pound so much value?

Friday AM weight 126.4
10:00am 1 mile walk and misc. KB w/client

Menu

5am coffee w/cream 45 cal.
9:00 grapes 100 cal.
9:30 peanuts 100 cal.
9:45 coffee w/cocoa 70 cal.
12:00 steel cut oats/milk 185 cal.
2:45 6oz. grilled salmon, 1/2c. red beet risotto, sauteed beet greens 300, 120, 80 cal.
4:15 small pea and smoked turkey w/chili pepper soup 300 cal.
6:45 large broccoli salad and tuna w/mayo 325, 210 cal.

Total calories 1835

Ever since I discovered that a whole can of tuna (6oz. chunk light in water) w/2 tsp. mayo only has 210 cal. total, I always add it to my broccoli salad. I purposely ate an additional meal on Friday because I have my KB workout on Sat., after walking and yoga. I also ate my biggest meal later than usual (almost 7pm) to feul my morning the next day.

I didn't eat any junk and although my calories were over 1800, and I didn't really have any workouts, my weight Sat. morning was 125.6. I haven't decided yet on which day (Sat. ot Sun) will be my high calorie day.

Life is good, it's going to be a great weekend.

6 comments:

Royce said...

Very nice post Tracy. I agree with Rif, I don't like scrawny women, lean and athletic is good, athletic and thick is very good too.
It's funny how we measure ourselves in pounds. I have always been the big guy. Random people will try to get my attention starting the conversation with stuff like "hey big man do you know where such and such street is".
I like that. Although I'm not deluding myself either I have a pretty good idea of what my BF% is.
Right now I have somewhere in the range of 170 lbs of lean mass. If I were to keep all that and get to single digit BF%( wich I'm eventually shooting for ) I would weigh well below 200 lbs more like 180.
It bugs me to think of being that small, and the funny thing is that I know or have known scores of guys at 5'8" tall that have taken every supplement in the book to try to get to 180 and single digit BF.
220 sounds good to me, but 220 and lean. Like you said those pounds mean so much...........LOL

Mark Reifkind said...

royce I was one of those guys that spend years( many!) trying to get bigger.Many many times i would go into the gym 'feeling' big and thick and be very dissapointed when the scale said I was lighter. And,converserly, go into the gym KNOWING I had lost( precious) weight only to see I had indeed gained!
I learned very quickly NOT to trust the scale and to go much more by how I felt. I still measure but take it with a grain of salt.It's much more important to me to FEEL the way I want than weigh a certain amount( orhave my bf a specific number).
I also have to admit I really do miss being "Bigrif", as I was for many years in my bb'ing and powerlifting days. 185-200 at 5'5" is not small.
But I have to keep reminding myself about what's truly important at this stage of my life. Liteally every day I have to remind myself,lol.
Being a 160 isnt exactly what I had planned for so long but it's what works best now so there it is.

The point is NOT to trust the scale as much as your awareness of how you feel in your body. No one can tell what you weigh when they see you or if you are two pound slighter or heavier.Now I admit thats a tough one but who said this would be easy? LOL.

You're doing great Tracy, keep up the thoughtfull analysis and conciousness about what you are doing and you will get what you want( or what you choose, lol.)You know I love you however you look, as you do me.Good thing you don't like pretty boys, lol.

Royce said...

Amen Rif, thank god there are women who don't dig pretty boys or I would be single forever. LOL.

Tracy I didn't mean to imply you were scrawny, your calves and arms alone show your athletacisnm , Barb says she wants to look just like you. No offense meant to Rif, but you're an attractive lady. My point was not to pursue shedding pounds just for the sake of shedding pounds you look fine at your current weight.

Rif, yeah I know I shouldn't judge myself by the scale, and I know the leaner I get the bigger everything underneath will look. Especially my back. Years of hard work ands all. I get rid of the spare tire and it will all be good.
Plus I must be fast twitch dominate ( I loathe muscle fiber stuff ) anyway I think it's fast twitch. The one with the most growth potential. I grow on heavy singles, high volume low reps, high volume high reps, it doesn't matter. So the whole bug in my head is really moot anyway.
It's still in the back of my head though.........LOL, funny huh.

Royce said...

Adendem:

I see guys like Brett Jones, Cotter, you, or fighters my hieght in the 185 lb class and everyone looks great, athletic, fit, strong, mobile.

I look at myself and don't see Kazuyuki Fujita, or Donnie Thompson and I'm dissapointed. Stupid huh?

Mark Reifkind said...

royce,

no worries mate!when i was toying with the idea of bench pressing again a few days ago I was thinking how nice it would be to get some upper body mass back; then I took a good look in the mirror when I was stretching out my back and realized all this kb work had given me some decent muscularity and a totally different look.much more like a boxers body than a lifters but that was what I was going for.
less pecs and arms but tons of shoulders back and abs.

and ohyes, those head demons are still there for me too. which is why they have to be killed regularly with the kettlebell! LOL.

Tracy Reifkind said...

Royce and Mark, Thanks for commenting on this subject, it's nice to be reminded than men also have these feelings!

Just like women who don't like "pretty boys" (I prefer men that are "rough around the edges")thank God that there are men that prefer women with "a little meat on their bones"!