Okay, the numbers are in and I have a goal. Again.

Okay, the numbers are in and I have a goal.  Again.

I have been on a double goal journey for the past 5 years.  I started out at age 39, in 2011, weighing in at 180 pounds with a 29.7% body mass index (BMI).  I had gained 40 pounds over the course of the previous 5 years eating my way through the grief of losing my mother in 2006.  This prompted me to join the gym post haste.  My doctor had said I was .03% away from being considered obese by his charts and graphs.  I didn’t look, or feel obese.  At least what I thought was obese but hey, if the doctor says it…….

My #1 goal, of course, was to lose the weight, and get to my doctors recommended body weight for my height.  132.5 pounds for a 5′ 6 1/2″ height as a woman.  That meant losing 47.5 pounds!

Over the course of one year I did it.  I hit my goal in September of 2012.  I remember the exact day, and where I was.  On vacation in Jackson Hole Wyoming with my dear friend Cathy.  I did it by reducing what I ate, and drinking lots of water.  Oh, and add in going to the gym 3 times per week with my husband, cardio- cardio-cardio, and interval walking/running through my neighborhood on the days we didn’t go to the gym.  Cardio 5 days a week, every week, rain or shine.

I also remember getting home from vacation and looking in the mirror realizing that I looked ridiculous.  I looked like a walking skeleton.  I had gone from a size 14 to a size 2, my doctor was happy, but I was not.  I lost ALL of the boobs that I had, and that lead me to wear sports bras 24 hours a day so I didn’t have to look at what was left……  I was boney, and did not feel attractive at all.  I started hinting around to my husband that breast implants were really very affordable……

Why the heck can’t I just be happy?

Then one day I found a meme that changed everything for me.  It perfectly described WHY I was feeling unhappy, and unattractive even though I was the elusive and highly sought after perfect weight…..”132.5″ pounds…

I did not like the way I looked because I was skinny, but NOT fit.  In order to be fit I needed to add in muscle.  Muscle would fill out my body making it look even better.

Enter goal #2.  Build muscle.

I told myself not to freak out because my body weight was going to go up (muscle weighs 5 times more than fat).  I had lived so long weighing myself everyday and obsessing over that one number…. this was going to be hard.  I just needed to change my mindset.

Then I blew my knee out during a Zumba class.  Enter one knee surgery, and being told that it is highly recommended that I do NOT run again, do squats, do lunges….. NO…. That was half of my stay skinny strategy.  I was about to enter my first 5K…..

Fast forward to 2016.

Hello 160 pounds.  Yup, 27.5 pounds up from my goal weight in 2006.  BUT, it’s different now.  I still do cardio, just on an elliptical now.  My thrice weekly workout sessions now consist of 75% weight lifting, and 25% cardio.  Big difference from 100% cardio.

I now have muscles, and boobs, and another goal.

At 160 pounds, and 19.5% body fat, according to http://www.BrainyWeightLoss.com,  I am on the “Lean (Low)” side of my body fat percentage.

At 44 years old the American Council on Exercise tells me that I am in their “Athletes” category.  BUT I still cannot really see the muscles I work so hard for…..

So, the goal is to go from 19.5% body fat to 14%.  That 8.8 pounds of body fat.  At least by my math…

Goal day is June 29th, 2016.  8 weeks from today, and 8.8 pounds of body fat to go….

I’ll let you know what happens…

Muah,

Jeanie