Reflection on perception and whatnot

Last week I had a couple of interesting conversations with work friends that I thought were worth sharing.

One conversation I confess to being such a head-scratcher that I'm  still marinating over the answer.  I was asked how long does a pound have to be lost for it to be considered lost?  I have never thought about this.  My weight fluctuates up and down all the time but eventually I'll get over a hump and start trending downward again.  I guess I don't look at it a pound at a time but rather the year as a whole.  Whatever the net loss is for the year, then I consider that gone.  Especially if I have maintained that loss.  So, a pound is really lost when the loss has been maintained.  I guess that period of time for the maintaining is up to your personal interpretation.

The second conversation was a real eye-opener.  My friend said that she wasn't like me, that I'm a self-motivator.  This totally cracked me up.  I asked why on Earth she thought I was a self-motivator? She said because I sign up for challenges or set goals for myself and then I actually follow through with them.  And when I stepped out of myself and looked at this from an outsider's perspective, I thought it never even occurred to me that anyone would perceive it that way.  In fact, I sign up for challenges or set goals for myself because I am NOT a self-motivator and need the external motivation of the goal in order to push towards something.  I have to have a goal to strive for in order to keep going.  If I'm just working out to work out, well who cares?  But if I'm participating in a weight loss challenge and a team is depending on me, then that's a reason to keep going.  If I am signed up for a 5k, then I better get to training so I don't die during the event.

And that's where I'm at now.  I am shooting to do the Shamrock 8k, but the extra distance is intimidating me.  BFF Tina has been my external motivation and we're working on a Couch to 5k plan, which I guess will then be expanded to get to the full 8k.  We did our first trial dreadmill run this past Saturday, doing 90 seconds alternating walk/run.  Time is funny isn't it?  The 90 seconds of running took WAY longer than the 90 seconds of walking!  I made most of the intervals, but there was one that I skipped out on due to cramping.  And it was the first time that I forgot to take dreadmill pictures after so I don't even know what the time was!  FAIL!  I think it was around 48 minutes.  Then there was a small attempt at ab work, but my heart wasn't in it.  (Shocker!) Just as well, even with the little bit my abs are sore and my thighs were definitely feeling the burn from the squats.

I've joined a weight loss challenge on Facebook with a group of mostly old friends.  The leader is still working out the details, but it's nice to have a group to swap stories with.  We're all at different stages in our journey -- some of us have been working on it for a while, some are just getting started.  It's really interesting to read about everyone's different perspectives and plans.  I won't lie, I'm happy that I'm not just getting started.   (Just getting started again - ha!)  I'm looking at about 40 more pounds to go to get to my goal, but I am also looking back at the 35 I've already lost.  Maybe I'll get to my goal by the group's deadline, maybe I won't -- but I'll continue to get healthier and stronger while trying to get there, and isn't that the most important thing?

(((HUGS)))
Heather