Back In The Saddle- Returning to A Previous Adventure

This past week I started my 2nd Biggest Loser contest. This time it is with my family. The stakes aren't so much monetary this time as we don't have money in on it, but a lot of pride is at stake. We are the friendly competitive type so we don't get offended when beaten, but we don't like to lose...Except when we want to lose, and then we want to be the Biggest Loser.

This week I reviewed the mental clicks that I had gained last time I started my journey. I have decided to see if my first experiment was just a fluke or if I can repeat the results. Obviously not everything will  be the same as I am starting off in better health despite the past year of being injury prone. I realize also that I can not rest on the idea that I will lose as much as I did last time, at least as quickly as I did last time.

No mirror needed to tell me
when I was happiest

We often equate losing weight with being happy and looking in the mirror as a measure of health. So, we look at the scale and pray for good numbers to appear, or we look into a mirror to determine whether or not we are healthy and happy. What would happen if we did not have a scale to determine our happiness. In fact what if we did not have a mirror to determine our health? What if the only thing we had to determine our happiness was our feelings and self awareness? What would we do to improve how we felt about ourselves?

To be perfectly honest with you, I like food. I like food that is probably not the most healthy food. If I could get away with eating lots of thick juicy steaks and just about anything heavy on the carbohydrates followed up with a nice big bowl of ice cream at any given time, and the only consequences were my weight. I would probably ignore my mirror and get rid of my scale. Unfortunately it doesn't work that way.

To me being fit has little to do with what I look like and a lot to do with my ability to move and how I feel. If I have a hard time walking up stairs or hiking in the summer, then I don't feel fit. If I am huffing and puffing when I want to run, then I am not happy. If I can't touch my toes without wincing or getting dizzy, I would say I am neither healthy nor happy.

Don't get me wrong, it is nice to feel good about what you see in the mirror, but it is more important that you feel good about what you have done to get where you are than it is to see a pretty picture in the mirror. You can be unfit and look thin and pretty, but you will not feel thin and you won't be happy.

Week 1 results

So, in my quest for fitness I will use a scale and a mirror as a measure of progress, but I will not use them as a measure of my fitness nor my happiness.