My 5 Week Progress Report

One of the things I do with the women in my HomeBACE membership group is measure some baselines every 4-8 weeks.

I do this for a couple reasons.

First, it helps to keep everyone moving forward.

Second, it gives everyone a goal to work toward.

Third, I think it can be so easy to focus all of our attention on weight loss and we forget why exercise is so important in the first place.

When you start taking better care of yourself, it’s nice to see progress and improvement across the board in multiple areas.

We look at 8 areas when we measure baselines.

Here is our baseline measurement record sheet for the second half of the year:

Nobody is required to share results — there is no comparison to other women.

Everyone is at different levels.

When we time a mile, it’s different for everyone.

Some women walk. Some women run. Some women jog a little and walk a little.

Some women do modified push-ups against the wall. Some women do modified push-ups on their knees (that’s where I am right now). Some women do a combination of regular and modified push-ups.

It’s not about beating anyone. It’s about seeing where you are and then seeing where you improve along the way.

And by measuring these 8 baselines, everyone has a pretty good chance of seeing improvement in at least one area.

When you see improvement, you are much more likely to want to keep moving forward!

I measure these baselines right along with the members of my group.

Here’s my progress from the past five weeks:

Yes, my waistline ballooned up to 38 inches.

This is due mainly to two different things: managing my emotions with food, and menopause.

In the last year I have packed on about 15 pounds. Most of it has gone directly to my midsection.

This is always where I carry the most weight.

But what has been made very, very clear since going through menopause is that I just cannot eat the way I used to be able to eat.

I wish it wasn’t my reality.

But it is.

Being this heavy isn’t where I want to be. It’s holding me back from running as fast as I’d like, and it’s just not comfortable.

So I’ve been making changes.

I haven’t gone totally psycho. I haven’t made massive changes I can’t maintain.

But I have been making manageable changes that I can sustain, and change is happening.

I’m down an inch and a half in my waist. 

I’m faster.

I’m stronger

I’m (a little bit) more flexible.

I’m not eating (all of) my emotions.

I’m not eating as much of the food that’s gonna go directly to my waist and increase my chance of a heart attack.

I’m not where I was five weeks ago, and I’m not where I’ll be five weeks from now!

Sometimes being disciplined really sucks.

But right now, as I look at my progress across the board in all eight baseline areas, being disciplined in multiple areas of my life really doesn’t suck at all.

It feels good to take care of yourself. 

I work out just about every day.

I’m in pretty decent shape.

But I’m heavier than I should be. And I’m not nearly as strong as I want to be.

I’ll wear a bikini no matter what size I am. 

I’m not making changes because I hate my body.

I’m making changes because I love it.