What data points are you using?

May 13, 2018

I remember being 263lbs and wanting to throat punch my “skinny friends” who, at 206lbs said “I’m so fat”.

I used to think - man if they only knew what fat was.. 206 would be awesome!

I get it now. 

As I pushed most everything aside and gave my entire self to the process, I was able to lose 91lbs. I lived a year and change hovering around 190. It felt amazing.  I tossed my entire wardrobe and replaced it with smaller, nicer threads.  I was invincible. I was laser focused and had a solid routine. 

My life changed. The intense focus I used to maintain my weight, slowly shifted to some of the other priorities in my life. It was a much needed shift and it required a good deal of balance to keep it all going. The scale adjusted right along side me. The life-data reflects my shift.  The data says I’m extremely successful in some new areas, the data shows ups and downs across all segments of my life. If I overlaid the graphs, there would be huge spikes of success that would cover the spikes in my weight entries.  These spikes of success are the result of a shift in focus. It’s a balancing act for sure. 

If you judged my entire life solely on my weight entries, you'd be sadly mistaken.  

I weigh myself daily. There have been a couple days lately where I haven’t.  Im well aware of the trend, and partially didn’t want to see the data, but more so, didn’t want to share the data to distract you.   

I’m a firm believer in the program. It works, and the last thing I want is for you to doubt it, as a result of my data, not knowing the full story.  The full story is I’m not following the plan the same way I did when I lost the weight. 

Yesterday my scale approached 210. I went to get up from the couch and I could feel my center of gravity had shifted.  The 31in jeans I wear, still button, but I couldn’t wait to come home and take them off. The belt I wear at 32in is on its last notch. My medium shirts are now separated into “medium fits” and “medium kinda fits”.   Instead of grabbing anything from my closet I have to give it a little thought.  The confidence of anything fits and I look awesome is fading.

I now understand what they meant at 206 when they said - “I’m so fat!”  That’s me now. I’m there.  I’m excited that all the hard work, the intense focus and all the things I’ve learned along the way have given me the opportunity to recognize this feeling now. Before, I never recognized it until 260lbs. 

This is an amazing victory in my lifelong journey.  I am transformed! That’s the victory I’m celebrating. I’m getting into a new routine once again, and getting back into the groove of mindful eating, planning and recognizing the effect that over eating has.  I suffer from obesity and forever will manage this, the same way I manage all the things in my life. I pay attention to the spikes in the data that get my attention. I like to workout, but I have to deliberately schedule it. Much of the “healthy food” isn’t my first choice, and some of it has never been a choice. I have to deliberately control my weight through moderation. I know this, and confident that I can apply it. 

The bottom line is this - Tracking, scanning, blue dots and WYOOPSEP are easy. That part isn’t debated.  The data and the science, prove this works, putting it all into practice, is something you have to prove to yourself.