Getting Hooked

This is hard to admit and even harder to frame as a problem, but I've been losing weight. After four months of lifestyle changes I've lost about 22 pounds. The weight loss in and of itself isn't a problem. Right or wrong (and I have my doubts) my doctor father constantly reminds me that if I lost a total of 40 pounds I could go off my diabetes meds. It would be a sign that with proper eating and exercise, my body can regulate sugar on its own.

Here's where I become a big, fat (pun intended) hypocrite. I've let myself care about the weight loss. I've been weighing myself weekly and got hooked on seeing the number go down down down. The problem is, my body is adjusting to the changes. It's been two weeks and my weight has stayed constant. Sadly, this is a source of frustration for me and I've weighed myself daily to see if the scale will move.

I'm writing this as a reality check to back off from the investment in the scale. It's addicting, that number. It's sad that number is our society's primary shorthand for health. There are other measures where I continue to progress - how far and fast I can run, the fact my strength training gets easier, the fact my blood sugar stays in range (in fact I forgot to take my meds one day and when I checked by blood sugar it STILL was in range). And there's the whole host of process achievements that I've rocked on and are now second nature.

So here's another set of goals for 2009:

Process
1. Maintain the healthy habits
2. Get training on proper us of weights
3. Get over my fear of going to the net in tennis
4. Take a yoga class which focuses on lower back and hip flexibility
5. Stop looking at the scale. No seriously. STOP.

Outcome
1. Run Bay to Breakers with a 10 minute mile pace
2. Make it to the semi-finals of a tennis tournament
3. Keep my blood sugar within range for the year
4. Bring my cholesterol down to 150
5. Bring my A1C down to 4.5