Woah, it’s February! January seems to have flown by in a flash, which got me thinking…
How are those resolutions you made going? Perhaps, like me, you didn’t make any resolutions at all, or perhaps you did the generic “eat healthier”, “do more exercise”, “lose some weight” kind of resolutions.
Or maybe you did Dry January, or some kind of January detox. I have mixed feelings about all these things, if I’m honest. It’s almost 8 years since I got into this industry and my thoughts around what constitutes healthy eating have gone full circle, and back round again (more than once). I’m constantly reviewing new research as well as looking at all the latest trends and, in reality, they’re just that – trends! Although sometimes what appears to be a new fad, is actually just 30 years of research finally making it to mainstream popularity.
Anyway, I digress. The point of this post is to say that, if you made a resolution of any kind a month ago, then now is the time to reflect and assess how it worked out for you. If you decided not to drink for a month, what were your reasons and how did you feel after 31 booze free days? My husband ditched the booze in a bid to say goodbye to his “Dad bod” (10 months of sleep deprivation has taken its toll). Interestingly, he’d had some blotchy red patches on his face on and off for ages, which he kept referring to as allergy spots, although we weren’t really sure what was triggering them. Throughout January he had no rashes or red patches. Then he had a couple of glasses of wine on Saturday night and came straight out in blotches. He’d long suspected he might be allergic to the sulphites in wine and now that’s pretty much confirmed. So as well as helping to shift a bit of excess belly, a month off the booze means that he knows that if he’s going to crack open the vino, it needs to be sulphite free. Thus, an alcohol free month has been a positive, useful project.
But let’s say you decided you’d have a month off booze / caffeine / sugar / meat (all of the above or whichever applies), and you finish the month just desperately craving what you omitted and desperate to jump off that wagon into a vodka / coffee / cake / steak* fuelled oblivion (*delete as appropriate), then not a lot has been achieved. Of course, the hope is that you end the month feeling refreshed, more energetic, with brighter skin and a tauter tummy. But that won’t last long if you’re going to just go back to “normal” afterwards, whatever “normal” means for you. And if you did lose any weight or inches in the process, than I can guarantee that they’ll go straight back on unless you stick to your new found habits (more or less).
Which leads me to my main point: Please don’t be driven by numbers alone, be that the number on your scales or your tape measure. Yes, I have always been a fan of measuring (versus weighing) and still maintain that inches are a far better indicator of whether you’re dropping fat or not (see my photo below). If maintaining the slimmer version of yourself, however, results in constant hunger, cravings and poor mood then it’s simply not sustainable. You need to find an approach that keeps you healthy and happy in the long run!
Of course we’ll always be driven by aesthetics, but it’s worth looking at other markers, not least because some of our more common markers (weight / measurements) aren’t always totally reliable, nor are they the be all and end all. I currently weigh around 5kg LESS than I did pre-pregnancy. This isn’t me boasting about the fact, it’s actually not something I’m proud of at all. Right now my body might weigh less, but it doesn’t function as well as it did before either. I lost a lot of muscle in the initial postnatal period and as a result I am far less strong, and have fewer curves – muscle gives shape dontcha know! If I were just using the scales to determine my achievements then, according to most people, I’d be doing pretty great right now. For me, however, I’d sooner gain back those 5kg if it meant I was getting good quality sleep, or could do a 20kg Turkish Get-Up again, or run 5km sub 25 minutes, or wear jeans that fit snugly round a nice pert bottom, rather than slipping down off a saggy one!
I haven’t shown these photos to anyone before, but I’m going to bare all and hope they demonstrate what I mean. (Otherwise they’re just embarrassing shots of my tummy)!
Here I am almost 2 years ago, a little while before I got pregnant. This photo was taken just after I had done the StrongFirst kettlebell certification, hence knowing my weight, as we had to weigh in for the event.
May 2014 (67.7kg)
This is me (and Milo!) 17 days after he was born, weighing a fraction less than I did in the above picture!
April 2015 (67.3kg)
And here I am yesterday morning, 10 months after giving birth, and 5kg lighter:
Feb 2016 (62.3kg)
If I’d known yesterday that I was going to share that photo I’d have at least dried my hair!
Jokes aside, here are some examples of other ways of measuring your progress:
– Sleep quality
– Mood
– Hunger / satiety
– Blood pressure
– Strength (this could be as simple as measuring how many press ups you can complete with perfect form, what weight you can comfortably swing a kettlebell, or something more technical such as your 1-rep max back squat).
– Cardiovascular fitness. Again, use your own way of monitoring, but perhaps tracking your 5km run time (ParkRun is great for this), or timing how long it takes you to do 20 laps at your local pool.
– How many new recipes you’ve tried. Honestly, even just pledging to try one new recipe a week can be a great way to change your family’s eating habits.
Let me know how you think you’re getting on when you start viewing your progress with a new set of parameters.
I hope this post demonstrates just how arbitrary weight is. So let’s all focus on the positives and the joy of what our bodies can do. Moreover, let’s be excited about the potential of what our bodies could be capable of in the future 🙂