2013 Goal and Reward...Owning my shortcomings

I'm not gonna preface this with an apology for not posting. Let's face it. Its been over a year and I haven't posted. Let's accept this and move on.

I ended 2012 with a total loss of 70 lbs lost. I went from 347 down to 277. I also changed pant sizes by about 10 inches if memory serves me correct.

Let's talk about rewards and goals. I started my journey on November 22, 2011. 1 year later when the anniversary came up I didn't give myself a reward because honestly the reward was the loss.

For 2013 I set an aggressive goal of seeing 199. My body for whatever reason has decided to plateau and maintain between 270-280. The lowest I've seen is 269 then it goes back up again. I have a couple of theories as to why.

Theory 1: My exercise hasn't really been on point and my diet also hasn't been on point. But the 2 balance out.

Theory 2: I actually set a reward for the 199 bench mark and I think the the reward overwhelmed me and the work I needed to put in to make it happen. I think my psyche has decided that we're gonna plateau until you come up with WHY you want this reward.

Well let me tell you a story. Early November 2011 my mom and I were introduced by my friend to MyFitnessPal to track food and such. I toyed around with it discovered that yes I needed to make a change and such. But we had decided it being the holidays that we'd wait til January 1st and get through the holidays.

Then November 17th, 2011 happened. Vallejo Police Officer Jim Capoot was shot and killed in the line of duty while pursuing a bank robber. 5 days later was Thanksgiving. I thought about Jim's family who had adopted the motto of "Charge On". While I'm pragmatic and know that in public it was "Charge On" but in the solitude of home they were mourning and weeping for their loss. I know my dad was killed in '95 and in public there was a need to be stoic and at home that could all melt away.

But it was the "Charge On" mentality that struck me. So I told my mom who was spending Thanksgiving with me that we were starting our journey on that day. I cooked the Safeway prepackaged dinner then broke out the measuring cups/spoons and began dishing out the food in portion sizes and scanning into MyFitnessPal the meal and what I had consumed that day. My weight loss journey began in earnest.

8 Days after that was Jim's funeral and I was taken with the "Charge On" atmosphere and his daughters maintaining their clear knowledge of what the day meant and allowing themselves to be unguarded but guarded if that makes sense.

1 year later 70 lbs lost and no specific reward. I had read that you should have a reward, not food, but a reward. So I set a very aggressive goal and reward for the next year. I wanted to lose 199 lbs and if I made that goal I wanted the honor and privilege of meeting Jim's amazing family to tell them all this.

But again this goal isn't going to happen, I can't say the reward won't happen because if I limit myself to saying I won't meet people until something like a weigh loss goal happens I might miss out on an amazing encounter. If you look at it fractionally though the reward has 1/4 happen. Why 1/4? There's Jim's wife and 3 kids = 4. I had the honor of meeting Jim's youngest daughter strictly by accident. I did not know that she worked at a restaurant in Vacaville and the chance meeting was amazing.

I have 3 months and still maintaining the 270-280 weight range. I'm working out 6 days a week. I haven't participated in near the 5k's I did last year. In fact only 2 so far. I know I need to get on track but I just question what, if any progress will be made. I know I've been adding muscle lately but the scale keeps bouncing between 270-280.

I had adopted a motto of "No Limits" for year 2 of this weight loss. But I really realize that I should've kept the "No Excuses" I had for year #1. I'm going to do my best and accept what will happen between now and 11/22/13 and know that year 3 I will meet all my goals NO EXCUSES.

Until next time ... Be Well