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If you are in the midst of a weight loss or fitness plan, can you describe what will qualify as success for you? Not necessarily in terms of numbers, but in terms of how you look, how you feel, how you live, how you perform at your chosen activity?
I set out a couple of years ago to get fit enough to keep up with my family and be comfortable and happy hiking. I wanted to drop my blood pressure out of the "prehypertensive" zone it'd been in since my late 20s. I wanted my electronic scale to read below 30% body fat -- because 25-30% is NORMAL for women (although electronic scales are quite inaccurate and I expect calipers would put me at least 5% lower than what the scale reads.) I wanted to be a good example for my children of making physical activity an enjoyable part of everyday life. I wanted to have a base fitness that would allow me to temporarily train harder and achieve more lofty goals, like running or riding farther or faster.
I'd say I'm there. My blood pressure is about 130/80, which is better than it was but can still be improved for sure. My total cholesterol is 156, which I'm pretty stoked about, since I think my paternal aunts had to go on cholesterol-lowering drugs in their 40s! My bodyfat scale has been below 30% since last May, and my weight has been steady within a +/- three pound range for over 18 months. I ran regularly all last summer, and my kids and I hiked farther and steeper than we ever have before! My kids now absolutely love biking and hiking, and my son is ready to train to run a 5k.
I'm training for the half marathon and feeling really confident I can PR it, but I also don't feel like I have to run always and forever to maintain my body shape where I want it -- I might well take November through January off again, swapping brisk walks for running, and be none the worse for wear.
How about you? Where have you started, where are you now, where are you going from here?
I set out a couple of years ago to get fit enough to keep up with my family and be comfortable and happy hiking. I wanted to drop my blood pressure out of the "prehypertensive" zone it'd been in since my late 20s. I wanted my electronic scale to read below 30% body fat -- because 25-30% is NORMAL for women (although electronic scales are quite inaccurate and I expect calipers would put me at least 5% lower than what the scale reads.) I wanted to be a good example for my children of making physical activity an enjoyable part of everyday life. I wanted to have a base fitness that would allow me to temporarily train harder and achieve more lofty goals, like running or riding farther or faster.
I'd say I'm there. My blood pressure is about 130/80, which is better than it was but can still be improved for sure. My total cholesterol is 156, which I'm pretty stoked about, since I think my paternal aunts had to go on cholesterol-lowering drugs in their 40s! My bodyfat scale has been below 30% since last May, and my weight has been steady within a +/- three pound range for over 18 months. I ran regularly all last summer, and my kids and I hiked farther and steeper than we ever have before! My kids now absolutely love biking and hiking, and my son is ready to train to run a 5k.
I'm training for the half marathon and feeling really confident I can PR it, but I also don't feel like I have to run always and forever to maintain my body shape where I want it -- I might well take November through January off again, swapping brisk walks for running, and be none the worse for wear. How about you? Where have you started, where are you now, where are you going from here?
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