I still hadn't gotten over my disappointment last week of learning that I'd only lost 10 pounds in a year. I'd been trying to use it as positive tool, telling myself not to waste any more time. It was working in that I was following my plan to the letter, but still I couldn't shake that little dark spot in my mind. Yesterday, I decided to chart my weight loss by year. I wanted to be able to see what I weighed on June 14, 2009, 2010, and 2011, and every date in between.
This really wasn't a difficult task because I am a numbers geek. I have all sorts of data kept every way imaginable so, making the graphs really just meant sorting the data another way. So I began cutting & pasting the data into a new spreadsheet. As I began to review the data, I was shocked by what I saw. I yo-yoed even at the very beginning. As I had absolutely no recollection of this, I was certain I'd made an error cutting & pasting. I reviewed the original document and I had not made a mistake. My weight had gone up and down even at the very beginning.
I had memory of zipping right on down the scales, with large, relatively speaking, losses every day. That was another memory marred by time. I had plenty of days with minimal and even no loss. How odd!! I remembered stalling out just about time to cross over the 200 lb mark in to ONEderland. That was correct, but not complete. I did not remember jumping back over the 200 lb mark once crossing the threshold. The worst part is, I crossed over more than once...more than twice...more than three times!! Yes, I jumped back up over the 200 pound threshold 4 times before I got under to stay.
Oddly, that made me feel better than anything. I don't feel so bad now for jumping up out of the 160's. I'm going down for the fourth time this time, and I'm hoping/planning that history will repeat itself and this will be the final time I have to crack the 160's. I'm also hoping that I won't have that experience again in the 150's and 140's, but if I do I'll try to handle it better.
And just for the record, we still have no router.
Lessons Learned
4 years ago
Great revelation! Sometimes we can get so bogged down with certain "stats" - for me it's getting (and staying) under the 200 mark and then 194 is one of those #s that I've seen sooooooooooooo much, it's become a hurdle for me to get under. I have to start looking at it a different way. Thanks for this post - it helps me too!
ReplyDeleteDawn
My husband has a spreadsheet that has many years of our weights. Talk about ups and downs! So... let's make sure that our ups are over and you and I are moving in the right direction and staying there!
ReplyDeleteit's amazing when those rose colored glasses come off isn't it? we do tend to see the past as being better than it actually was, good memeories overshadow the bad and i get wistful when i think of the past.........now when i was living it NOT so much. lol great post and wonderful that it gave you perspective. xoxoxoxoxoxo
ReplyDeleteI absolutely LOVE my spreadsheets that I've kept faithfully since October 1, 2006 when I began this journey for I'd hoped was the last time. I have one for weight and one for steps recorded on my pedometer each day. I frequently go back see where I was 5,4,3,2,1 year ago. That was a wise thing for you to do. Why is it our memories are so faulty on the positive things, but can remember negative things eternally???
ReplyDeleteWow that was awesome! That's why I keep information. I have the same kind of memory. Makes me crazy some times!!
ReplyDeleteKeep up the great work. You are awesome!
Stay focused!
Great post with a great reminder of how faulty our memory can be. I think it helps so much to have an accurate record to look back on when we are discouraged.
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