I've lost 20# so far..... and gained some significant fitness over the last few months.

Am I happy with that? Yup. Thrilled. However, I'm also going to have to find a way to be comfortable with some of my fitness goals taking a backseat to my body recomposition goals. I row with a competitive masters team, and am in a boat heading to San Diego Crew Classic in 6 short weeks. Right now, I'm S-L-O-W.... relative to this group of gals. And relative to myself during other seasons. Technically strong, but speed slow. We had a sprint rowing pratice this morning and it was not a happy thing for me. 

I warned the coach before I accepted a seat that my personal priorty now is weight loss and that means I'm not gonna be as fast as I might otherwise be. Long term, this is what is best for me- mentally and physically. I joined this DietBet in part to keep me focused on that. It's far to easy for me to allow others to derail my personal goals. "Oh, I should just start eating to perform now so I don't let them down (even if it means I regain 20# and torpedo my own goals)."

So, I'll be where I'll be come SDCC. Slower than I'd like. And come May, I'll be at goal weight. Then, I can get stronger and faster. Boom. No more trying to do two things at once, Julie. Pick one thing. I did- and I chose weight loss. And yes, I understand that weight loss and fat loss are not the same thing.... yada yada yada. I'm still borderline obese and need to drop pounds, and if I lose some muscle while still working out, so be it. 

Now, to end this on a positive note, I want to remind myself of the good things that have come from my efforts the last 8 weeks so I don't obssess over my sucky sprint numbers from the workout this morning:

  1. I have lost just shy of 20#.
  2. I have dropped 1-2 pant sizes and a bra size or two. 
  3. I lost 23 inches. 
  4. I can do 10 consecutive knee pushups again.
  5. My heartrate has come down roughly 25 bpm in the last 4 weeks- better overall fitness. 
  6. I can see muscle definition in my upper body. 
  7. I stick to my food plan. 
  8. I am hitting the same lifting numbers I was last year. 
  9. I can erg for an hour at faster splits and the same HR. 
  10. I make my workouts a priority. 

I might be slow now, but I'm faster than yesterday. And more importantly, I'm keeping my personal goal the main thing. Remind me of that if I get off track, would ya? 

(I'm in the crazy orange shirt and pink visor- isn't our view beautiful???)