When this happens to me, my brain goes right to those awful thoughts. Thoughts about my worth, or whether I deserve to be happy and healthy, or how I must be doing everything wrong. I don’t stop to think about whether there is an underlying issue; I go straight to “you are a failure.”

That is my mental state right now. As much as I’ve tried to work on it, I’m still living in the hurt, scared, inferior place my mind creates for me. I’ve seen the ads on social media for all the tricks and gimmicks and schemes, and believe me, I’ve been sorely tempted to throw money at a gimmicky solution for a quick fix, even though I know there isn’t one.

Think of the truth

Before simply continuing on this downward spiral, I’ve decided to stop and consider what is true:

• I’ve undergone considerable change and emotional upheaval in the past 12 months
• My blood work shows my thyroid could be a little out of whack
• My hormones, while “normal,” are on the low end of the range, which may be causing issues
• I have not weighed, measured, and tracked every morsel of food, so there is the possibility I’ve underestimated my calories

Thyroid and hormone results alone could account for much of my weight gain this year. I have not checked cortisol levels, but with everything going on, I have no doubt those are abnormal. I head back to the doc soon, to hopefully get some answers and solutions for those potential issues.

Other people who go through significant life changes tend to have some period of time called a “glow up.” Can I sign up for that part of the process now, please? I think I’m ready. I’m ready for both a mental AND physical glow up.

Where I’m starting from

Most days, I still feel like I’m in the chrysalis. In many ways, things in my life have not settled. To add insult to injury, my beloved dog passed away earlier this year, so I lost my lovable little furry buddy. Seems like for every step I’ve moved forward, I go another few steps back.

Not to mention I’m still not over everything that happened last year. I’m still dealing with the stress and fallout. I think I tried too hard to create normalcy, and that meant I didn’t deal with the hard emotions; I just stuffed them. I’m learning that no matter how hard we try to stuff them, they will surface eventually.

Also, what even IS a glow up? According to Merriam-Webster, it is “a striking transformation in a person’s appearance; a makeover, a coming-of-age”.

Somehow, for me, I think it will be more than just a physical transformation. It will need to also be an emergence into a more confident, uplifting, joyful human being. A mental and physical glow up.

The Glow Up List

Lists are fun and informative, no? In case you were curious, here is a list of 10 things I commit to doing regularly in order to facilitate my own glow up, in order of physical health, then mental health, then emotional/spiritual health. Also these are in no particular order, and I reserve the right to add or delete items as necessary for said health.

1. Track my food intake daily.
2. Work out 5 days per week.
3. Stretching & mobility work 3 times per week (more as needed).
4. Decide who I want to become — set goals in order to become her.
5. Continue therapy.
6. Branch out and find new support groups in addition to the ones I currently have.
7. Journal 10 minutes per day.
8. Practice reframing my dumpster fire thoughts into more positive and affirming ones.
9. Learn to spend time in silence and meditative prayer.
10. Take a break from social media at least one day per week.

While this seems a little daunting, I have confidence I can make this happen most days. Watch out world, when this glow up happens no one will know what hit them.

The post It is time for a ‘Glow Up’ first appeared on Sore Not Sorry.

The Dreaded Scale

Many people have a love/hate relationship with this device. It is the most common way to measure progress with health. The problem is, most people have a “weekly weigh-in” and don’t take into account the daily changes our body goes through. What you ate for dinner, how much water you are retaining, whether you have had a bowel movement…these all play a role in determining what that scale says.

We let this number affect our mental health. How many times have you gotten a result that you didn’t like, and said to yourself, ‘forget it — none of this matters, I’ll just have a cookie’. Oh wait — is that just me? Don’t tell me if it is.

Pro tip: as long as you don’t have an emotional attachment to this number–and trust me, this has taken me a long time–taking an average over time is a much better measure of this data.

Tape measure

Another way to measure your progress is to literally measure your body. I bought a new tape measure last month, and so far, I’ve been impressed! It is easy to use on yourself, and keeps the data in an app, which is really convenient.

Again…this is something that is better to collect data and look for trends over time rather than obsessing over your measurements.

That is so hard to do! I know. I’m right there with you. If I knew how to stop obsessing, believe me, I would be giving out all the tips. As it stands, I just measure and forget about it. And then conveniently forget to measure for the next 6 months.

Body Scans

You might be thinking, ‘what other torture devices are available to shoot down my confidence and tell me I’m clinically obese?’ Well, my friend, you are in luck! InBody is just such a torture device!

How much body fat do you have? How much lean muscle mass? What is your bone density? If you have ever wondered about those things…look no further. Set your bare feet on the scale and your hands on the convenient handle and let the…current?…flow through and determine the amount of all your tissues.

Then you can look at the results and die inside just a little bit.

But remember…like any other scale…it is affected by what you ate the night before, what time of day you are measuring, and can vary widely in the numbers it tells you–even on the same day. So take heart!

Which brings me to…

DXA Scanning

This scan is supposed to have maybe a 1% margin of error. Lie down, let the low-grade X-ray judge you. Show you your Visceral Adipose Tissue (that is, fat around your organs). Have fat somewhere else? Yep…you’ll see all that in a dark purple color! Didn’t think you were fat before? Oh boy, get ready!!

To be honest…it is a really good baseline. Repeating this measurement a couple times a year is probably beneficial. There is a lot of data to sift through and utilize to adjust your current routine and nutrition. (I’m still sifting through my data…and trying to understand what it all means.) Dr. Peter Attia probably has a podcast all about this scan and how to interpret data.

Non-Scale Victories

We can’t always rely on the hard data. Sometimes, you have to step back and assess your quality of life. Scale stays the same…are your clothes fitting better? Do you have more energy? Can you lift heavier weights? Did you beat your personal best mile time? There are plenty of other ways to measure your progress that have nothing to do with the outward appearance of your body.

Frankly…this is the HARDEST part of measuring for me. I tend to focus on the negative side; for example: ‘I can lift 5 more lbs than last week…but still not as much as ‘so-and-so”. This is extremely counterproductive. Once I figure out how to stop doing this I’ll probably write a post about it. Until then, I’ll try out all the tricks I can find to stop the self-sabotage.

So tell me…how do you measure progress? Anything else I should try?

The post If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it first appeared on Sore Not Sorry.

Except then you start ruminating on all the different ways people determine the “right” way to eat. How often and what type of exercise? How much sleep? And what exactly is a minimum amount of stress? You get deeper into the world of fitness and you just end up with more questions than you started with. And strangely enough, the miracle cure for one person may not work for you. And what works for you may not work for someone else.

We are all, apparently, unique. There’s a shocker.

via GIPHY

Keep it Simple…and Consistent

So, now what? A lot of trial and error? (Probably) I wish I could tell you there was some magical trick or supplement or expert to follow to the letter for sensational results. Heck, I wish I could tell myself that!

The only thing I can tell you is to keep going, even when it feels hard. Even when it feels like nothing is working. Even when you go off plan a little bit, or a lot.

It’s easy to get frustrated and quit. I challenge you to take the more difficult and more rewarding path of picking yourself up, dusting yourself off, and persevering. You may not see the changes you want to see immediately. You may not see them a month down the road, but I promise you, a year from now you will be very glad you stayed consistent. Please don’t think this means you have to be perfect, because I truly don’t think it is possible. All I mean is: don’t give up on yourself. Don’t fall back into old patterns that you were frustrated with because they didn’t give you the results you wanted! There is a reason you decided to make a change — remember that reason and keep going toward what will bring the changes you want!

Keep it Simple to start

If you haven’t read Atomic Habits, you really should. We always assume, when we are trying to reach a big goal, that we have to change everything all at once. (I’m very very guilty of this too! ) NEWS FLASH: you don’t. Take it slow. Pick something small and start with that. If you are already drinking enough water, add in a step goal every day. Once you get those habits in place, pick something else. Choose an eating plan and start. Counting macros? Start with calories and protein…worry about fat and carbs later. Find ways to make the changes sustainable and doable for your daily life.

Stay simple, my friends

There are new advances in technology and science every single day. Eggs are good, then they’re bad, then it doesn’t matter because inflation + avian flu = taking out a loan to buy them! Should we eat meat, plants, or plant based meat? Red meat, white meat, seafood only? Do you know where all your food comes from? Processed or “clean”? Does clean mean not processed, or minimally processed?

Cardio? Weights? Both? How much of both? Neither? (Just kidding, neither isn’t really an option.)

So. Many. Questions. So many conflicting opinions.

From me to you

My advice? Make a decision and stick to it. Do whatever diet or eating plan you want, just stick to it. Find whatever workout program you want, just stick to it. (The only caveat is, make sure you are using proper form…we definitely want injury-free training sessions! If that means asking a friend who has experience, or paying a professional…do it! Money well spent if it keeps you injury free.)

The consistency (there’s that word again) will do more for you than the actual program. You can be successful on any program! Wait until you have been consistent with one program for a while before deciding to switch. My recommendation for a good place to start would be counting macros. To me, that has been the easiest. Start with tracking what you currently eat and gauge your current intake. Then there are all kinds of calculations based on activity level, age, weight, BMR…the list goes on. Just pick one and try it out.

I can recommend workouts to you as well. You probably do not want this. If you haven’t worked out in 5 billion years…just start by walking. Start small. Keep. It. Simple. Keep it consistent.

You will be so glad you did!

The post Keep it simple, even though it’s complicated first appeared on Sore Not Sorry.

Scale Results

To be fair, I’ve been trying to disassociate myself with the numbers. The data is good to be aware of, but at the end of the day, it is just data. And I have made progress, and the numbers are moving in the right direction, just not at the rate that I would prefer to see.

So, now we pivot.

The good news is, the added calories did not make me gain weight. Just the opposite, I actually lost both weight and body fat. I could continue with this progress and I would still reach my goals, it would just take a lot longer. Mind blowing information for someone who has tried every diet known to mankind (except Whole 30) and always thought a deficit meant I needed to severely restrict calories. Now I know my maintenance calories can be a lot higher than I originally thought.

How to Pivot?

I will know for sure what the next phase of my plan is sometime in the coming week. For now, I’m continuing to focus on meeting my protein number. I think what will happen is I will have to be in a larger deficit for a short period of time, while still hitting a high protein number. The larger deficit should be fairly easy to return to, the hard part will be meeting a higher protein goal while keeping my calories in that deficit.

One Caveat

I chose this option of quicker results for two reasons: one, the holidays are coming up and starting in a good place might allow for me to feel more comfortable with a few indulgences here and there. I want to be able to enjoy different foods with my family and not feel like I am doing something to set myself back. Two, I still have over 30 days on 75 Hard so I have the leeway to challenge myself further and get the most out of the program. Why not make 75 Hard even harder? #stayhard

Caveat being — there is nothing wrong with continuing with the snail’s pace progress. It is still progress! Things are still moving in the right direction, I still lost weight and body fat, my muscle mass essentially stayed the same, if I kept this up I would continue those trends (while hopefully adding muscle mass) and in what might feel like 87 years, I would reach the end result I was after. Mentally, I don’t want this process to feel like 87 years! I want to reach my goals and tweak my maintenance phase so that I can live happily and comfortably forever and ever, amen.

I want to step off the roller coaster for good. I also can’t wait to see what happens after I try the slightly more drastic approach!

The post Pivot! first appeared on Sore Not Sorry.