I'm training for the Paris Marathon, this coming April 11th. I'm a hiker not a runner. So while I'm in good physical shape and have lots of stamina, I have found this first week of training to be very challenging.
I've been keeping a diary of what I weigh, eat, drink, and how many kilometers I cover each day using the run-walk method of training. I run one day, and hike the next.
The three dogs run with me. At the beginning of the week, I found their antics annoying: the puppy comes running at Antoinette, who is usually at my side, so that they both knock into my calves. I was getting angry with them and stopping to chastise them, until I had a conversation with a friend who was telling me about his marathon running experiences. He said that the most difficult part of the marathon is staying on your feet and not being tripped up by the thousands of runners that jostle you for position or the endless sea of plastic bottles and cups that litter the road in front of the water stations.
Now I view the dogs as wily trainers who are teaching me to never lose my balance -- even when being bludgeoned in the calves by furry, 45 pound battering rams.
At Camp Biche, we don't weigh the clients when they arrive or depart, or anytime in between. I'd rather clients use a tape measure or their own clothes as a guide. For as my diary has proven this week, even when you're doing everything right, low calories and lots of exercise, the scale doesn't tell the true story.
The daily weigh-ins have made me psychotic about my weight. I can see why people give up dieting and exercising after just a couple of weeks if they are using the scale as their measure. Since the beginning of the week I've progressively gained five pounds, and now with one day to go before the week's out, I've come down 2.5 pounds!
That's crazy.
On the other hand, I feel fantastic . . . enervated, brimming over with confidence . . . and my clothes are fitting ever so slightly better.
Throw away your scale . . . it does not reflect improvement in fitness nor health, and it often is a discouragement in your quest for well-being.
Getting fit and losing weight do not happen in neat linear progressions. If you apply yourself, to eating healthier, eating less, and exercising more, you'll get where you want to go . . . but on your body's own timetable. Often you must take the inevitable one step backwards in order to go two steps forward.
Breathe in acceptance. Breathe out acceptance.