There are different ways to measure ‘success’ and not all of them involve weight.
Six weeks ago, I wrote about my overall progress in reaching the non-diabetic range for HbA1C after ten years since being diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes, my improvements in blood pressure and other markers.
A month ago, I wrote about my changes in body measurements over the last 12 months and where the 25 pounds I lost came from.
Two weeks ago ‘success’ was documented with a series of composite of photos from when I was obese until now, along with some other details.
Last week, ‘success’ was comparing a series of videos that I have taken since the beginning of my journey until now.
Just have look at me in the first video (just a little over 1 minute long, link below) and even the first few minutes of the most recent video (a little over 1/2 an hour, link below) back to back!
This first video was taken March 16, 2017, just two weeks after I began my health and weight-loss journey. As significant as my size, listen to how out of breath I was!
This most recent video was filmed a week and a half ago (January 4, 2019) for the Keto-Solutions Bootcamp in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. Sure, I’m not walking in this one but trust me, I can do that and so much more now without getting winded!
Weight loss update
Yesterday, my weight dropped to a BMI of 24 (well into the normal weight category) which was pretty exciting given when I started it was around 32 (in the obese category) and as I suspected from the number of times I needed to get up last night, my weight dropped again today. I normally weigh myself only once a week, unless I know my weight has dropped.
With the drop in weight over the last few days (even with adjustments for body water fluctuation) and am around 3 1/2 pounds from my goal weight — well actually my third goal weight.
When I first started my journey, I set as a preliminary “goal weight” as the weight I would like to get to, if possible. That was the weight I was a year ago!
Having achieved that, last January I set a new “goal weight” of what I’d like to get to where I thought my waist circumference would be 1/2 my height. Once I reached that weight, I revised my “goal weight” downward — closer to the lowest adult weight that I was where I once looked best. Currently, I am just a little over 3 pounds from that weight.
Below is a graph of what my weight loss progress looks like over the past year (since the beginning of January 2018).
I’ve lost 27.5 more pounds on top of the 24 pounds I lost from March 5, 2017 until January 2018.
To date, I’ve lost a total of 51.5 pounds and to be honest I have no idea what my final weight will be!
My focus over the next several months is on achieving optimal health and that is about building additional muscle and continue to lose about 10 pounds of excess fat. It’s hard for me to know what “weight” I will be when I’ve accomplished that, but in the end, I don’t think it matters much.
Building muscle for me is all about health — and of reducing my risk of sarcopenia as I age (you can read more about that here). Continuing to lose the excess fat is all about further reducing any insulin resistance and continuing to lower my HbA1C even lower into the normal range with the goal of achieving full remission from Type 2 Diabetes (you can read more about that here).
At this point in my journey it is about striving for “optimal” rather than some measure of “ideal”.
The way I look at it, optimal is what makes sense for a ‘woman of a certain age’ who is newly in remission from Type 2 Diabetes almost 10 years after being diagnosed. Optimal is based on the exercise I am capable of doing now — after having both knees operated on in the past, as well as a back injury 8 years ago. Given my age, my knees and my back, what is optimal won’t be anywhere near what I was capable at 25 years old when I was doing 10 hours of karate a week! Those days are gone, but what is ahead is whatever I make of it now.
Pushing for the muscle gains now will factor into what what kind of “old age” I will live and losing the rest of the fat may enable me to achieve full remission from Type 2 Diabetes. This is more important than how I look!
And so begins another calendar year in my journey – a journey now focused on achieving optimal, not ideal.
If you’d like to know more about how I can help you accomplish your health and nutrition goals please have a look at the Services tab to learn more about the sessions and packages I offer and feel free to send me a note using the Contact Me form located on the tab above, if you have specific questions about how I can help.
To our good health!
Joy
NOTE: This post is classified under “A Dietitian’s Journey” and is my personal account of my own health and weight loss journey that began on March 5, 2017. Science Made Simple articles are referenced nutrition articles, and can be found here.
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