Progress Update on Goals for this Year
(click on images to view them full size)
Goals for 2024
New Year’s party masks.
I don’t like setting New Year’s resolutions as I think that they have not been very effective for me. In contrast I like to make short and long term goals for habits that I want establish. I make sure that I focus on things that I want to sustain rather than passing trends that I may not continue.
About eight months ago I made a decision to take more intentional action with respect to my health and also to work on changing my body shape or more accurately body composition. Since the beginning of menopause I have been struggling to lose weight that seemed to accumulate overnight.
I have tried increasing exercise, cutting back on calories and other things, but nothing has had an impact or a sustainable impact. I was feeling very frustrated and like this was how I was destined to be - I have a small frame and extra weight really affects my joints and back, so I am motivated to ensure that I’m not carrying excess weight.
I joined a Macros 101 five day online seminar (https://www.bicepsafterbabies.com) to learn how to set my macros (calories, protein, carbohydrate and fat daily intake limits) and track them in order to lose fat. This was an effort to try and do something different that is not focused on dieting - I really liked the seminar because it focused more on the mental side of losing fat rather than tips and tricks to lose weight through diet. We spent a lot of time focusing on goals - what do we want to achieve and more importantly why. We broke that down into tangible measurable goals that we could work towards.
Interestingly the most important goal for me was to improve my strength to enable me to continue with wildlife photography and handle my heavy gear well into my senior years. With this goal in mind my focus shifted from losing weight to gaining muscle.
As I have mentioned my time tracking macros led to a revelation that I have been under-eating and I’ve been seriously low on my protein intake (Macros tracking blog). I made a decision to not try and lose fat, but rather to try and reset my metabolism by gradually increasing my caloric intake (specifically protein intake) - I went from about 30 g of protein per day to 150 g of protein per day and 1100 calories daily to 2100 calories daily.
Deadlifting 115lbs with the trap bar - thanks for the video Erin (www.holmesstrength.com).
In conjunction with this change in food intake I also started progressive overload strength training in order to work on building muscle and improve my strength level. Little did I know how addictive this would be for me - how empowering it has been to be able to lift heavier weights (also how well this would prepare me for lifting boxes and furniture during our move). strength training blog and moving blog.
The key parts of strength training that have worked for me is that it is fun, it is about building a community of like minded women who are encouraging as well as challenging and it is consistent. These are all key fundamentals that James Clear talks about in Atomic Habits.
Back in March I also started doing health/fitness assessments (similar to what Peter Attia recommends in his book Outlive). I did my baseline assessment in March which included the dreaded 360 scan - I mean there is no hiding lumps and bumps and bulges from this machine. My scan looked very much like the Michelin Man - it was not pretty and no I’m not going to share it! The assessment also included strength measures such as chest press, row and leg press measurements - i.e., amount of force you can exert for 30 seconds.
I have just finished the second round of assessments after 4 months of tracking macros and really working on my relationship with food and eating as well as 4 months of strength training.
Strength training session.
The second assessment occurred at the four month mark and the results support what I’ve been seeing in the mirror and feeling with the fit of my clothes. I have reduced body fat by 2.3% which is a very big deal especially for such a short period of time. Even more importantly for me is that I have increased muscle mass by just over 2%. This is really exciting especially at my age when maintaining let alone increasing muscle mass is so important. In addition the strength assessment showed a 25% increase in my strength compared to the last assessment (chest press, leg press and row).
I attribute all of these positive outcomes to the changes I’ve made in protein intake and the progressive overload training.
I’m very proud of myself and I really like that these changes have become sustainable habits.
I’m not expecting to continue to have this level of change at my next assessment, but I do expect to at least sustain these results.
How am I celebrating this success?
I have recognized that it is important to talk about my goals in order for me to hold myself accountable and it is equally important for me to celebrate my progress and successes.
Remember that I’m working on living in the Gain where I measure current versus where I started rather than focusing solely on my goal and staying in the Gap.
I plan to celebrate by printing and framing 5 of my images to hang in our new home and I have actually purchased a Ninja Creami so that I can make low calorie/high protein ice cream - I’ll share a post on this along with some recipes as I’m hooked. It’s helped me to make it through the heat waves we’ve been experiencing.
How do you set goals and work towards changing habits? I’d love to hear your thoughts and stories either in the comments below or drop me a note by clicking on the Connect with Me button.
Backlit Astilbe plants at Kingsbrae Garden.
I hope you’ll come back soon, share a cuppa, relax and enjoy more of my musings.
