When change happens at a snail’s pace

This past weekend, the Barre Code wrapped up its Resolution Remix challenge for the month of January. The goal was to use a bingo card filled with challenges to mix things up, from trying new formats and class times to completing a one-minute plank or 20 burpees. I knew with the right amount of planning, I could accomplish my goal of blacking out my bingo card.

I was so excited when I finished up the challenge with over a week to spare, filling in all of the spaces by January 23rd. I was the second client at our studio to get it done, and by this weekend, there were 19 of us who accomplished this goal.

This challenge helped push me into a new gear for the beginning of 2019. I’ve been a faithful Barre Code client since hitting the ground running (or tucking, or squatting, or pulsing, rather) in September 2018, but the Resolution Remix challenge was just the thing I needed to tap into that New Year Motivation mood.

Then, this past Super Bowl Sunday, Zack and I also participated in a 5k with his boss, Governor Gretchen Whitmer. Governor Whitmer’s goal for 2019 is to complete one 5k a month, and she just so happened to be signed up for one not too far from our house. When Zack said he had volunteered to help staff the governor and needed to do the 5k, I decided to sign up at the last minute. While my shins are really feeling it a couple of days later, it was so great to do something new and unexpected to mix up my routine.

These accomplishments are helping to distract me from the fact that while I’m transforming in some ways, other things aren’t changing as quickly. The big one is the number on the scale.

That darn scale. No matter how often I try to avoid using it all together, or try to focus on the strength I have gained over these last several months, I can’t help but let a part of me focus on the fact that this is one tangible change I’m not seeing yet. The number, though lower now than it was in September, is moving at a snail’s pace.

This time last year (heck, last summer even) I never would have thought I’d be taking barre classes four or five times a week. I would not have imagined I’d be waking up early for 6am classes. No way. But with Zack’s work schedule on the campaign, 6ams were my only chance at sneaking them in while everyone else was asleep. And, in a way that year-ago me would find absolutely obnoxious, I actually somehow like 6ams now. Um, what?

The truth is, I’m certain there are more changes I could make to my routine, such as, you know, maybe not having some Jeni’s ice cream at night when we’re watching “The Bachelor” or “Top Chef.” I could follow a diet plan, I’m sure, but the truth is I’m not willing to go down that road again. I’ve been trying to make better choices, but ultimately I don’t want to dip back into an unhealthy relationship with food like I’ve done in the past.

Patience is a virtue, but so difficult to embrace when I am motivated by things that are tangible. It’s hard to scroll through Instagram’s #weightlossjourney feed and see what some are able to accomplish, like losing 20 pounds in three months. But I still look, because comparison photos are motivating to me. I especially appreciate ones that show a major change even when the weight loss is smaller. Sometimes, it’s just not about the number.

Why is it so hard to remember that sometimes?

That’s why I’ve tried to take photos along the way, in order to convince myself that the changes might be slow, but they’re there. I have hesitated sharing comparison photos beyond the smaller, safer confines of my Instagram feed, because I still very much feel like I’m at the beginning of a much longer trajectory. I was going to say journey, but that is too much Bachelor-speak for me.

These comparisons definitely illustrate more of a then and now, versus a before and after. Things like this are typically called non-scale victories, so I’m just going to embrace them and let them motivate me to my next goal: hitting 100 classes at Barre Code. 82 down, 18 to go.