Friday Follies: Non Scale Victories

Looove me my NSV's!

You know what they are - if you've been in the health and fitness* realm for any amount of time you hear about it. When you hit a 'plateau', that's when the NSV advice comes out of the woodwork, usually under the title, "Other Measures of Success."

These are hints and tips that can either be annoying or helpful, depending on where your mind is when you hear them: Use measurements, how your clothes are fitting, your energy level, your fitness level, etc., basically, use ANYTHING OTHER THAN THE SCALE to measure the progress towards your goal of a healthy weight.

"Research has shown the best way to lose weight is not to diet but rather to work towards a healthier lifestyle that you are able to maintain for the rest of your life." - From Leanne Ely's "Healthy Foods" Newsletter

I have to say, before my Inner Princesses, Veruca & Stevie, and i got on the same page, I *hated* NSV's.

There would be stomping and pouting and screaming! Who cares if my pants are falling off my bum! So what if I can run a little faster (heck, the fact that I can run is huge!) But... But... The scale hasn't MOVED! Why do I/we even bother?!?! Seriously??!?! What does it matter if I have carrots or cake if this is where it gets me!?!?!

::Bangs Head on Desk::

It wasn't until I got seriously sick and tired of a 12" square box telling me what kind of mood I was in that I understood the benefit of NSV's.

In fact, it wasn't until the Princesses' & I shifted our focus to our _actions_ (ie number of fitness minutes/calories burned, number of fruits & veggies per day, cooking at home vs. eating out, getting enough sleep, increasing weight lifted, etc.) rather than results (ie the number on the $@&% box) that wonderful things started happening.

Namely, I finally saw a consistent drop in the numbers on the box, and decrease in the tape measure to go along with feeling great, eating well, and having pants falling off my bum.

I've already shared one NSV this week and I'm happy to share another one...

I am wearing something today that, to my recollection, I have NEVER worn before!

I think it was a bit of foreshadowing when I shared the bracycling info because I hit the JC Penny's last night to take advantage of their "unmentionable" sale.

I am stunned to report that, after trying on several sizes and varieties of "unmentionable" holders that I'm no longer dwelling in the land of the double letters!

I knew my girls were looking rather deflated of late, I just didn't realize they were /that/ deflated.

In fact, this morning when I put on my spiffy new "unmentionable" it was a little looser than it was last night... so I may be down even more than I realized!

[Ok, for the more direct interpretation of all this: Went bra shopping and I can't remember a time in my life when I wasn't a DD...I think I went from 0 to DD in a matter of months during puberty. Yeah. That was interesting. At one point I was wearing a 40DDD! As of last night's shopping venture, I'm at a 36D! I'm actually pretty close to a band size of 34 and possible a C! Guess I rocked what I've got a little *too* much! LOL!]

This weekend, I venture into the land of jean shopping - my order fell through and JCP has a sale on Levi's. Hope to be sporting some non-lonely jeans soon! Not to mention working on my pull-up form cuz darnitall I *will* do a full on pull up one day soon!

How about all of you? What NSV are you celebrating?!?!

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*Because of where I am emotionally and in my journey through life and towards a healthy life overall, this ceased to be a "weight loss" journey long ago and has become focused on living an overall healthy LIFE. Don’t get me wrong; I'm all for blasting excess fat from your body and increasing your fitness and nutrition level, and want to help people achieve that in their own life.

I personally feel there's too much focus on "Weight Loss" - the actual pounds lost according to the scale. There are enough people out there who will cater to this type of thinking and will be more than happy to talk up and down about it... I'm just not going to be one of them.