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    DDOORN   176,152
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Can't Help But Wonder Where I'm Bound

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

I've been re-thinking my goal lately, as I have been plateau-ing over the past 3-4 weeks. I've made such tremendous improvements over the past couple of years. Dropped from my largest pants size of SIXTY down to a much more normal 42...I can now walk into most any clothing store and buy myself clothes that FIT...WOO HOO!

But...it seems this has taken a bit of the steam out of my efforts in that although I've kept up the workouts...and ramped them up some...my appetite hasn't decreased and as I weigh less, I need fewer calories to either maintain or lose weight.

Which has me wondering...am I at the point of diminishing returns? Will I be pushing myself beyond the boundaries of contentment by ramping up my workouts even more? Limiting my food intake even more?

I'm really not sure...?

All I know is that at this point I am very satisfied with my lifestyle and if I only maintain I have a feeling I may not have too much of a problem with this. I guess it's a process...I'll find out over time if I get the itch to push myself further down the scale.

Originally I picked 190 as my goal weight, however it wasn't really burned into my brain as something I HAD to accomplish. Coach Dean's story ( www.sparkpeople.com/reso
urce/motivation_articles.a
sp?id=725 ) helped me to prepare for a goal weight quite likely OVER 200, which sort of troubles me, but it IS just a number (200) and so much depends on what feels right to me. What feels sustainable... It's a journey...and I guess I'll find out in good time!

Don
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  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

ANDALEX 5/15/2008 2:54AM

    one thing to remember is that you have plenty of time! this isn't a race. what if you decided to maintain for a few weeks (or months) and then reevaluate? if you still wanted to lose more, you could get back on that horse and keep moving. or, maybe this is just where you need to be.

i guess my point is that you don't need to make this decision today, or even tomorrow. you could maintain for a year and then get re-sparked. it's up to you!

either way, you've made amazing progress. you are truly an inspiration. thank you!

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DANDELION_WINGS 5/14/2008 3:51PM

    Don, you share some of the best article links in your blog and in your posts---thank you so much for that. Perfect timing for me to read that as well since this plateau that i've had for months may just be my particular 'set point' but i know that i still have a ways to go---the article makes me want to enjoy the journey more.

have a fantastic week! =)
roni

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DDOORN 5/14/2008 12:55PM

    Workout Details:

I have been bumping things up right along...a few weeks ago, I revved up my strength-building so that instead of 2 sets of 12 repetitions on 9 upper body exercises I started doing 3 sets and last week bumped up my set to 15 instead of 12. As opposed to past workouts, now I can really feel the cardio boost and have worked up a good sweat by the time I finish. Still doing strength building 3 times weekly.

Cardio has been fairly flat until recently. Had been doing 35 mins. weekday mornings, 70 mins. weekend mornings. This past weekend I used our Team Goal to motivate me to bump up the time to 80 mins. on Sunday and 40 mins. yesterday...today I couldn't get myself moving quickly enough this morning so back to 35 mins. but will be attempting to add that extra 5 mins. when I can. I am not jogging as often tho, as a few weeks back I bumped up my baseline speed to 4.2 mph instead of 4.0 and since I've found it more difficult to jog with increased speed (5.0 mph) on the faster songs. That 4.2 really pushes me!

So...dunno if these challenges are going to do for me or if I need to introduce something else...but I gotta say, I don't see myself squeezing in much more time working out! This is why I'd been hoping to pick up the pace on my treadmill to get more bang for the buck when I am on it.

We'll see how it goes!

Don

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TASHA8183 5/14/2008 12:49PM

    Don, I think it all depends on how you feel and what feels like healthy to you. If you're going to be uncomfortable with killing yourself with exercise and not eating to satisfaction then it's not worth it. Remember this isn't a dieting fad its a lifestyle. You have to do stuff that you will be comfortable with doing for the rest of your healthy life. =)

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