The Daily Battle of the Bulge...maintain not gain!

Meeting my goal of a family photo shoot

I was reading my US weekly mag today, aka "girl porn", and came across the "Life after Loser" article by Eric Anderson & Brad Witter. It was, as expected, a puff piece celebrating the 10 yr anniversary of the Biggest Loser show and spotlighting 5 contestants and their 600 lb collective weight loss.

I have been a fan of the show for the last 10 years and even began my weight loss journey using their pay program with great success. I still cook from their cookbooks and the other recipes I got from their website frequently. However, I have always been bothered by the extreme weight loss contestants experience during such a short period of time and the complete lack of support they receive after their season wraps. It seems they gain a significant portion of their weight back.

At this point in my journey I am highly concerned with maintenance. I would love to drop this last 20 stubborn lbs, but as long as I am maintaining I am happy. In fact, I recently had another Fitness Assessment done at Miramont Lifestyle Fitness and I was pleased to find that although I have gained 10 lbs, it is 10 lbs of muscle and my body fat is actually 2% lower than it was at the conclusion of Dare to Lose,  my VO2 max has improved significantly, and I even brought my biological age below my actual age! My marathon training is paying off, a good thing too considering I will run my 1st marathon in less than a month.

I have personally found the key to my success is: never stop. I always need a goal. I find that it is also important to continually reevaluate the goals that I have set as they will need adjusting, and that is OK. In fact, it is better than OK, it's normal and healthy; life happens. Hitting my goals keeps me feeling successful and happy rather than disappointed and wanting to give up. Speaking of goals, I had set one in an earlier post around wanting to look good in family photos and for my friends' December wedding. Well mission accomplished! I just came back from this amazing wedding. I love the photos, and loved the compliments even more. I am riding high and feeling good. It will help carry me through my Goofy Challenge 39.3 miles early next month. Here's to health and happiness in the New Year!  Here's to becoming 40 and fabulous!


Carri and I at the reception! She has always been a fitness inspiration of mine. 

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