Thursday, October 1, 2009

The Boredom and the Excitement

As I sat this morning thinking of post topics, I found myself circling back to something Mommy2Joe brought up a few days ago. Namely, that losing weight is incredibly, incredibly boring. She aptly described it as a "huge, slow, pain in the ass." And, honestly, she's right. Losing weight is one of the most boring things I've ever done. I've conquered the basics, the eating less and the moving more. I'm consistently dropping pounds. I've got it down. But, when you consider how fat I am, how far I've got to go, we're looking at almost a year just to get down to a normal weight range. And that's if I keep dropping 2 pounds a week. I've just got week in, week out of denying myself treats, pushing myself to the gym, and just slowly, slowly, slowly building up calorie deficits. My Tuesday weigh in was 243.5. That means I have 98.5 pounds to go till a normal weight. That means I need to build up a 344,750 calories deficit. Like, holy shit. That's a LOT. This is going to take a long time. A long, very boring, very same, very challenging time.

Sigh.

The flip side to this, of course, is that losing weight can be so amazingly awesome at times. Going to the scale in the morning and seeing the drops? Seriously, there are few feelings as good as a well deserved bigger than expected loss. The concept, itself, is epic. We're battling metaphorical demons and literally saving our own lives.

And everywhere you go, there are milestones, gigantic monuments to your accomplishments. Each pound, each point of BMI, each percent of body weight. The smaller pants, the smaller shirts, the smaller everything. The not getting winded walking up stairs, and walking and running and moving faster than you ever have before. Honestly, at this point if you told my rather critical mind that I'd be able to fly by the end of this journey, part of me would half believe you. I'm doing things I'd never thought I'd be able to do so much sooner than I thought I'd be able to do them. Where else do you get to accomplish so much?

Losing weight is a fabulous, exhilarating, exciting and awe inspiring journey. It's also one of the most boring things I've ever done.

18 comments:

  1. That's one reason I love blogging and my AWESOME group of girls on my Weight Watchers message board. When I'm bored, someone else is bound to be doing something exciting....a challenge, a new workout, hitting a milestone...something, anything. So, I get excited again and happy for them. Before you know it, then it's exciting again for you!

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  2. Perfectly captured. Loved it.

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  3. The only part I "like" about losing weight is the clothes choices. As I shrink I can wear things I NEVER thought I could wear before. The rest of it sucks out loud! Oh and I sort of like the attention i am getting from my husband...*wink wink*

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  4. I never thought of this before! How funny but you really did capture exactly what it is about. LOL!

    Congrats on the GREAT weight loss so far and being Biggest Loser on our team!! Keep it up Hadley! And you will be the big winner at the end of the challenge! Hey the challenge makes it a little less boring right???

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  5. Ain't that the truth? Damn paradoxal journey!

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  6. OMG, Thank You for this post! I was just telling my cousin this morning that eating healthy is sooooo boring and how I dont really have much to look forward to(Sad, I know LOL) Eating twinkies and knowing I was gonna eat twinkies used to give me this excited feeling like I was about to get kissed by some celebrity. This anxious, excited feeling and then dread when its over, like a horrible one night stand gone wrong. Its nice to know that eating right and losing weight is boring to a LOT of people! :) WTG Hadley!

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  7. For me, the only time weight loss is boring is when I am doing it wrong. When I am just going through the motions, I get bored. But when I am constantly pushing myself to do good and be better, I'm never bored. I'm in pain, I'm exhausted.. but I'm accomplished.

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  8. I don't find it very boring either...frustrating at times, but not boring.

    Blogging is a big tool for not getting bored, like one comment said.

    You can do this....we'll push you along when you get too bored!

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  9. The changes have been frequent enough that I don't find it boring either...and I actually worry about that because the excitement of it distracts from other parts of my life and I really don't want my life to become all about the thrill of my weight loss because what happens when I'm done???

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  10. Truthfully, I find some of the boring aspects of this journey comforting. I like that I know if I eat this and not that, that if I do this and not that, that I'll see results. Dull days can lead to spectacular weigh-ins!

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  11. Well said. It definetly can get boring. But for me, I so appreciated all those little things that you listed, that I honestly did anticipate every little non scale victory.

    It took me 14 months to lose all my weight. It seemed like a long time while I was in the process, but now, I realize how fast it really was!

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  12. I'm feeling rather bored right now actually waiting for...hoping for two pounds to drop this week. I totally know what you mean. But yes, you are so right about all the little fun stuff of fitting into smaller sizes, feeling better about yourself, feeling more energetic.

    When I would get bored, I would remind myself that I'd rather be bored waiting for weight to drop than it never happening.

    Good post, Hadley.

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  13. so true. the "week in, week out" thing gets to me a lot. but being able to shake it up with little mini "Reveals" and new pant sizes and new exercise records make it better.

    great post!

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  14. So very, very true. The last paragraph sums it up so perfectly. I love, love, loved this post.

    You are doing awesome! Here's to the next milestone! :D

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  15. Dropping weight is like paying off debt. If you only make the minimum payments it will take you many years to get rid of it. If you want to pay it off faster you must double and triple up on the payments. Doubling and tripling up on your workouts will get the weight off faster. It's up to you.

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  16. Hadley, sorry. I understand that I got to you about my number 5. But its only fair that you know more. I for my family on my father's side am small too skinny and should eat more. when it comes to my mother's side of the family I am a fat cow... yes they tell me moo... anyway. its not that I cant understand it I have seem my cuz struggle with her weight forever. (mostly health), but What gets to me are the people who do nothing about it. You are working hard. and I support you. I am also inspired by someone like you. I understand that a health related weight is different than just being over weight. What gets to me are the people who dont want to change that dont care... Most people do care about their weight and try to do something. and sometimes nothing works. but its people that do nothing and feel nothing about their health.

    I dont know if that makes any sense... and for everyone else that is apart of this challenge they are amazing... none of you ladies apply to number 5. but I know many other people that do apply. its an unfortunate part of life..

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  17. It is boringly exciting!

    I know this is why I struggle so hard to find balance...to keep me sane! Can't focus just on what needs to be done (aka the boring) but can't just focus on what has been or 'could be' (aka the exciting) or nothing will get done. lol

    Have a great weekend!
    Lynn

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  18. I guess I don't really think of it as boring. Perhaps it is because I am a boring person, so it is hard to distinguish between normal and boring. :-/ I don't know, for me, it is just a part of life.

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