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My change from last week –

Change in weight (2/3/20 – 2/9/20): -4.6 LBS

I started this past week feeling great and I have ended the week feeling great. This is not because the week was perfect, but because I feel content with my effort and I overall feel good. The week hit me with a number of mix-ups. From work being busier and more stressful than usual to getting sick and having some family stuff, I found my commitment to tracking and personal care a little harder. With that said, I still kept my goals in mind and tried.

I did come down with a cold that has been getting passed around from my daughter on Wednesday. This one knocked me off my training schedule for the sole reason that I could not breathe with a plugged nose and I was insanely tired. It is crazy how you can be in the flow for weeks and just a couple days of illness makes it feel like the biggest challenge to simply get back on the bike. On top of this, work was very busy so I could not get many walks in during the day so my overall activity for the week was down a bunch. Thankfully I was able to get back outside on Saturday for a walk with my daughter and got out disc golfing on Sunday. I also did a a Peloton ride on Tuesday and Sunday.

I want to elaborate a little bit on the ride I did on Sunday. There is an instructor named Ally Love on the Peloton and she is a very spiritual individual. She leads a ride called “Sundays with Love” and they are meant to be for more than just you physical, but also your spiritual. Usually my ride preference is loud music, hard beats, and a hard push, but I found this ride to be what I needed this week. At one point she was talking about life and all that we have and she she said “what more could I need.” That one line is the majority of what I got from the ride (besides a great sweat and leaving 500 calories behind). I was thinking a lot about it and what it meant with regards to me.

My sister and I had a conversation just the other day about keeping up with the Joneses. I very easily fall into the trap of looking at other people and desiring to have a nicer house, a better car, a better job, or a better body. I do wish I made more money so I could get my family the home we want and myself the car I would like. I daily wish I had a better body and often wish I was smarter. This is where that quote hit me. It reminded me to think about what I have. Because life is relative. It can be relative to others or relative to you at a different point in time. I thought about my walk Saturday morning. We got out around 8:30am, it was 30 degrees out and sunny, and there was nobody in the woods. I literally had a skip in my step because I was so happy. My daughter was happy in the backpack, I was outside on a gorgeous sunny morning, and I was about as happy as I can get. In that moment, almost nothing could have happened that would make me happier. I have more than I could ever need. Each and every day I am fulfilled by my family, a career that I enjoy, and a faith that is strong. My career has advanced in strides in the past 4 years and my trajectory is nothing short of fast. So can I really complain when I adjust what I compare against?

I have found that fatherhood has only magnified the reality of how great things are. Does parenthood do that for anybody else? I know it is hard and kids truly know how to make you feel every possible emotion (good or bad), but it makes the other aspects of my life better. So despite my weigh-ins and regardless of if I am reaching my goals faster or slower than I want, I still have much to be thankful for because what more do I need?

I stepped on the scale this morning understanding that this past week wasn’t the best, but am so excited for the results. The last thing I expected to see was a loss in weight, let alone a bigger loss than I have seen in weeks. I guess the discipline and mindfulness is starting to kick in, and help me even when I don’t think I am hitting the mark. I am not disputing the optimism expressed above or trying to downgrade my successes, but I am being real with myself and all of you. I still need to get better at my consistency. Even though I am doing well, I still am consistent with eating or working out only 80% of the week. I have more falterings than I care to admit. I still graze too much while cooking, as I did last night with the Wheat Thins. I feel that my progress and confidence will only increase if I can dial this in.

But let me stop complaining to be proud. I had a great week with great results and I am happy. I hope that we can all celebrate the little victories. We don’t want to ignore where we can improve, but we deserve credit where credit is due.

Date	Change in Weight
12/1*	–
12/2*	-5.4 lbs
12/9	-5.4 lbs
12/16	-3.4 lbs
12/23	+2.8 lbs
12/29	-1.2 lbs
1/6	-1.4 lbs
1/13	-1.6 lbs
1/20	-1.4 lbs
1/27	+0.4 lbs
2/3	-1.2 lbs
2/10	-4.6 lbs

-Ben