Challenging My Weaknesses

Yesterday I was feeling pretty thin and I got my son to take some photos of me. Except, when it comes right down to it I've only lost 11 pounds since the last "progress" photo was taken at the end of November. Bottom line, there's not much visible change.

However, in the November photo I am wearing size 14 pants and a size XL top, whereas yesterday I fit into size 10 pants and a size M top. Since I work with weights a lot, the pounds come off more slowly as I am building muscle along with burning fat. (I just did three sets of 10 at 45 pounds on the bench press. Next time I will try 50 pounds. Seriously, I am so excited about this!)

Today in the weekly session with my personal trainer, we worked the lower body. For one exercise, I did lunges with one leg balanced on the BOSU ball. The thing is, I can't do this exercise in the middle of the floor, because I have balance issues as a result of hip replacement surgery. (The new, pain-free hip is wonderful. Unfortunately, the surgery left me with less muscle on my left side than my right. No matter how much I work to build strength -- and believe me, I WORK on that -- I still have two sides that are unequal in musculature. That affects my balance. Usually when I least expect it.)

Anyway, long story short I have to be next to a wall for potential support whenever I do any complex exercises requiring balance. Most gym walls are covered with mirrors, so I had an excellent chance to observe myself closely while I was doing the exercise.

Aaaand... what I observed was... a little fat woman (me) doing silly exercises.

So I went from feeling confident and thin yesterday to feeling bloated and incompetent today. I guess I've spent most of my time avoiding mirrors except for the absolutely necessary reasons, most of which occur at home. But now the mirrors at home are showing a reflection of me that is much, much thinner than I have been in many years. By contrast, the mirrors at the gym reflect me as... someone who still has a long way to go.

But I won't dwell on it, because I was pleased with my ability to do the lunges on the BOSU ball, an exercise which really challenged me in one of my weakest areas. I was also pleased that Costco had a batch of BOSU balls for sale at an excellent price, so on my way home from the gym I stopped in and bought one.

So once I get it set up I can practice these lunges at home -- on a lovely, mirrorless wall