HELLthy Screenings

Yes, there is more to say about these HELLthy screenings. It has gone from frustrating to absurd. I knew when I went my numbers would classify me as obese. After all, one only need be 25 pounds overweight to be considered obese. My frustration was not with the classification it was with the attitude of the person going over my results. So that was frustrating. It has become a point of laughter this week in our building. Below are some pics of friends of mine. They have given me permission to post their pics in my blog. After reading about my experience the other night, they have shared their experience with me. So... My friend who is a fitness trainer was warned her numbers are EXTREMELY dangerous...

Several other friends were told their numbers are not acceptable...

A couple were so upset by the news that they turned to chocolate to help with the stress...

ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? The irony is that some who went for their screenings and expected to be reprimanded because they know they have work to do were not lectured at all. Alas, the most frustrating part of these HELLthy Screenings have been the lack of consistency, compassion, and encouragement. Obviously, these screeners are NOT into motivation.

The HELLth Screening

This morning was my morning to go have my hellth screening for my insurance at work. A prick of the finger to check cholesterol, a trip on the scales, a height measurement, blood pressure reading, body fat test, and a 100 questions on a computer. After which, a person with not one ounce of health knowledge meets with you to go over your scores. So the guy I met with said "According to this (points to his iPad which has a red mark next to a couple of things)you are obese. You really need to work on losing weight." I didn't comment. I just looked at him. I had prepared myself. I knew this was coming. I was just waiting to be dismissed so I could get to work. He then said, "You don't seem very concerned." I shrugged, "I'm not." "You need to be. This is serious." "I know it's serious." "We could have a life coach call you and go over some strategies." "I'll be fine. That's not necessary." "You need to take this seriously." "I do take it seriously." "It doesn't appear that way." At this point I felt it was necessary to take a different approach. "I take it serious enough that I've lost 65 pounds. I have done it through sweat and tears. I haven't used a gimmick. I haven't used a drug. I've lost it the old fashioned way with diet and exercise. I go to the gym 6-7 days a week. I average 100 miles a month. I strength train 5 times a week. I work with a trainer." AND THEN HE SAYS... "This is my part time job. I'm a trainer on the side." People...if only I had taken a pic. You would understand why this was so humorous to me. However, I maintained my composure and didn't laugh in his face. "What exactly do you do for cardio? Are you getting your heart rate up?" Chuckling, "I know my target heart rate. I get it up and keep it up. I came here because I have to in order to keep my insurance premium 30.00 lower. You are not a doctor. You are not MY trainer. You know NOTHING about me. If I had brought pictures in of where I started and my statistics, it still wouldn't be good enough. You measured my body fat with a caliper. There is no evidence that those things are even accurate. It is much more effective to do a skin fold test. The weight you are telling me I should weigh is 40 pounds lower than what my doctor says I should weigh. I realize this is a job for you. However, YOU don't get to tell me I'm not taking weight loss serious enough because YOU don't know me." He opened the curtain and told me to have a good day.I never raised my voice. I was completely polite the entire time. I even smiled. As I was sharing this story with a co worker she said, "You know it's a good thing you are as strong as you are mentally. There are other people that would have been knocked back by that. Words like that would have made them give up." She's right. I'm not going to lose sleep about it. After writing this, I probably won't give it much more thought. It would have knocked the old me out of the game. That's what infuriates me. There are so many people who need support and a conversation like that is not supportive. My friend Sonya was livid. I think if she could have found the guy it would not have been pleasant for him. My trainer and I talked tonight and he said that by their standards he is obese too (if you saw him, you would know there is not an ounce of fat on him ANYWHERE). As I've said before, there are people out there weighing way less than me. They don't work out. They don't watch what they eat. It's not about a number. Yes. Yes. Yes. I still have weight to lose. I'm not going to dispute that. I'm going to get there. I've come a long way. The deal is...no matter what the number on the scale or the BMI or whatever...we should all be working on making choices which lead to a healthier lifestyle.

The Number on the Scale is After All Just a Number

Everyone says the number on the scale doesn't matter. If you've been reading a while, you know I've struggled with this. Yes, the scale has gone down 65 pounds. No, I'm not done. No it's not coming off fast enough. With about 40 more pounds to go, I have once again hit a plateau. In December my scales broke. I'm trying very hard to not replace them. My trainer reminded me there is a scale at the gym for my use and I don't need them here. Since we've returned to work from winter break, I've had many people compliment on how much thinner I'm looking. I've said thank you while the dialogue in my head goes something like this, "Shoo...I can't look slimmer because the scale isn't going down. Glad I'm faking people out." The rational part of me realizes this is ridiculous. I've been working out hard. My clothes continue to get looser. The other part of me is tied to the number on the scale. I've had this pair of khakis that have been too big for a while. I put them on this week and questioned whether or not to even wear them to work. I was in a khaki mood. They were big. They were comfy. Or not. After I got to work, I realized they were so big that I had to hold them up. Thank God I didn't have to run and chase a student that day. I don't think I could have kept them up. Several people made comments on that day about how necessary it was to retire those pants. I share the khaki story in prep for what happened last night. I am too cheap to go and pay full price for pants that are going to be too big in a few weeks (hopefully). Last night I left work and stopped at a thrift shop several co workers go to. One co worker happened to be there. I found a pair of khakis in my current size. While we were looking at other pants in hopes of finding a great bargain, Stacey asked me what size I was in. I told her and she promptly found a pair of pants one size smaller than what I had said. She said, you can wear these. I argued. No I can't. I'm not there yet. Yep. Bunchy ended up eating a mouthful of crow. They fit. Really nicely I might add. I wouldn't say I'm solidly in that smaller size yet, but I'm closing in on it. That's ten pant sizes since the journey began. TEN!!! I guess the point of this blog is to add evidence to the argument against basing success on the number on the scale. The scale has no idea that I can lift more than ever before, my cardio endurance is triple of when I started, and all of the other successes I am enjoying because of my hard work. The scale is after all just a number. With that being said, my trainer has devised a "diet" plan for me to get rid of some fat. We are hoping it will come off pretty quickly. It's called carb cycling. Three days a week I will only have a carb with breakfast. The other four days I have a carb with breakfast and another before 3:00. The plan starts in the morning. Veges don't count as carbs. I throw this in because I know there are some extreme plans where one can't have veges. I'll keep you posted on how this goes.

Resolutions vs. Commitments

Really? Really? It's been since October 29th that I've posted on here. OOPS! I have decided that I must post at least one blog per week this year. Time permitting, I will post more. I want to write today about the difference between a New Year's Resolution and a commitment. I've been doing some research about effective goal setting. According to Wikipedia a commitment is: "Commitment means to duty or pledge to some thing or someone, and can refer to: Personal commitment, interaction dominated by obligations. These obligations may be mutual, or self-imposed, or explicitly stated, or may not. Distinction is often made between commitment as a member of an organisation (such as a sporting team, a religion, or as an employee). A personal commitment is a pledge or promise to ones' self for personal growth." While a New Year's Resolution is: " A New Year's Resolution is a commitment that an individual makes to a project or a habit, often a lifestyle change that is generally interpreted as advantageous. The name comes from the fact that these commitments normally go into effect on New Year's Day and remain until fulfilled." According to the dictionary: "RESOLUTION > Noun. (1) a firm decision to do or not to do something: she kept her resolution not to see Anne any more ¦ a New Year's resolution." "COMMITMENT > (1) the state or quality of being dedicated to a cause or activity: the company's commitment to quality ¦ I could not fault my players for commitment." Some might say the difference between the two is splitting hairs. For me, there is a difference bigger than a hair. For years, I was ready to start my new weight loss plan on New Years. Since I had failed and was still overweight at Thanksgiving of X year, I would get through the holidays and come the first of the year I would make my resolution to lose weight. I was determined. I was going to get the weight off once and for all. Sometimes my resolution involved a certain exercise plan or sometimes it involved a specific diet such as Weight Watchers. One year I remember doing something Dr. Phil had prescribed. I bought a book and spent Christmas break reading it so I was ready on the 1st. However, since 2010 I have been committed to getting fit and healthy. As a result, I have lost a significant amount of weight and gained a lot of self confidence. Guess what? That commitment did not start in January. I think that I had joined a Biggest Loser contest at work and was trying once again to eat healthy. Actually, I was going through the motions of weighing in every week. Sometimes I lost, more often than not I gained or stayed the same. Frustration grew. Even bitterness toward those who were being really successful. For me the commitment started in May of 2010 when I first started working with Trainer Mike. Again, the difference between making a resolution and making a commitment. A resolution is “the act of resolving or determining upon an action or course of action, method, procedure, etc.” In contrast, a commitment is defined as “a pledge or promise; obligation.” For me, the difference between the two is where the personal responsibility lies. A resolution says what one intends to do. A commitment contains more emotional responsibility because one is making a "promise" to achieve a goal. When I make a promise, I keep it because my integrity is on the line. When I am committed to something, I do what it takes to make it happen. As I've been conducting interviews for my dissertation which examines the new Missouri Teacher Evaluation Model, I have found that one of the areas on which teachers are evaluated is commitment. This might include something as basic as having the right certification and credentials. In reality, it includes far more. Things that are looked at are what a teacher does as far as professional growth, their commitment to their students, commitment to their organization, and commitment to the craft of teaching in general. Many businesses have evaluated employee commitment for a long time. As professionals, many of us are committed to our careers. A resolution, then, might be a goal one sets and one might even take steps toward reaching that goal. In my opinion the reason why so often we aren't successful with our resolutions is because they are the first thing to go when the New Year wears off and life sets in. You know life? Professional obligations, family obligations, stress...Yep when those things get in the way we let our resolutions go. If we are committed to something we are more likely to hold onto it. Experts say we often self sabotage by getting to ambitious and setting too many goals. I have made a few commitments this year which I posted on my FB page. My number 1 commitment which comes before anything else is my commitment to my fitness journey. Therefore, I am committed to lose the final 40. There are many action steps that go with this. I have to get to the gym every day. I have to make the right food choices. I need to get enough sleep. I have to take my vitamins. You get it. I do all of these action steps because I am committed to my fitness journey. As we begin the new year make sure you examine what you are setting yourself up for. Are you making a resolution because it's the thing to do? Or are you making a commitment for which you will set action steps and follow through? I'm just Bunchy. I am only speaking from my experience. If you have set resolutions in the past and been successful, CARRY ON!!! FYI: Two other commitments I have made this year. 1) Keep up on my Bunchy Beats The Bulge FB page and 2) Be a more frequent blogger. If you need help getting going, let me know. I'll help if I can. :)