A Little Reflection

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Off

Strangely enough, the beginning of a new year not only leads me to look forward, but also back to what the passing year has brought. This time last year, I was looking forward to my trip to a photography class in Orange County, California, and as far as I knew, my life was about as rock steady as it could be. Little did I know, I would travel more in 2008 than I ever have, move not just once, but begin the process of moving again, and to a totally different state. I would accept a new job, add a few initials to the end of my name :), go through the most physically demanding thing I've ever encountered, jump out of a perfectly good plane, re-examine my role as a doctor, wife, daughter and friend, and generally just grow more as a person than I ever would have imagined. Overall, not a bad year.

Here is where I was roughly this time last year in a picture from that trip to California:

My weight in this picture was roughly 173 pounds. The earliest measurements I can find are from February 13th. Which was a measurement at the waist of 32.5," at the belly button of 37.75," and at the hips of 40." Before leaving on this trip, I bought my first pair of size 10 jeans in over 10 years. I was getting about 12 16kg TGU's per side in 10 minutes. I didn't have my pull-up bar, and push-ups were definitely still an arch-nemesis.

Here's my latest pic from December 29, 2008:

My weight today was 154.5 pounds. My measurements were 30.75" at the waist, 35.5" at the waist, 37.75" at the hips, 11.75" at the left biceps, 11.5" at the right biceps, and 21.5" on each thigh. I'm in size 8 jeans for the first time since college (graduated in '95). The last time I did high volume 16kg TGU's I did 10/side for time and did them in 13'13." I've gone from regularly using the green and purple bands to do pull-ups to just the green, and my push-ups have progressed to much better form if not to much higher numbers. Unfortunately, looking back, my measurements and weight have gone completely unchanged since August. To try to focus on the positive, this lack of change also means I have not gained weight or girth during that time.

All-in-all not a bad year. I would have liked to be able to say that I finally reached my ultimate goal of beautiful muscle definition and being able to pump out push-ups with comfort and do at least one bodyweight pull-up. But, honestly, I am pleased with where I am, and I am very hopeful about where I will be next year for this same process.

TODAY'S WORKOUT: (Tabata rope-jumping followed by 2 min of jogging) x 4