Celebratory Day...ReLearning as Ever

Today has been a banner day for me in my fitness-sense of things! Way opened for the InBody scan I do a couple times a year, to check in with maintenance and ratios of fat, muscle, etc. The good news is that the holidays were not as much a down-swing as I thought. I’ve maintained well in the significant things I look for–metabolic rate, hydration, body-fat and muscle-development. And there isn’t really any bad news per se, which is nice. I always treat myself to the Ranking category of the app, which tells you your ranking in your age-group: Top 0.2% in females 45-55 years of age. That’s a good achievement-feeling right there. 

And the workout was overhead squats and hang-power-snatches with some bike-cardio. It felt good. I love the new lifter-shoes my mother-in-law got for me for Christmas. (Not sure whether it’s physiological or psychological, but I feel more confident and steady with the shoes! My way of being a CrossFitter suggests there’s little difference for me between mind/body here anyway. :))

I’m continuing to wrestle inside myself whether I’d like to weigh less, though, by which I mean lower the body-fat percentage. My CrossFit journey began with bodyweight of 208 lbs (I think), and so I’ve maintained the around 20 lbs loss over years now. Yet the bodyfat numbers have increased from their lowest levels amidst intensive-learning focus of Dedication Health.

The continuum is wide between the high-accountability choices I make within an investment-program like that and the lower-accountability choices I hold all by myself, in a home where I am the only one tending to her food-booze intake with measured intentions and greater consciousness. Don’t get me wrong–I enjoyed the holidays. I’ve been sorting out how best to be in my own home with its complicated community norms AND feel as good in my own skin as I know clean-eating offers me. All about balance and celebrations in moderation, as we know, if I struggle to practice consistently in our culture today. Part of my relief and delight at another round of Dedication Health community gatherings.

I’ve gotten curious about my associations with celebration. Why do my husband and I move to celebrate immediately with food or alcohol? Obviously a rhetorical question, as I associate like this because I grew up doing so–candlelight sundaes for diving off the high board when I was 9, pizza-night as a treat for some accomplishment, Chef Boyardee beef ravioli as a special birthday meal choice, etc. (Gross, right? It’s worse…ravioli and Jeno’s pizza rolls baked in the oven…all for me…) But now…Is there a different avenue for me that is truly celebratory yet doesn’t impose onto my own skin and feeling good? Like anything, it simply requires practiced ritual of re-associating…but it does take time and consistent intention. What’s so amusing to me about saying “I’m going to celebrate XYZ! by opening a favorite seltzer!”? Stay tuned as I experiment into new possibilities that I can yet share with my husband (who eats vastly differently than I now do…). Also smiling with a blog-find, which provided the image here: https://girlandtonic.co.uk/celebrate/ Great post offering 22 ways to celebrate "without alcohol" but clearly some spaces with sugar. But a start...

My goal for the year is also to move into greater upper-body-core strength, aiming for 10 strict pullups in 10  minutes by December 31, 2022. In this sense, the less body-fat means less to pull up over the bar. A portion of the core-strength learning is also a Daily OM course I signed into–a 7 day self-paced thing guided by a yoga-instructor for core-activation, pelvic alignment. Her marketing gig was to relieve lower back pain, which I don’t have, but I was curious about the alignment bit.  And yet...my CrossFit path is just a portion of my life, not an endpoint goal for all things. Listening…

I did splurge into some technology and a highly discounted offer for deeper learning for myself. Athletes really into CrossFit use technology to keep track–deep digital listening and analysis–of exertion, recovery, sleep, nutrition etc. For what I’m interested in for myself, all this is totally unnecessary. But I got curious!! So…my Whoop strap finally just shipped, and I can play with what I learn as I go.

So another season of intentional learning begins with a sense of precisely where I am, and what I’ve kept consistent in, what I could experiment with in choices and discipline. A bit at a time, and today, a day of celebration…to be honored with my favorite seltzer? A ramble with my beloved Brian enjoying some non-work time? I wonder…