My Sweaty T-shirt: 2016 in review

It was requested that I update here at My Sweaty T-shirt, so here we are.

My latest bout of fitness was inspired, if you recall, by a visit to the app TimeHop, in which I noticed that over the years I had made various attempts to lose weight and get back in shape. Right after the New Year, I saw another post. That one from the beginning of 2016. It was a screen shot of Lose It, with the caption "Slowly but surely." The graph depicted a slight decline in weight, with me coming in at 250.

I didn't keep up with it. By the time summer hit, I was still at 250. By the time August rolled around, I was up to 257. I wouldn't be surprised if I was at 260 at some point. So, the first half of the year was not great. But then...

I'm a school teacher and one of the interesting things about being a teacher is that the beginning of the school year is a time where you can renew resolutions. Sure, you have goals for the school year, but it's also a time for you to reflect on personal goals. You can look at those New Years' Resolutions and really, you've got 4 months to accomplish them. So, I began to work out.

I want to run again, but am too heavy to do so. Them's the facts. But, we have an elliptical. So, I started using it every other day. I experimented with weights to vary things. I even did some yoga. And I started to see results. I used Lose It, and said my goal was to lose 2 pounds per week. I got up early to ellipticize before school for an hour. I'd make myself do yoga after school. I found what people usually find when they undergo a new fitness routine: I had more energy, I felt pretty good about things, and the scale began to change. The two pounds per week came off. Things were good.

Around 245, I hit a bit of a plateau. But, I kept at it, and broke through. By the time November rolled around, I had dropped 20 pounds, weighing in at 237. I went to a national conference in November and traveled there with a couple of my former professors. They noticed my weight loss right away, which was a huge boost of encouragement. I kept at it, and got down as far as 233.

Then the Holidays happened. I wasn't as good as tracking my food (honestly, over Christmas, I simply didn't want to. Partly because I didn't want to know how many calories I was consuming, and partly because I wanted Christmas to be stress free.) I kept getting steps, but working out didn't happen as much as it should. The weight ticked back up to 239.

Which is where I stand. And honestly, 18 pounds since the beginning of August is good. I'm happy with what I accomplished. My eventual goal is to get under 200. I know there's a road ahead, but I feel it's doable. After all, I've lost some already. I know I can do it. Weight loss is not one of those mystical things that eludes me. With hard work and diligence I can get there.

Some short term goals is to get to a healthy weight so that I can resume running. Personally, I want to be below 220 pounds to do that. If anything, being able to run will give me some much needed variety to my routine. There's no rush though, as this past week one day saw a high of negative 10, so it's not like I'd be running outside anyways.

I want to get back into yoga. Not that it's the biggest calorie burner, but it was relaxing and I felt good doing it. I've found a few dumbbell workouts to throw into my routine to ensure I don't get bored. Adding that variety will be key as I continue on.

I think my biggest goal though is to impress family and friends. I live a fair distance away from where I grew up, and haven't seen my family in person since July. I hope to make a trip home around Easter. I want to show up and hear the comments about how much I've lost. Not going to lie, I sometimes look at how many weeks it is until then, and think how much I could lose. Not that weight loss is linear, but it's a fun thing to think about.

That's my 2016 in a nutshell. Here's to more workouts, weight loss, and overall fitness in 2017.