My Dressing Room Drama
Are you a lady who hates dressing rooms? I certainly am. I almost never try anything on and would rather take the extra time to return clothing that doesn’t fit, rather than try it on in the store.
But, this particular day last week, I was trying on some clothes in my local department store, and, much to my surprise; I saw these thighs that didn’t even look like they were mine. They looked twice as big with roadmaps all over them. “Aaaargh” I said to myself. “Do my thighs really look that bad?” Alright, I need to stop and ask if you can relate at all to this trauma. Something tells me that I’m not alone here.
So, sadly I must say that after that dressing room incident, I was a little “down-in-the-dumps.” Yup, that’s right, little Miss Your Future Figure herself was not very happy with my figure that day. So I went home thinking that I needed to lose more weight, even though I have already reached and am maintaining a healthy weight.
I share that story with you to say this: It is ABSOLUTELY important—even CRITICAL—that you always have more than one method to evaluate your fitness. So many of us women use only the scale as THE measurement to tell us if we are doing well or not on our quest to lose weight. Then when that scale doesn’t say what you want it to (and there will be days like that), you, like me, will be “down-in-the-dumps”, ready to throw in the towel and give up the fight for better health and fitness. Please don’t let it be so.
There are a number of methods that you can use to measure your fitness and/or weight loss progress. Using some or all of them together will certainly give you a much better “snap-shot” of your fitness than using only one. Here is a short list of those methods:
Body Fat Measurements – I know it doesn’t sound good, but having your body fat measurements taken by a professional is a great way to see improvement and progress. At a minimum, a trainer should measure an area on the back of your arm, waist, and thigh to give you an estimate of your percentage of body fat.
Circumference Measurements – again, this is something that should be done by a professional, however you can also have a family member or friend help you. All you need is a tape measure. You can take as many circumference measurements as you want, but at a minimum, the bust, waist, and hips can give you what you need.
Cardiovascular Fitness – another way that I can tell how I am doing in my fitness level is by simply going to exercise. Things like endurance and loss of breath can give me a good idea of how my body is doing inside. There have been many times that I have gone to work out thinking that I have lost a certain level of aerobic health or muscle strength, only to find that I could run just as long, I wasn’t out of breath, and I could lift as much or more weight than the previous workout.
Pay attention to your body – we all know when we don’t feel normal or when there may be something wrong with our body. Simply paying attention to your body while doing activities like climbing stairs, lifting our children, or even standing for an extended period of time can give us clues to our overall health. For instance: are you winded going up the stairs when you weren’t last week? Does standing still for too long make your muscles ache? These are good questions to ask yourself on a day-to-day basis.
Scale – your good old bathroom scale IS helpful in keeping an eye on your weight. It is not inherently evil, but can’t always be trusted to give you an overall sense of how you are doing on your weight loss or weight management journey. When you do measure weight by your scale, try to do it the same time of day and with the same amount of clothing. I weigh myself every morning as soon as I wake up, but after my first bathroom visit. You can do what works for you.
Lastly, just look in your own mirrors.:-) Chances are that the mirrors in the clothing store were not quality glass. They may have even been some form of plexi-glass, which can make a HUGE difference in how you look, and not necessarily for the better.
I’m glad to say that when I got home and used some of these other methods to get a second look at my overall fitness, my peace was restored. I am not skinny (not that skinny is wrong), but I AM fit, healthy, and well. Whew, am I glad that dressing room drama is over.
In the unfortunate event that you too have a dressing room incident like I did, please refer back to the list above to get a more accurate picture of your fitness and/or weight loss progress and to regain your peace about your body.
Note: This is the first post of the “Wellness Wisdom” category. Wellness Wisdom is a weekly post for women on varied topics in the fitness, health, nutrition, and general wellness fields; all from my “girlfriend” point of view. I want to say a special “Thank you” to Michelle of I Heart Publix/I Heart Saving Money for seeing value in my site and inviting me into her world of blogging buddies, giving me an opportunity to positively affect many women. You’re the best Michelle. Thanks!
Tags: dressing room, evaluate fitness, I am not skinny, lose more weight, Lose Weight, measure fitness, measure weight loss, overall fitness, quest to lose weight, weight loss progress
