Measuring Progess

Matt and I went to a water aerobics class at the YMCA tonight and an hour and a half after it was over, he was still commenting about how good he felt!  Like, really good!  I'd say that's progress!

And speaking of progress, one of the things we've charged ourselves with thinking and talking about today is goals.  If we don't know where we're going, how will we know when we get there?  How are we going to measure progress and celebrate the milestones?  So tonight over our post-workout-Subway-dinner, we formulated our plan. 

We both have agreed on setting at least one concrete numerical goal as we are starting out.  And our deadline is my 30th birthday, April 6.

• Jen plans on losing 10% of her current weight or 31 pounds and running a 5k either on or before her birthday. (More on the 5k dream in a future post!)
• Matt plans on losing 15% of his current weight, or 57 pounds. (He also plans on running a 5k, but not until October.)

We also have more goals based on quality of life that we hope to achieve. 

Matt hopes to reduce his chronic pain level and provide an outlet for some of his stress, which should also help the pain level.  He wants to be able to travel, as well.  Currently, long car rides are very painful and require many stops and rests to stretch and relieve the pain.  He would also love to fly, but is worried it would require the purchase of another seat or be very uncomfortable due to his size.  He's definitely looking forward to size not being an issue, as am I!

For my goals, I will be focusing on my health, which seems like a given.  But for those of you who don't know, I am a diabetic and need to focus on improving my A1C score and controlling the disease.  I also hope to eventually be able to come off of my meds by controlling the diabetes with diet and exercise.  And, lastly, I'm looking forward to being physically capable of carrying a child.  Currently, I might be able to sustain a pregnancy, but my doctor doesn't recommend it.  I want that to not be the case. 

And as we talked tonight, we realized that there are things we both want through this process.  We want to be able to buy normal clothes from normal stores.  We want to be able to go to amusement parks and ride the rides.  We want to run together.  Basically we want to experience all that we are missing out on in life due to our size.

Inch by inch, pound  by pound, we'll get there.  We're still super excited about finally doing this together and sharing it with the world.  Thanks for walking it with us friends!