Hail Caeser

This morning my fasting glucose was 94. Not bad, but not good either. Considering my Romanesque over indulgence in tribute to saturnalia that we call Christmas, I was expecting much worse. I also had to loosen my belt a notch this morning. It doesn't seem likely at this point that I'll make my goal of getting back to my October weight and waist measurement. I am not sure at this point what my waist is, but given that I had to loosen my belt, it moved in the wrong direction. I often wonder about the effect of long nights and short days. Many cultures the world over have historically over-indulged around this time of year. Perhaps some archetypal part of our Jungian psyche needs the bright lights and festivities to ward off doldrums many get from lack of sunlight. The coldest part of the winter is at hand, are we storing up fat to prepare for the depravation that it has brought in the past? Today of course, for most of us, the hardship of winter is an inconvenience at worst. The closest we get to depravation are all the New Years resolutions of diet and exercise that are forgotten by St Patrick’s Day. As this year closes, I reflect on the mistakes of the past year, not to beat myself up, but as a learning tool, so I can do better next year. One of my biggest downfalls this past year was watching the scale too closely. There were times when the tape measure was moving the right direction, but the scale went the wrong direction causing me to change course and second guess what I was doing. Generally this would lead to me trying to add something new to the mix, or changing exercise plans, or some other tweak that would ultimately de-rail progress and I'd be right back where I started from. Lesson from this, if the waist is shrinking, ignore the damn scale. Ultimately body fat levels are more important than the number on the scale, but last year my goal was tied to a number on the scale. So this coming year my goal is going to be tape measure based, a 34 inch waist. The lowest I got this past year was 36 inches. I believe if I had trusted the plan I had originally set up, and not continually changed direction, I would already have a 34 inch waist and could shoot for, dare I say it, a 30 inch waist. Or even better try to get back to the measurements I had when I graduated from college. But one step at a time. Later this week I'll post my waist measurement for all to see, and also an outline of my plan. In all likely hood it will revolve around High Intensity Training and carb controlled eating, shocking is it not?