Day 85

This morning I had my second-to-last weigh-in.  To quote Keanu Reeves: "Whoa."  There are only two weeks left in my 100 Days to Great... but I am still learning!  The lesson over these last two weeks has been the power of consistency.

How many people make a special point of brushing and flossing their teeth before leaving for the dentist's office... but not maintaining those habits the rest of the time?  That hail Mary brushing and flossing aren't very effective in changing what happens at the dentist's office.  Nutrition and exercise are the same way.  One good or bad day isn't the end all, be all.  You don't have to be perfect all of the time.  You just have to treat yourself well most of the time.

Here's case in point: About five days ago (on Thursday), I came down with flu-like symptoms. On Friday I had to fly to Pittsburgh by way of Minneapolis - not good for the ailment, or maintaining my eating schedule.  With the time zone difference and adrenaline for the day to come, I slept about 3 hours Friday night - again, no good.  I spent the whole day Saturday on the go in a business case competition - again, not good for those nutrition habits.  And on Sunday I had to fly back to Seattle by way of Atlanta - 10 hours straight of travel. Overall grade: Ouch.

That's five straight days of chaos.  I tried to do some good, making smart choices about portion sizes and what foods I was eating when I could; but no exercise.  I thought for certain that this stretch of days would wreck my progress.  I prepared myself to see that weight and body fat percentage stay flat, if not go up.  And yet... just as brushing one's teeth one time can't override months of not doing so, a few chaotic days could not derail the choices I've made over these last few months.  Here's how things stood this morning:

It turns out I actually lost more body fat in the last two weeks (1.8%) than in any of the prior periods.  I'm now down 27 pounds, 21 of which were fat.

With the end of January upon us, many are looking at that New Year's resolution and thinking about how we've already messed up.  But the last two weeks have shown me that messing up is a part of getting better, and have served as a reminder that it's all about consistency.  Like Russell Wilson explains in his latest piece on the Players Tribune - it's about hitting that mental reset button and re-focusing on the place you want to be at, after failures and successes alike.