is this progress?

[massingUP]

Hey all,

Just a quick question/observation here. But it requires a bit of backstory, so bear with me for a moment.

As some of you may recall, I spent some time and effort this summer trying to get lean -- with some success, even. Now "lean" is something that's never come easy for me. Even when i was a skinny 175# at 6'3", I was never tight or taut -- always had a substantial paunch and big love handles. And that made me think of myself as "fat" when in fact I was, in hindsight, actually prettyskinny.

Anwyays, fast forward 9 years and I've gained about 40# of muscle but haven't been all that more successful at getting rid fo the paunch or the lovehandles. Which isn't altogether bad. I've never been a big fan of the super-lean, 8-pack kinda look. I'd just like my tummy to be flatter than it is now.

Anyways, I have lately begun to achieve greater success at that particular goal. I've been figuring out how to get my body to shed fat and I even spent some time this summer feeling kinda "lean."

But here's the rub -- and the point of this post. I've noticed that as I make "progress" on a certain project -- say, leaning out -- it just increases the opportunities for me to feel like I'm backsliding, failing, getting off-track, etc.

A theoretical example: say I was 20% bf. Losing bf to get down to 17% made me feel "lean". But then if I continued to lose bf and get down to 13%, suddenly 17% feels "fat". And if I got down to 10%, suddenly 13% seems "fat".

Same thing can be said with gains: 200# felt "big" when I first got there, and so did 220#. But 220# feels kinda "small" these days when I've previously been up over 230#.

Now I know this isn't anything new or shocking. And I know it's a matter of relative gains/goals rather than objective ones, and something that I just need to figure out how to work through/around. But I'm wondering if anyone else has noticed this particular psychological phenomenon, and how you've dealt with it. Progress should be a source of pride and inspiration -- but sometimes it can also create more pressure.

Thoughts?

-- J.

[brent]

I noticed this with this site. I felt like I wasn't making progress, the I did my fist measurements for the Summer Growth Challenge. They were a lot higher than I thought they would be, and I was surprised because I felt a lot smaller. I guess you are always used to how you are and that's normal. I think that the way you see yourself comes from your ego, not the mirror. I've seen guys that are a lot smaller than me that thought they were huge, and I think I'm small. It's mostly your attitude. That's what I think.

[bigbearny]

definately.. when i first took my measurements (never did before) i was shocked that my upper arms were 17" and my forearms were 14".. somehow i thought those measurements would look bigger.. guess it's just cause i'm built big to begin with and never had sat down to figure out my LBM (happens to be over 220lbs)... it's all in how we look at things i guess

[Mdlftr]

Massing Up,
I agree with you that progress should make you feel better, but every achievement can make the previous achievement seem inadequate. We need to realize what an accomplishment that is, as we are moving on.

I think one way to appreciate your own progress is to take pictures/measurements of yourself at a certain date and time. Then, when you go back after an interval and look at yourself you'll be pleased and happy to see your progress. I did that this summer when I found a picture of myself from 1998, when I thought I looked "buff" at 185#! (Snicker!) When I look at myself now, at 205#, it really shows progress! And to think that earlier this summer I was seriously depressed at how I didn't seem to be achieving ANY results! It made me feel great, and I realize, no matter what tricks my mind plays on me, objectively, I AM bigger and much more muscular!

If, as you seem to be saying, the goal posts just keep moving.....you're right! I think that what happens is that at a point, perhaps for a short period of time, perhaps for longer, a person reaches a point where they stay. Maybe they move on from that point and get bigger, maybe they just talk about it, or maybe they affirmatively decide, "hey, I'm happy with this. I don't want to get any bigger."

The ultimate point of all this is to realize:
1. You saw something you wanted to change
2. You set a goal to get bigger, stronger, more trim, whatever
3. You achieved it!

Now, the question is, what is your next goal? It's hard to feel like "it's ever enough". Maybe you can't feel that--maybe it would sap your motivation to feel like you'd done "enough." The bigger point is to realize how empowered you are, and to appreciate yourself for your hard work.

I mean, think about it. If you met a buddy you hadn't seen in 6 years, and you saw he'd gained 40# of muscle, wouldn't you be slapping him on the back, and congratulating him on his incredible achievement? Of course you would! He, meanwhile,would be all, "aw shucks," and "no big deal." That's what we do to ourselves when we don't acknowledge our own achievements.

I think we need to check our progress against our selves and appreciate how far we've come. When you think that perhaps, all that effort wasn't worth it, think of how you'd feel if you'd never tried--let alone succeeded!

Mdlftr

[glammaman2000]

if you've ever been in contest shape,it can distort your perception of your own appearance.i always said that the worst thing about having been a ballet dancer was that you spend the rest of your life feeling fat,old&stiff(i was 140lbs.at 5'10',dancers start worrying about getting"old"at 25&i can't kick the back of my head anymore!"sob")now,if i'm out dancing,i won't take my shirt off if i don't have abs.i'll wear a black tank top.i know i don't have the worst body there,but i'm often the only one wth his shirt on.(someone actually asked me if i had terrible scarring!)i can still have a good time;this stuff doesn't rule my life&if it was that big a deal i'd just drop the weight.but the goal posts are way out in front of me&i'll just have to catch up.they ain't comin'back...

[brent]

Originally Posted by Mdlftr

...
The bigger point is to realize how empowered you are, and to appreciate yourself for your hard work.
...
I think we need to check our progress against our selves and appreciate how far we've come. ...

Yeah, I really wish I'd taken before shots before starting to lift weights. However, I was very camera-shy at the time. Dang!

[ethernet_jock]

massingup,

To a smaller extent I am feeling a little bit of the same way. I just finally stepped on the scale about a week ago for the first time in about 4 months and discovered that I had lost 15 lbs! I had recently tried on a pair of jean shorts that I knew didn't fit me - and when they fit me - that's when I decided to try it. Now that I've been walking around thinking about being 15lbs lighter for the last week - I'm excited that I lost some fat... but a small part of me is like... dang... that's another 15lbs of muscle I have to gain before I can tell people that I weigh 260 again.

LOL - I guess the moral is - what everyone on here has already told ME previously... don't get hung up on numbers. If your weight goes down and your biceps are still 16" (as in my case) and/or you can still lift the same or more weight than before - then you must be doing GREAT.....

Agreed - gotta look at the whole picture. I've really been trying to make myself do that lately and it does seem to be helping.

Just my $0.02.

[brent]

EJ,
The scale can be a real ego-defeater! However, I always get on them every time I go to the gym. If my weight goes up, I'm happy to have gained muscle. If my weight goes down, I'm happy to have lost that fat. That's what I tell myself, and I don't care about reality...