Lifting PR or Scale PR

My friend Nicole said this to me the other day at the gym.  She thought it would be great to hear more conversations at the gym about PR numbers than scale numbers.  "How did your back squat go? Did you PR"? vs "You look like you lost weight." Nicole hit the bulls eye with that thought.  "Dieting down" takes us down a slippery slope of slowed metabolism, less muscle, and eventually a higher fat percentage on our new size 6 body.  This leads to less energy to get to the gym, subsequently decreased serotonin, possible depression and before we know it, size 16 or 18 is back. So what's the answer?  Let's focus on performance: better press, better back squat, better FRAN :) And forget about the scale. 

What the scale says really doesn't concern me.  Performance does. If I'm performing well, I'm lookin' fine. AND if I'm performing well, I MUST be eating well.  My body, your body cannot perform without proper fuelling.  Let me clarify the scale statement.  95% of the time I don't care what the number is.  There is 5 % of the time I think "How would I feel, look, perform if was 5 lbs leaner?"  I didn't say "lighter", I said "leaner".  That means less fat on my body and maybe more muscle.  My point being let's focus on being healthy, on learning what that means because then the number on the scale will be healthy. 

I like the following quote...it says so much:

Leanness is the natural side effect of excellent health. Excellent health is the natural side effect of good nutrition. Good nutrition is the natural side effect of choice & habit. Choice & habit are reflections of WHO WE ARE. 

And I really like this quote:

Everything is permissible for me - but not all is beneficial. Everything is permissible but I will not be mastered by anything.  Therefore honour God with your body.  
- 1 Corinthians 6:16

Coming from a past of over-eating & bingeing, files chock full of these habits are still present. They simply don't get opened because I have replaced them with other files that open sooner when choices about eating need to be made.  This didn't happen overnight..it took a long time. Is it worth it? To commit to change, to conscious action to create new files, new habits?  YES it is.  As long as you have a reason, a desire to change, the initial discomfort is worth it.  For me at first, it was wanting to be an honest role model for my children, and honest to myself.  Today my children are excellent role models for me.  AND my reason has become a little more personal.  I want to go back to the Crossfit Games. That WILL NOT happen by showing up at the gym and training hard ... WITHOUT eating for that training.  

Next post... more eating details.  Until then let's eat & train for PRs!