Two and a half weeks have passed since I wrote my post about surpassing the magic number of 170 pounds. The scale was not wonky that day as I have stayed > 170 since then. Yesterday I weighed 171.6, however since the Y scale never shows odd decimals, I always round my weight down when it wavers between two figures. My weight last night flickered from 171.6 to 171.8 so I make the personal conclusion that my weight is probably 171.7, yet I am only reporting the lesser even decimal.
When I started my workout program I weighed 135. I have found some photos of myself from the mid nineties when I would travel regularly to Las Vegas and Palm Springs. Thanks to the roving photographers at the Brantford Tournament, I have many shots of myself as a stick figure either playing games or going up to receive a place prize. I keep all of these Scrabble photos in a separate album. I can’t believe how painfully thin I looked. Even my face looked skeletal.
My goal five years ago was to attain 170 pounds. Why 170? I chose that number because it was the weight of fitness cover models who had similar builds as mine (yet who are so much leaner than I am). It is an exercise in futility and disappointment to compare oneself to others, as I always say to myself if I kept on comparing myself to other guys I wouldn’t even dare leave the house. I look at my gains on a personal basis and compare where I was a year ago. It takes an enormous effort to gain and maintain weight when one has an ectomorphic build with a superfast metabolism. My weight gains are noticeable: I can feel the difference being a few pounds heavier. I rarely write about my progress, other than report about the weight I use when doing dip exercises. And aside from writing down my weight on the calendar, I do not maintain any personal log of my achievements. I simply remember where I was a year, or five years ago. My biceps measurements have increased by half an inch from last year. Flexed cold, not pumped, they are 15¾”. The scale does not lie and neither do the weight markers on the machines I use. I am getting stronger because I can lift more than I could a year ago. I use free weights too and I find that doing alternating dumbbell curls with 45-pound weights –with impeccable form– is too easy. I will soon graduate to doing this exercise with fifty-pound dumbbells. I can recall only a year ago when I could barely do one rep with a fifty-pound weight.
An achieved goal is a motivating force.