Monthly Review

The Baseline Review

April 17, 2018 /

Hi! This is my very first blog post. Welcome!

This is a blog about building and living my version of the whole good life. I’ll write about a lot of things but the focus is around losing weight on a whole food plant based diet. I thought I’d take this first post to walk through why I’m starting this blog and I’ll end it with a review of my goals and status so that it can act as a baseline for monthly reviews going forward.

So, why am I starting a blog?

  1. The biggest reason is that I love to write. When I took a step back and looked at my life and where I spend my time, almost none of it is spent writing. My hope is that by starting this blog, it will give me a reason and an outlet to pursue writing consistently.
  2. I’ve been thinking a lot about how to build a life that aligns to my values and goals. I am passionate about eating a whole food plant based diet and pursuing the good life. My vision for a good life is one that is completely in line with what I value and what brings me the most joy. I think a blog is a great place to share and explore those thoughts and I’m naming the blog “The Whole Good Life” in honor of the pursuit.
  3. There are so many blogs and vlogs that I read and watch that have become a part of my nearly daily life. I want to participate and share my stories, too.  I’ll be documenting my weight loss and good life journey so I can look back and see progress, if it helps anyone else trying to achieve similar things, that is wonderful, too.
  4. I want to find and participate in a community that shares the same values and interests. Community is super important to me and I see it as a catalyst for personal development and growth.
  5. Fun! I’ve been in a serious Netflix/Reddit/YouTube consumption rut lately which is directly at odds with what energizes me and brings me joy: creating. I want to find a bit more balance between how much I produce versus how much I consume.

The Review

Each month I will put together a Monthly Review that will address progress and learnings on my weight loss journey. 

I’m already wondering if I want to call this “losing weight” going forward. The reason I want to lose weight is to feel better, feel comfortable and confident in my clothes, and not be so self conscious. Ultimately, I just want to be healthy and live in a body that will be able to physically pursue and participate in the whole good life I’m working towards. For now I’ll use my weight and measurements, but this may change in the future.

  • Age: 31 (as of yesterday!)
  • Height: 5′ – 6.5″
  • Weight: 204lbs (actually down 2 pounds this month from my highest ever weight of 206)
  • BMI: 32.4 (Obese is 30 and over)
  • 254.5 total inches (neck, arm, calf, thigh, hips, bellybutton, waist, chest, ankle, and wrist)

It’s scary to see those numbers just sitting there like that. They’re telling me that I’ve given up in this area of my life. I know I’ve put my health on the back burner for awhile, but looking at the amount of work I need to do feels more than a little daunting. Despite the “holy shit, I am so so far from where I want to be” feeling, I also feel a spark of motivation to really work on this. I’m so tired of feeling tired and I don’t want to do the jeans-hoist-and-wiggle move 50 times a day anymore.

I have to keep telling myself that this is just my baseline. Writing this post has been really difficult for me. It forced me to take a good hard look at things that I’m feeling pretty badly about. I’m working on being ok with how things are at the present, but I’m also really excited to get going on improving!