As Close To A "Statement of Purpose" As We Are Going To Get

When you think about it, whales are pretty awesome. They are powerhouses of strength and endurance. They are respected “ballers” of the ocean, and everyone in the marine world likes (or fears) them too much to mess around with them. They get to roam the world and see all kinds of things. They like to have a good time—mainly by cannonballing everywhere and judging one another's splash radii. And I like to think that while they wail and click and whistle to talk to one another, they also do that just to sing a song for no reason at all...

But sometimes whales catch a bad rap because, despite their strength and general badass-ness, they are big dudes and dudettes that don't exactly meet the aesthetic characteristics generally associated with power and strength.  So, we humans have taken poor Mr. and Ms. Whale and made them into a simile/metaphor to describe extreme instances of size and scale: “I had a whale of a good time;” “That’s a whale of a problem;” etc. Recently, I have to admit, I have also taken it out on these misfortunate giants to express my #1 complaint of late: “Uhhhh, I feel like a beached whale.”

Poor guys, you don’t deserve that.

You see, I am one of those individuals who has dance-battle-royale’d with my weight and overall body composition since pre-pre-pre-pubescence. Call it genetics, poor diet, lack of exercise, or blame it on the whales, it’s my reality. And while I’ve earned success and earned regression, my body fluctuation has been a sometimes-not-so-silent partner riding shotgun on this journey I call life (ewww, sorry). And while I know that that’s just a part of life, I sometimes feel like that pesky rascal is trying to drive my car! How rude!

Then I got to thinking (OH NO…). In a lot of ways, I AM like a whale. I like seeing new things! I like flailing around in water! I like being respected and/or making other creatures run scared! I especially like clicking, whistling, and wailing and calling it “singing” because no other word quite fits! And I also know what it’s like to have attained a level of strength and endurance that is not necessarily reflected in my aesthetic appearance and body composition. Ah ha! Connections!

I am a pretty fit individual. Over the past 18 months, I have worked individually and with a trainer to reach new thresholds of strength building and cardiac endurance of which I previously didn’t think I was capable. While my body is responding in terms of performance, for reasons I plan to explore in the coming months, my body isn’t responding aesthetically.

So this year, I’ve decided it’s time to superglue this body composition/weight issue to the passenger seat. It’s been yammering on for so long backseat driving that it’s probably just grouchy because it needs a nap! So, the time is nigh!

However, rather than aiming for a specific weight goal, I’ve decided to try for something a little different—lowering my body fat percentage.  Here’s my rationale: I have an athletic frame and I like looking strong. How does one assign a number to this? It’s not like, “Oh, at 140lbs, I’ll look like Beyoncé.” Furthermore, oftentimes we tend to select an “ideal” weight in our minds that may not actually be realistic or healthy for us. So, rather than reaching for the horizon (“Oh, another five pounds…okay, maybe ten…maybe twelve…), I will focus on reaching a healthy range of body fat percentage for my sex, age, and ability. Hopefully, this will be a friendlier, more realistic, and debatably healthier way to track my progress.  

I plan on using this blog as both a means of “superglue” and fun during this process. Writing about my goings-on will not only hold me accountable, but will hopefully also entertain all of us a little with the crazy antics I intend to engage in along the way! Oh, and there will probably also be some cat memes because I think they are funny. You have been warned.

So, without further ado, join me whilst this White Whale learns to run aground, rather than settling for being beached!

BAHROOOOOOOOOOO CLICK CLICK WEEEYOOOO! (Whale for “Thanks for reading!”)