Current weight: 289.8 lbs,
Total weight loss: 16 lbs.
Today is my first dip into the 280’s in quite a while! Woohoo!!
Overall I have been feeling well and happy with my continued results. Of course there are the normal moments of some discouragement and hopelessness (like with this realization: how did I get to the point in my life when I’d actually be happy to be in the 280’s??).
But, I’d definitely have to say my mood is good.
Measuring Happiness?
A few months ago before starting this final wellness endeavor, I was thinking about how mind and body are so inextricably linked – how physical health and overall well-being can influence each other in such a profound way.
And even though I would consider myself a relatively happy and well-adjusted person, I think happiness and wellbeing will change as physical health improves (hopefully for the better!).
With that thought, I searched for some happiness or wellness test that I could use for an evaluation. Something that would be relatively easy to take just to get an idea. And maybe something I could use in the future for comparison.
I was shocked at how many quizzes and questionnaires on happiness are out there! I finally settled on the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire that was identified on several sites. Updated in 2002, the questionnaire was created by psychologists Michael Argyle and Peter Hills at Oxford University to evaluate subjective wellbeing.
So, I sat down to answer the 29 questions. I made sure not to think too hard – after all there are no right answers (try telling that to my type A personality!). Also – I tried not to answer how I’d be expected to answer, but rather just how I felt at that moment.
I followed the instructions, tallied the total, and the results were:
A happiness score of 3.41.
Hmm. That didn’t seem very high. And when I looked on the website for the interpretation of the score, I discovered that it wasn’t. My score translated to:
Not particularly happy or unhappy.
Um…..What??
In fact, a score of 3.5 would be the exact numerical average of the happy and unhappy responses.
This was quite surprising to me. Even though I am certainly not the happiest person I know and like everyone I have struggles in life, I would definitely consider myself more happy than not. At the very least on the higher side of average.
Of course, this test is not perfect and is not the final word on the definition of happiness, so I know not to take it completely at face value. It’s quite possible if I were to take this test the day before, or the day after, or even today, that I’d get a different results.
But this brief exercise was important as it forced me to look more at this aspect of my life. Even if this tool isn’t completely helpful or accurate, at least I was evaluating my wellbeing beyond the scale – beyond the numbers.
And although it’s not perfect, I think I’ll take this test again in the future, further along in my wellness endeavor just to see how I’m doing.
Here’s to becoming happier than average!
Day #24:
Current weight: 289.8 lbs
Total weight loss: 16 lbs
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