Ok so when I first started this lifestyle change (maybe overhaul is a better description?) one of my many areas for improvement was flexibility. Up until recently, I never ranked flexibility high on the list of health concerns. As far as my old self was concerned you can count yourself fit if you're strong enough to lift your grocery bags and thin enough to wear single digit sizes.

Anyway, in addition to strength, and weight, and inches, and attitude, you've got flexibility. The "can you touch your toes?" stuff. The "hold the yoga pose for more than 1/100th of a second" stuff. I maybe ignored flexibility as it relates to fitness because, well, I sucked at it. Really sucked.

So one way to measure flexibility is to sit on the floor, legs flat, and measure how far out (in inches) you can reach past your heals. You're supposed to use a measuring tape and put the base of your heals at the 15" inch mark (I think...). Anyway, I had a trainer do this little exercise with me about 6 weeks ago. After I touched the 15" mark, my trainer enthusiastically said, "You're at the very TOP of below average." For a moment I thought I'd won an award or something.

Below average. Great. Another deficiency. Now, in addition to miles walked and sit ups completed I've got to track minutes stretched? Stretching? Really? Yep. Stretching.

I gotta tell you, though, that stretching, as part of a fitness routine, makes the same kind of impression as calling bowlers athletes.

Here, now, is the good news: as of today I reached two inches further. And 17" is (at the bottom of) ABOVE average.

Progress. Finally.