Minus Fat, Plus Muscle

I got the results of the 28 day shred, but this week was insane, so I didn’t really come here to write it all down. I lost 9 pounds of fat and gained 2.4 lbs of muscle. This means the scale didn’t move down 9 lbs, but that fat is gone. This tells you and me that the scale isn’t the way to measure progress unless you have other things in place to measure progress.

I did not come in first place because my body composition change was .4% less than the person who earned first. So close, though! I still got a prize pack that was really cool:

I mostly stuck with my eating plan after Easter. I was volunteering at the school and lunch was sometimes after 2 snacks instead of between, but I got my eating in and only had a couple of Easter treats spread through the week. I made my chocolate bunny last 5 days and I was actually proud of myself for that.

The bunnies are all the same size, but half are different serving sizes. Nutrition facts are so weird.

I did not have a firm focus into fitness this week and I was actually fine with pulling back a little bit. As an introvert, I spent too many days around a lot of people and I was completely exhausted most of the week. I walked when I could and I stretched and used my foam roller. I rowed at the gym by my house on Monday and did a few body weight exercises while I was there. I went to the crossfit gym on Wednesday and Saturday morning and busted my butt both times.

I feel more confident in working out. I have a lot to learn with the movements used for lifting heavy things, but I am making progress. I food prepped my breakfasts and lunches for the week and I think I can keep up with that more easily than eating separate dinners from my family. I’ve said before, I’m a pretty good cook and I tend to put together balanced meals. I’m just watching my portions a little more closely at night since logging the calories in a diary is more complex when food comes from scratch and I never measure anything.

My newer goal isn’t a size. I want to change my body composition to be more muscular and less fat. I want to continue to run and do my October half marathon (Detroit Free Press). My friend has talked me into a Warrior Dash in July. I want to be able to complete the course without skipping any obstacles. Eventually, maybe I’ll be competitive with the crossfit. That’s probably really far down the road and  not quite on my radar.

Though, I know that any time I get an inkling of an idea of what I’m going to do, I don’t stop until I’ve done it. I’m still hooked on the idea of doing another marathon despite the terrible experience I had with my first and only 26.2. It’s in my head even though the goal is 2 years away.

I’m happy with what I’ve achieved so far. I want to stay on it. I intend to stay on it.

Thanks for reading! Have a great day! Are you making plans for short and long term? The goal that’s definitely within your reach and the other goal that seems crazy right now? I believe in you!!

 

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Final Shred Week

I keep referring to my shred as a “cut” and I wonder if people think I’ve lost my mind saying that I’m still cutting until Saturday, but I’ll have ham and casseroles on Sunday. I’ve been so busy through this process. I’ve hit the gym every other day during the week and I grocery shop more often for fresh items. I’m holding at 5 lbs lost so far, but I’ll see how that figures in fat loss at the final weigh in on Saturday. One thing I’ve noticed is that my wrist is smaller because one of my bracelets I was wearing daily slides all over the place now. It can be easily adjusted. I was impressed that it was noticeable and somewhat regretted not taking body measurements at the start.

I have been a bit cranky this week. Not unusual for this time of the month, if you know what I mean. (PMS, guys. I’m talking about PMS.) I’ve been emotional and depression creeps up on me out of nowhere. I was worried that the darkness would stick around after thinking about how my absence wouldn’t be more than an inconvenience for the people I’m closest to. Yeah, dark intrusive thoughts come by without warning and definitely no invitation.

Fortunately, I’ve had a couple of good days. I’ve enjoyed my workouts and made progress. My Tuesday run wasn’t fantastic because it felt difficult, but I needed the run and it did what I needed it to for my mental state.

When I got to the gym on Wednesday, the coach was laying on the floor from the workout. My brain was instantly thinking that I should turn around and walk out because I couldn’t put up that kind of work and I’d just be embarrassing myself. On an overhead press, I completed one full set before failing to press the bar up beyond nose level for the rest of the time. I tried repeatedly and couldn’t break my mind of “I can’t do this.” We started another part of the workout that involved squats. While trying to improve my form, I lost my focus and fell on my butt with a bar overhead, but somehow was fine and it only made me try harder to get it right. I was exhausted, but I actually made it through that portion despite feeling like I couldn’t do another rep without falling over for most of the last portion where I had dumbbells to press.

Wednesday night, I had a trail run. My friend asked to ride with me, so I picked her up on the way. When I got lost, I was glad to have someone with me in the car. We were able to use trail shoes on loan from Saucony and go on a path Fleet Feet had marked out for us. It was muddy. There were hills and branches. When we hit 1.26 miles, I’d felt like I’d gone 3 miles and was feeling done with the experience. I was mostly hot because I’ve always taken a while to get used to changes in weather when I run. It was still fun, though. I got to chat with people I haven’t seen in awhile, splash in the mud, and give the shoes back to someone else to clean the mud off. I’d do it again even if my running partner for the evening would not. I also really liked the shoes I borrowed. They had a way to fasten them that made it easier to operate when they’re muddy and not have to tie them. The shoes were also not filled with water or mud despite the number of times I put my whole foot into the wet puddles. When I got home to clean up, I found a single thorn poking out of my knee and just laughed as I plucked it off. I required a bit of scrubbing to see the skin under all the mud I’d gotten on me.

Words over my midsection to hide the belly fat I had going on…

All in all, this week has been ok. I am exhausted today and the gloomy skies don’t help that at all. I finished getting Easter items for my kids [and dogs]. This weekend is going to be busy, but I am excited to see my results from the shred as well as to watch my kids hunt for eggs stuffed with candy. I’m thankful for so many blessings and the ability to recognize them when I was feeling down.

 

Thanks for reading! I hope you have a great day!

Progress is Progress

This weekend was a blur. I weighed in on Saturday and I knew that I wasn’t down much in pounds, but I was disappointed to see the number on the scale that day. I started obsessing about getting my personalized report to see how much fat loss and muscle gain I’d experienced. GAINS! lol.

That board is always there, but this was special for Saturday’s event at the gym.

I considered skipping my Saturday cheat meal because I couldn’t land on one meal or cuisine in which I wanted to eat. I accidentally missed lunch by being busy and wound up eating a little bag of pistachios from a vending machine because it was the only ‘natural’ thing in there. I wanted to eat dinner somewhere that had draft beer. When my husband and I have gotten away for a meal together, we wound up at a local place called Flingers that had craft pizza and craft beer. I actually picked another local place before I changed my mind in the car to go to the pizza joint. No regrets there. My kids loved their meal and my husband and I had a bbq chicken pizza that was delicious. My beer tasted incredible. I ordered a skillet cookie and shared it, of course. I required some antacid later on, but I wasn’t sickly full. I didn’t binge on the food. I stopped when I was full and I was mindful about my bites.

I’m really digging the New England IPAs

Sunday, we went to church early for a meeting and breakfast where everything looked so tasty, but I only grabbed a small bite of their breakfast pizza and a large portion of fruit. My kids ate the pastries and donuts. The day was busy again and I simply didn’t feel like eating my lunch. My house was a zoo that day with kids coming in and out and I cleaned the floors before heading back to church for my evening volunteering.

My results came in after dinner Sunday night. I was down 3 pounds, gained 1 pound of muscle and lost 1% fat over the first two weeks of the program. While I know I should have been proud of myself, I felt like my hard work should have resulted in more. What’s up with that? “MORE!” There is always room for it.

And when you ask them, “How much should we give?”
Ooh, they only answer “More! More! More!”
Fortunate Son by Creedence Clearwater Revival

Progress is progress and not being happy that I’ve made some in the right direction is nonsense. I still have two weeks to go and the main idea is to get fit and stay that way instead of starting over and over. Monday at the gym, the coaches were surprised that I wasn’t more pleased with my results and reminded me that I’m putting in the hard work and doing it the right way. I left the gym energized and went to tackle the rest of my day with a little more positivity than I’d started it.

I have a physical therapy evaluation today. This time a women’s health PT. Fortunately, I am not experiencing pelvic prolapse again. My ob/gyn has noticed some ligament issues that have causes me a lot of lower abdominal and back pain that have been annoying to say the least. My foot pain that was in the metatarsal region has nagged off and on lately and I’ve been trying to do all the exercises from that therapy so I don’t have to go back to the podiatrist. I’m not even old yet and I can’t stay away from the doctor for aches and pains.

Thanks for reading! I’ve felt higher energy levels since starting to eat better and exercise more regularly. My depression isn’t gone and obviously had to rear its ugly head on my weigh in results. It helps that I can have outdoor time without a coat lately. I’ve been running less than 10 miles a week, but it’ll pick up when the weather is consistently warm. Today, I ran with Aurora for 3 miles and she was nuts. I think she really had fun and we’re slowly learning how to use the running leash. She looked tired for the picture, but after some water and ice cubes, she bolted around the house like a herd of cattle were coming through.

Mid-week Writing

I have so much floating around in my head today. It could be that I had a little extra caffeine this morning. It could also be that I am reaping the benefits of no binge eating along with exercise.

This week, I planned workouts on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Putting it on my phone calendar like an appointment has helped my accountability. I ran on Tuesday to my polling place about a half of a mile away, and ran around the block to get home instead of going straight into my subdivision. That made it a mostly uphill run, but I felt good despite being slower than what I’m used to running.

I recorded it in two runs on Garmin. This is one.

My nutrition changes started to get into my head Tuesday around lunch. Wednesday, I tossed out my pre made meal instead of eating it. To be fair, it had been frozen and thawed which affected the flavor. I decided to mix things up from my meal plan, put hummus into tuna, and eat it with celery and carrots. I sprinkled on some hot sauce and ate it all. I was concerned about tuna but I was pleasantly surprised.

I have noticed that eating every few hours has curbed my binge urges. I’ve had some major bouts with anxiety, but my depression seems to be under control. My body insecurity is high. I have a mirror and I don’t like what I see there. I know results take time, so I’m being patient with myself. I am ashamed that I let my fat get this out of control. I have faith that this is the last time I need to work so hard just to get healthy and that I’ll be good at maintaining my health.

This week, instead of making myself all individual meals, my dinners are planned for the family. Some parts of it are separate for myself, but it feels less like I’m having something entirely different than they are. That has also improved my outlook on eating well. I’m even going to try making a turkey and quinoa meatloaf.

Post after workout shower selfie.

I’m hoping for good numbers Saturday. I hope it gives me an idea of how well the changes are working.

Thanks for reading! Have a great day! It would appear Spring is trying to make an entrance. I sure hope so.