Weekly Weigh In

It's Monday again. You know what that means, right? It means it's time for me to strip down to my skivies and step on that scale. Well, I step on it everyday, but I don't strip down every day. I just like to watch the fluctuations and see the general downward trend ~ at least that's what it's supposed to do!

And it did! Last week was just a fluke, I think. Today I weighed in at 214.6. Whoot! I haven't seen that number in a looooooong time. And I have to say, it was a pleasant surprise. I expected a lower number this week, but I really didn't think it would go that low. So, that's a 3.4 loss from last week and a 10.6 loss overall. Phew! I'm back down past that 10 lb mark! I don't plan to ever go back..... maybe....

After reading a few rave reviews on Twitter, I decided to swing by the library the other day and pick up this book. HELLO LIGHTBULB! Wait, let me back up....

I'm currently reading about five books. I typically pick up a book and read a few chapters. Then something else will catch my eye and I'll pick up a new book and read a few chapters of it. At this point, my husband will usually recommend a book that he's just finished and suggest that I should read it because he thinks I'd find it interesting. I pick up that book with the intention of just leafing through it, but end up reading the first two or three chapters...and so on. Can you say ADHD?

So, if I tell you that I fnished this book in 2 days, you can appreciate how captivated I was with it! I've always enjoyed strength training. Even when I was playing volleyball, I loved the look of my strong muscles (even though I really wasn't all that toned) and enjoyed the time we spent in the weight room. Even though none of us (including our coach) really knew what we were doing there.

Reading this book has made me realize just how much time and effort I've been wasting at the gym over the past year. The strength classes I've been going to are not an efficient use of my time and they are not building my muscles to their potential. In fact, I'd say other than endurance, they're doing very little.

This book lays out a program of weight training and a nutrition guide and it really seemed to click with me and make a lot of sense. It's a six month program, broken down into stages. The first stage is about six weeks long. I took some before pictures today and I took my measurements and I'm going to do the same in six weeks after I'm finished with this first stage. I'm also going to slightly increase my calories ~ due to a higher need for quality protein. I'm aiming for a 40-30-30 percentage ratio for Carbs/Protein/Fat (respectively). I'll be building muscles rapidly so it wouldnt' surprise me if any weightloss slowed down or even stalled out for the first little bit. But who am I kidding ~ it's not like my weightloss has been mind blowingly fast these last few months, right? I know that after I build some solid muscle that my metabolism will speed up and I know the scale will move in the right direction. But that's why I took my measurements, so that at the end of these six weeks I'll have a tangible number to show what I've accomplished.

My first workout was today and while I was at the gym, I really didn't think I was getting that tough of a workout, but now that I'm home ~ HOLY MOLY. My body is sore! The first stage is broken down into two workouts and you alternate these two workouts ~ lifting weights 3x per week (you can do 2x, but 3 is best).

So this week I'll do workout A on Monday, workout B on Wed & workout A again on Friday. On the off days I'll keep moving, but I don't want to over tax my muscles so I probably won't be doing much running or spinning. I plan to do a lot more swimming, yoga & walking. Just keep my body moving without tiring out my muscles. I need them to recover to be ready for the next lifting session.

I am so stinking excited about this program!