Progress!

I'm so pumped guys!

Since 6/15 I've made the following progress on my fitness assessment:

4 1/2 inches lost....1/2 an inch was around my chest, the rest in hips/thighs/waist (the most important parts to shrink for me!)

I also lost just shy of 1% bodyfat! I still have a lot to go, but I'm so happy!

My arms are getting less flabby, but they are firming vs. creating loose skin or growing (biceps sometimes get bigger), so I guess my arms had room to grow, yay for not having bigger arms! (do not want)

I also improved my VO2....in 3 minutes of stairclimber my heart rate only went up to 150 vs. 160 and after 3 minutes of rest I got back down to 110. I need to remember to get my resting heart rate when I wake up in the morning, I keep forgetting, I'm gonna put a post it on my alarm clock :)

I also did MUCH heavier weights for the leg strength and the arm strength, unfortunately the other tests weren't a good basis, apparently they were on easier machines, so my PT says that I'm stronger, but its not the same comparison...pretty happy though!

For some reason my flexibility sucked, it went down, but I really think its cause my last test was in the evening and this was first thing in the morning, we weren't worried.

My number of crunches went down, too..my thoughts, I was kinda sleepy this morning so I didnt' put the pedal to the medal on doing them super fast...hehe.

So I'm here to say folks, 2x a week weight lifting (to get the whole body done every week, total of 1 hour a week), 3x a week minimum cardio, mostly running, sometimes elliptical, I incoroprate HIIT as well. Then finally, this is a big deal, tracking my food...I use MyFitnessPal.

Oh, I've also lost 8 lbs since June 15th.I know my counter says different because I started it in July..that's okay though, I've gained muscle and lost fat!

So pumped!

<3 Merbear

How to define successes and setbacks

I go on vacation for 5 days, I wipe out my 3 lb loss and put on an extra pound by the end of that vacation - setback?

During my vacation I log my food, try to make smart choices, limit my alcohol, and I ran on the treadmill, getting up earlier than anyone else, TWICE - success?

3 days after I get back from vacation, I'm back to one lb down, but not my pre-vacation weight - sucess? setback?

Now, I was thinking my vacation was a "fail" because I gained weight, didn't even maintain....but look what I did on vacation, I limited my intake of crap, I drank way less than everyone else, and I exercised!! Sounds like a success to me, even if it wasn't a scale success, yes?

In the past vacation would have been a free for all, and I probably would have come home feeling even more bloated and my clothes probably would feel tight by the end of the trip.  I'm working off my vacation and trying to plan for my next trip next week for how I will keep on track.

I'm thinking that my most recent vacation, while it had a weight gain, it had a lot of learning opportunities and I was pretty successful. I learned that I can be my own advocate, I can ask for what I want and I don't have to do what everyone else is doing.  My friends and my family support me, and voila, so does my new found "family" that I met in Cleveland (aka my boyfriend's family).

I also learned that its not *THAT* bad to relax a little on vacation, yeah I put on a few lbs, but I'm taking them back off and it could have been worse if I didn't exercise, and that exercise made me feel good! I wish my vacation wasn't so close to the beginning of my commitment to myself, but life happens, I just have to learn to roll with it and keep moving forward.

I think going down the line, if I learn something, use that knowledge in the future and be an advocate for myself, I will always be successful!

Okay and lets end this post with my adorable little buddies that I've had in my life for about 10 years now and what I'm going to be doing every night for the next 3 weeks, packing!



Isis giving you the "huggy purry" eyes



Shorty, looking for trouble

Tomorrow I want to talk more about Couch to 5k!