Actually, it's been about six and a half months since I entered the Feather Weight Challenge at my gym. Daily, I get super-frustrated about what seems like not enough progress, but when I check my monthly charts, I seem to be doing okay after all!
If you'll remember, at my first weigh in I looked like this (butt view):
EEEWWWWW!!!! Shelf butt! And back rolls! GAH!
Well, this is what I look like now..
That was just a couple days ago, when I was heading to LA Boxing for a workout. It's about 50 pounds smaller than that first picture I took, and pushing four sizes smaller (I can wear the latest size down in some things, but not in others. You know how that goes. Also, my weight bounces around five pounds up/down until it finally decides to go bounce around the next smaller 5 pounds).
Some other super-exciting things: I have guns! I can really, truly make a decent arm muscle when I flex! And flex I do. I like to do The Bicep Dance in front of the mirror before my shower. Don't judge.
I wore a tank top that skimmed my torso today! And it was socially acceptable!
I can do 25 real push ups - not the girlie ones (I can do over 50 of those)! And I'm also keeping up with the sit up portion of boxing class, which means about 250 - 300 different types of sit ups each class. And squats? My circuit has me doing 4 sets of 25. Oh, I almost forgot burpees! I can do burpees now! Only 25 at a time, but still. I wasn't able to do those until the beginning of June.
And while I still have a ways to go (mostly in the tummy area), I can totally feel my stomach muscles under that last layer of flab and baby skin just WAITING for the chance to stand out. And when I get there - well, I may never wear a full length shirt again.
Things definitely slowed down after the first 25 pounds. My body didn't want to shed things the same way that it did at first. And that is when the personal trainers at my gym came in very handy! By switching up certain exercises and varying my diet I started to get results again.
And speaking of diets... I'm still trying to stick to eating habits that are more healthy. Rather than merely watching calories, I try to stay away from my trigger foods. Mostly that means I try stay away from eating anything that comes in a box. It's taken some creative thinking, for sure! For instance, "healthy" fast food is nasty, and yet when you have a deployed husband and three kids at home that need truckin' to various activities and events it's a necessity sometimes. I've developed my own fast food - rotisserie chicken. I can get it at most grocery stores (although my favorite is at Boston Market), and it's yummy juicy!
And let's face it, now is a good time to eat healthy fruits and veggies! The watermelon this year has been WONDERFUL! I can get chopped watermelon at any supermarket as well, to eat on the run. Also, I'm going to go ahead and plug my favorite salad - the Fuji Apple Chicken Salad at Panera. Oooooh, those things are so perfect together!
I haven't been perfect at the diet portion (let's not speak of the Vegas buffet incident), but I don't think that part ever gets easy. I LOVE food. A lot. A real, whole lot. Especially good food.
We're in the final innings of Air Force Guy's deployment - I hope he notices (and loves!) the changes I've managed while he's been gone. I know that I'm ecstatic with the way things are going!
