Weekly review - Week 2 - a bit late

Hey everyone, sorry this is up a bit late. The Monday travel threw my schedule off a bit. Luckily, it didn’t effect my meals or workout, which took a little planning. But in the end, planning is what has helped me be successful so far. So without further ado, here is a review from my previous week.

Overall

Overall, things are moving forward. I’m feeling fantastic, lots of energy and my clothes are definitely fitting better. The pictures and morph video showing my progress from the start of this program to the end of week 1 where a huge motivator. It’s nice to look at a picture and think “Damn, I’m looking pretty good again” and it’s a huge boost. Two other unexpected sources of motivation for me have become this blog and plenty of other people’s weight loss journals. I continue to receive emails and comments from people on here telling me how inspiring or motivational I am, which is very humbling (because I don’t see myself as an insperation). Those kind words of support push me through each day and make it easier to keep going. And keeping this journal helps keep me accountable. Now, not only does my family know I’m doing this, but a lot of other people do too, and that added pressure is just one more motivating factor for me.

Food

As I’ve said, I’m not following the Belly Off! 2008 diet. Instead, I’ve cut out all the soda and sugars that I used to take in and replaced it with lots of water, fruits and veggies. I think I’m drinking a gallon or more of water a day and I can actually feel myself dehydrating if I don’t drink within a certain amount of time now. I am trying to eat more according to the ABS POWER DIET plan. I always have almonds and have forced myself to learn how to enjoy green leafy veggies. I’ve tried restrictive diets before, I’ve tried calorie counting and measuring out portions before, but that was a pain in the ass, and in the end I would give up. So now I have learned how to eat in moderation and to make healthy choices, as well as planning. I do give myself some cheats here and there. Once or twice a week this past week, I had a small piece of nutmallow candy from our local chocolate factory. I’ve had it since Christmas and still have almost 3/4 of the package. That’s a feat in and of itself, because the old me would have devoured that box in one sitting.

Exercise

The workouts continue to go well. I can feel some of them getting easier, while other movements are still a struggle. I did find out that a properly inflated swiss ball helps a lot. The one I have at home is under inflated and a pain in the butt to do the jacknives & mountain climbers on. The balls at the gym are much easier to use. Speaking of the gym, I’ve moved my workouts to the gym once a week. This was done mostly so that I could fit a workout into my family life, but I do enjoy using the gym. The treadmill I have at home is not good for the 20 minute interval session, the belt slips a little bit when you run hard on it. I can hold onto the rails of my treadmill for the 30 second intervals in the 13 minute session, but running without using my arms for the 1 minute intervals didn’t work for me. They Bodyweight 100×2 challenge was a great test. While I didn’t complete it in the time alloted (I did it in just over 15 and it should be done in 13), I felt great about my improvement over last week’s Bodyweight 100. And my heart rate and breathing is recovering from heavy workouts much faster now.

Results

So, in the end, it’s all about numbers. Did they go up, or did the go down, or did they not move one bit. It looks like mine are still on a healthy downward trend. Here are my results from this week with last week’s results in parenthesis.

• Weight: 201 lbs (204 lbs)
• Chest: 40″ (40 3/4″)
• Waist: 40″ (41″)
• Biceps: 12 1/4″ (12 1/2″ WRONG WAY BICEPS!!!)
• Thigh: 22 1/2″(22 1/2″)
• Calf: 14 1/4″ (14 1/4″)

I’m ahead of the game right now. My 8 week weight goal for the Belly Off! program is 16 pounds. That’s a healthy 2 pounds per week weight loss. As of the end of this past week (week 2), I was down 7 pounds. Another 9 to go to reach my 8 week goal with 6 weeks to go. I am surprised (not disappointed) I’m not losing more weight, just because my clothes are fitting so well, and I can see a big difference in the before/after pictures. I can only assume it’s because I’m also packing on some muscle, which I’ll take any day of the week.

Goals for next week

My goal for next week is to reach my mini-goal of 200 pounds. That would mean just1 pound of weight loss, so I’m hoping I can actually surpass my goal and hit 198 (for a total of another 3 pound loss). My other goal is to do one more interval this week. I tend to slack by the end of the week. I do my 3 workouts and normally another interval or two during the week, but I should be able to fit one more 20 minute interval in during the week, for a total of 6 sessions.

So, it was another good week for me. Thanks again to everyone who’s offered their support, I really appreciate it. And good luck to everyone else with their weight loss goals.