ready2bskinE

What do you do when people try to discourage you from reaching your goals?  Do you immediately give up?  Do you give consideration to their concerns and re-evaluate your goals?  Or do you just say, This is MY goal, I don’t care what you say, I’m going for it!

I’m confused, because it seems like everything I thought is all wrong.  A girl at work yesterday was telling me that in her OPINION, I should stop trying to lose weight because I’m starting to look sick!  At 5′5, I fluctuate between 125-130 lbs on any given week, which is not underweight by any means. Actually, for my small frame (no butt or hips to speak of!) a range of 111-120 is considered healthy and ideal for me.  So losing a few more lbs may admittedly be out of vanity, but certainly not unhealthy or sick.  And it’s MY body, I’M the one who has to stare at it unclothed daily… I’M the one who has to be happy with it.  At least, that’s what one side of my brain is saying.

On the other hand, I asked my friend what she thought, and she also said she thought I could stand to gain a few lbs; that in her opinion, I’d look better closer to 140 or something.  I can respect her opinion, but again, I’m the one who has to be happy here.  Besides, it’s not like the extra weight would go to an aesthetically pleasing spot, like chest or hips…. On me, it’s guaranteed to go straight to my belly and chin.  (Why is that??!)  Honestly guys, I’ve been happier with my body than I am now at higher weights! Before kids, during college, I got up to close to 140 lbs and wore a size 8/9 for a little while, and I wasn’t unhappy with how I looked.  I had nice curves and muscle tone from working out, and a relatively flat belly.  Now IF I could look like that at 140 NOW, I’d totally go for it.  But for some reason, I don’t know if it’s because I’m older now or because I’ve had kids, but things don’t look the same anymore.  Or it might even just be my twisted perspective!  But all I know is, when I look in the mirror, things jiggle.  And not the right things; not the things you see jiggling on MTV. LOL  But maybe I’m just brainwashed from all my research and time spent on this journey.  Maybe it IS time for me to just throw in the towel, and shift my focus towards accepting the body I have.

So where do you draw the line?  At what point do you say, I guess this is as good as it gets, and start putting your work towards being happy with what you have, as opposed to working towards making it better?  My personal way of doing things, I would NEVER stop working toward my goal until I’m happy with my result.  But I also have a bad habit of letting the opinions of others dictate my actions.  I do respect other people’s opinions, and that’s a good thing, but maybe MY opinion should be the important one. (???)  But maybe I’m wrong, maybe I should re-evaluate my goals….  What do you guys think?  What would you do in my situation?  It definitely sucks to have people say you look bad, whether they think you’re too big or too small; I know that for a fact now.  But just like a person shouldn’t worry about losing weight if they’re happy, healthy, and think they look good, why should I worry about it if a couple of girls think I might look too skinny?

A bit of perspective: I live in the SOUTH, where it’s definitely super popular for a girl to have a gigantic butt and huge boobs, which I have NEITHER; but I wouldn’t have a butt or hips no matter how I much I weigh, I’ve proved that. lol   The girl from work was telling me how HER husband likes her the way she is (about 5′4 and 160 lbs) and how GUYS like meat on their women… LOL  Meat?? Seriously? Yeah, I want to be a piece of meat that random guys want to look at.  *I* want to like me, and MY husband happens to like skinny girls. So… why would I CARE what HER husband likes?  LOL  But sometimes the pressure here is opposite of elsewhere… Like New York or something, it’s definitely more popular to have that stick-thin look, here it seems to be more popular to be a bit bigger.  But at the same time, I don’t want to look like there’s something wrong with me. Heck, I don’t want there to BE something wrong with me!  I’m just confused….  Guidance please?

So this week is about 1/2 over. I stepped on the scale this morning to see how I’ve been doing… I’ve kept track of my calories and completed my workouts every day so far, although Monday night I finished off my husband’s bowl of cheese dip.  I felt pretty about that, BUT then I told myself, at least I didn’t fix my own bowl and eat the whole thing alongside him!  :)  Which is progress.

So this morning I’m down to 127.6.  That’s just 1 lb since Saturday, but I still have another 1/2 to this week.  I’m excited and determined to make the best of it!!!

Like I said last time, I do feel more “jiggly” at this weight than I did last time around, but in a way, that just makes me feel more hopeful that I can get more weight off. I’m slowly getting back to the weights and push ups (I can do 20 push ups in a row!!  And my old buddies might remember me talking about my complete lack of upper body strength a while back, so that is progress too! lol)  Still having a hard time working out my cardio sessions– I MISS RUNNING!! But it’s *so cold* in the mornings, my joints are stiff when I wake up, etc… Just easier to hit the step or do stuff in the house like jumping jacks, jump rope, videos, etc.  Easier, but nowhere near as enjoyable as a sunrise jog on a beautiful, warm morning…. Ah, don’t want to wish away my fall and winter, but I’ll be happy to have Spring back!! 

Anyway, just wanted to log my progress.  I’m still very determined to reach 120 by Christmas, and I just decided it’s going to be a FIRM 120… Not this jiggly looking stuff I got going on right now. 

Don’t have much time to post… The kids are being “needy” today. lol  Just wanted to report that I’m down from 131.8 to 128.6, so that’s a tiny bit over 3 lbs down.  Hooray!! I’m fairly positive that quite a bit of the weight lost was water weight, and I still feel a lot more “jiggly” than I did last time I was at this weight, BUT…. progress is progress and building momentum and a positive attitude means just as much as anything else. 

*big sigh*  I’ve been terrible lately!! I feel like, all I keep doing is saying what I’m *going* to do, as in future tense, then I just let all my opportunities to do the best/healthy thing slip right past me.  I have a million excuses for everything, and it’s to the point that I’m even sick of hearing them myself!  I got that one run in, and it felt good… A short, two mile run, but no foot or leg pain.  So why didn’t I go out again the next day?  Basically, it boils down to sheer laziness.

I’ve been lazy about everything lately!  Except counting my calories… No, I’ve been doing that 6 days a week, and let me tell you, it’s not pretty.  I’ll have a few good days where I’m right at 1500, then it’s like WHOA!! Calorie explosion!  :(  Like yesterday… All I did was EAT!  Like I couldn’t stop stuffing my face.  I had close to 2600 calories!! Technically, that’s enough for two days!  Especially since my workout attempt was feeble, at best.  I did some lunges, squats, and pushups, a couple of minutes in plank position and called it a day.  So that didn’t burn any calories.

My weight is up, just as I knew it would be.  I didn’t even weigh in for my team this weekend because I was just like, What’s the point??  All I ever do is gain and lose the same freaking weight…  As of this morning, after yesterday’s gorge-fest, I’m officially up to 131.8!!  I’ve been avoiding Buddy Slim because I feel like a complete failure. 

But yesterday, my new issue of Shape came in the mail, and of course it’s helping me get some of my motivation back.  I read some diet tips, and a few of them struck a chord with me, so I thought I’d share them.  I’m *hoping* that putting these into practice will help me rearrange my eating patterns and keep my weight from ballooning further.

The article is called Eat Like a Happy Person and I’m just going to paraphrase, because it’s pretty long.

In her new book, Eat Your Way to Happiness, Shape advisory board member Elizabeth Somer, M.A., R.D., explains how munching on the right foods a the right time can boost your mood and energy, improve concentration, control cravings, and keep you slim.

1. Pick real foods. To be your best, you have to cut back on processed foods.  In a UCLA study, people showed improvements in memory and mental function within just two weeks of eating healthier.  But you don’t have to be perfect; if 75% of what you eat is “real”, you can play with the other 25% to work in favorite treats.

2. Power up breakfast.  During the night, your body depletes its stores of glycogen; to correct that deficit, your brain releases a chemical called neuropeptide Y at the crack of dawn.  Its sole purpose is to get you to eat carbs.  Carbohydrates refuel your brain so you think more clearly and help you start the day off calm.  Your best bets are oatmeal, whole-grain cold cereal, whole wheat toast or waffles, and fresh fruit, but whatever you do, don’t skip breakfast.  Even if you have a good lunch, you’ll never regain the energy and brain power you would have had if you had take five minutes to eat in the morning.

3. Have some fat at lunch.  (This is the one *I* need to remember!)  The brain’s production of an appetite stimulating chemical called galanin naturally rises midday.  Galanin triggers fat cravings, so you want to satisfy them in a healthy way. Overly fatty foods-like a cheeseburger and fries-will send galanin production into overdrive and cause increased fat cravings; instead, add avocado to your sandwich or salad in place of cheese, eat a few nuts or olives rather than chips, or have a small piece of dark chocolate instead of cookies for dessert.

4. Eat a light dinner.  Eat early so you have time to digest before bed, and have a lowfat dinner that contains 500 to 700 calories, max.

5. Snack before bed.  (Shocked to learn this is OK!! lol)  An all carb snack about an hour before you turn in can up your serotonin levels, which has a calming effect on your body. You’ll sleep more soundly, which is crucial for a happier mind-set, maximum energy, and weight control.  It takes just 30 grams of high quality carbs to get a serotonin boost-a whole wheat English muffin with a little jam, five graham crackers, or nine Triscuits.

6. Sprinkle in superfoods.  What makes a food super? It must supply mega nutrients for minimal calories so you get a whopping dose of waist-slimming fiber and mood-boosting vitamins.  And it has to be loaded with antioxidants, nutrients that protect the brain from free radicals that otherwise speed aging, slow memory, and dampen your spirits.  Nearly all brightly colored fruits and veggies fit the bill-like berries, dark, leafy greens, magoes, citrus fruit, and carrots, as do nuts, beans and whole grains.  Fish counts too, because it supplies your brain cells with Omega-3 fatty acids they need to stay supple, which makes them better at absorbing nutrients, passing messages to and from the rest of your body, and getting rid of toxins-functions important for mood and memory.

These are things I knew on a surface level, but I liked the article because it went into detail about WHY these things are good for you.  Me personally, I’m more likely to do something if I understand why I’m doing it, as opposed to just doing it “because I should.”    So I feel like my spirits have been lifted slightly, even though I have the same 5 lbs to lose before I’m back to where I was (well, actually, closer to 7!)  but I am still sure I can reach 120 by Christmas.

I’m apparently not very good at following through when I talk about what I’m GOING to do, so I’m just going to go and do my best, and hopefully I’ll have some good news to report later, when I talk about what I HAVE done. 

I have several cute dressy outfits that I bought when I started feeling “small” and they’re now way too big. The pants barely stay up and are way too baggy in the butt and hips even with a belt, and the shirts, well… They didn’t show cleavage when I bought them, but now a couple of them have to constantly be pulled on to keep the bra from peeking out!  :o  I know I need to get rid of them, but the shirts are mediums and the pants are size 8’s.  Not “big” at all… And I keep thinking, if I gain of couple of lbs back over the holidays, I could very well be back to fitting them again.  I guess I’m afraid to give them away, because I’m paranoid I’ll gain weight and won’t have anything cute to wear. And with money being kinda tight right now, I guess I’m worried about it more, because I know I won’t be able to just rush out and buy cute new clothes, ESPECIALLY after having just given stuff away.  (Kind of a make your bed, you lie in it kinda thing…)

So what do you guys do??  Do you give away the clothes as soon as they’re too big?  When they start looking really bad on you??  Or do you hang on to things way too long (like me) in a paranoid type way, afraid you’ll “get fat” again??  I think I might just go ahead and get rid of them, and use it as motivation to stay thin through the holidays…. *deep breath* It’s a scary thought though!

I feel like I’ve been so lazy for so long!!  Once I made up my mind that I had to rest my injured foot, I sank into a very deep funk and just let myself go.  Thankfully and miraculously, I was able to maintain my weight, but I know I have to get back on track or there is a gain waiting for me on the horizon.  One of my friends was telling me Whatever… You’re small already. I was like, Yeah, but since I’m “small” a simple 5 lb gain will make NONE of my clothes fit and I’ll be in sweat pants for 3 or 4 weeks while I work it back off. I do NOT want to go there!

So anyway, I’m super thankful that none of my laziness or lack of self control with food has resulted in an insurmountable weight gain, and I’m ready to get back in the saddle and workout!  I’m going to start off slowly with the cardio… Very low impact.  But as far as weights and conditioning, I’m ready to give it hell!    I’m going to start off with lighter weights and higher reps, and work my way back up to heavier weights.  I really can’t risk another injury this close to all the food holidays… Halloween candy snatching from the kids’ pails… Thanksgiving Day visiting and eating with any relative and friend who will have us over…. and of course, all the weeks leading up to Christmas, getting together with loved ones, weekends spent shopping from sunrise to sunset (eating out a lot) etc… I need to be able to workout!  I don’t plan on making a pig of myself, but I do plan on enjoying myself and my family, focusing on good conversations infinitely more than the calorie content of what’s being served.    I’m so excited….  Can you tell?  ;)  It’s just, everyone’s always so happy around the holidays, and since it’s cold and wintery, there’s nothing much else to do but spend time with the family; and I love every minute of it!

I just know myself, and since restraint is not my strong suit, I need to be able to work off the calorie surplus that’s sure to be coming my way. 

I’m NOT excited to be back to counting calories, but I know it’s necessary to get on track.  I’m really surprised I haven’t gained a ton of weight over the past several days, but the scale doesn’t lie….  I “feel” fatter though, but that may just be a result of how I perceive myself and my recent actions. (Or lack of action!! lol)  Hopefully a week or two back in good form will get my self confidence back where it needs to be. 

So my plan, starting today (I was hesitant to start in the middle of the week, but hey, there’s no time like the present!) is to do a daily 45 minute fast walk, 20-30 minutes of low impact step (depending on how my foot feels) and pick my weights up every single time I get a chance.  (While watching TV, cooking, etc, in addition to structured workout time.)  I always feel like I’m really doing my best when I stand in front of the TV and do squats and lunges instead of sitting on the couch eating popcorn with my husband.  lol  Or when I do shoulder presses in between stirring dinner instead of whatever else….  Keeps me focused.    (I’m sure I look like a dork though, but hey,  it works! lol)

So hopefully my weigh in this week will be ok, though I’m not hoping for more than a maintain this first week.  My water intake has been low too, so increasing it back to where it needs to be might show a gain on the scale the first couple of days; I’m not worried about it, just hoping to be back to losing next week!

I just want to thank everyone who took the time to encourage me and support me while I was in my funk.  It really means a lot to me to have the support of great people like you!!  I definitely feel blessed to be part of such a wonderful group.

I feel like I’m on the road to getting fat again, and I do NOT like it.  I’m sad. Just down.  Can’t do any type of impact workouts; BORING.  Not burning enough calories.  I know I need to cut my cal intake back to like BMR, but it’s so HARD to go from working out hard and eating lots of good food to working out NONE and being hungry all the time.  :(   So of course I’m over eating.  Both out of frustration/stress and hunger.  I just feel like screaming.  It’s NOT FAIR!!!

Okay, tantrum over.  :)  But seriously, I have to get it together SOON or I’m gonna be gaining some serious weight. I feel lost right now…. I need a clear cut path back to my goal!

Ever wonder if some of the things you do on a daily basis could be making you gain fat?

Nine Sure-Fire Ways To Gain Fat

Some things you may already know but some of them may take you completely by surprise!
[ 1. ] Eating then sleeping will make you gain fat.

Did you know that sumo wrestlers eat then sleep on purpose to gain fat as quickly as possible? Your body doesn’t require as many calories during sleep and calories that are eaten right before sleep have a far greater chance of being stored as fat. In fact, it’s almost a certainty. This goes for afternoon naps and also applies to late-night eating. If you eat and then immediately sleep on a regular basis, you will gain fat.

[ 2. ] Skipping meals or not eating for long periods of time will make you gain fat.

But doesn’t skipping meals (most notably breakfast) save a lot of calories during the day? Sure, there’s a chance that it may. But consider this - skipping meals will slow your metabolism and you’ll get really hungry. With a metabolism that’s been slowed by not eating (particularly true of skipping breakfast), you’re going to store a lot more of that food as fat. It doesn’t matter if you’re eating a hamburger and fries or if you’re eating plain pasta and a chicken breast. Your metabolism will be sluggish and your body will want to store what you’re eating rather than use it.

Eat as soon after you wake up as possible (never more than an hour) to kick-start your metabolism for the day. Even if it’s just a small something you grab on the go, do it. It will get your metabolism going and ensure the food you eat later doesn’t get preferentially stored as fat.

	Breakfast With Danielle. Studies have shown that diets that include a large breakfast result in a significantly greater fat loss than diets that avoid it! [ Click here to learn more. ]

[ 3. ] Drinking soft drinks (even diet drinks) with fatty foods will make you gain fat.

• Find Fast Food Nutritional Facts Here…

A sugary soft drink will result in a high insulin response. Insulin is a storage hormone - it helps the body store carbohydrates, proteins and fats. There is also evidence to suggest that the artifical sweeteners commonly found in diet drinks can cause an insulin reaction in the body. It’s a simple reaction to the sweetness, not the carbs as there are no carbs in diet drinks. The body simply associates the taste of sweetness with the presence of carbs and assumes that carbs are present, increasing insulin levels in response.

What do you get when you have fatty foods in the presence of increased insulin levels? Simple. You get fat.

My advice is this: if you’re going to eat fatty foods (we all do it at some point or other), drink water, not soft drinks or even diet soft drinks. Save the diet drinks for times when you’re not eating fatty foods.

[ 4. ] Constant snacking on energy foods will make you gain fat.

I’m all for frequent eating to boost the metabolism and snacking on healthy foods is definitely not a bad thing. That’s not what I’m talking about here. I’m talking about giving your body a constant supply of food energy. Consider this: if you give your body a constant supply of energy, it will not have a reason to dip into stored bodyfat for energy. You’ll never dip into the battery on your laptop computer if you leave it plugged in. The body is no different.

A constant supply of outside energy means it won’t have to use its own stored energy supplies. The result: you put on fat because the body doesn’t need to burn any of it for energy.

[ 5. ] Stress without physical exertion will make you gain fat.

The jury is not out on evolution. The human body evolved to deal with stress in certain ways. Before we became “civilized,” stress was all about fight-or-flight. Stress was that you were about to be eaten by a lion so you’d better run! In response, the body needed a mechanism for quick energy to be available and a system to help deal with shock and injury. It was all about survival.

The result? In stressful conditions, the body secretes cortisol - a hormone that immediately starts breaking down muscle tissue for fast energy (it also acts as an anti-inflammatory in case of injury; cortisone is a relative of cortisol).

These days, we very rarely have to worry about being eaten by pretty much anything. But the basic responses of the body can’t distinguish between that stress and the stress of, say, your boss taking away your treasured red stapler that you love so much and moving your desk to the basement.

In the past, stress would be immediately followed by physical exertion. You’d run as fast as you could from the lion or you’d fight off what was attacking you. Now, there is rarely physical exertion following stress so the cortisol is not dissipated. It continues to break down muscle and promote fat storage.

This is why constant stress without regular exercise will make you gain fat.

	Stress Can Make You Fat. Learn how stress can make you fat and how to prevent it. [ Click here to learn more. ]

[ 6. ] Toxic substances in your food will make you gain fat.

• Learn More About Mercury In Fish

Your body’s reaction to a toxic substance is simple: protection. There are two primary ways the body does this. First, it tries to flush the toxins out. If that fails, it will try to lock the toxins away. Think about it this way - what do nuclear power plants do with radioactive waste? They seal it in concrete and bury it. This is essentially the same thing your body does with toxins that you ingest. If it can’t get rid of them, it seals them up in fat cells and locks them away.

Have you ever experienced headaches or other general ill feelings when you’ve gone on a diet? This is typical and is a result of previously stored toxins being released into the body again as you burn or release fat. You are, in essence, unsealing the toxins and flushing them out. This is one of the primary reasons it’s critical to drink plenty of water when you’re losing fat.

Minimize foods that contain toxins such as preservatives, pesticides (wash your fruit and vegetables thoroughly), antibiotics, and heavy metals (such as the mercury increasingly found in some species of fish). Your body will protect itself by holding onto fat to lock the toxins away.

[ 7. ] Losing muscle mass will make you gain fat.

The engine of your metabolism is your muscle mass. This is where the majority of calories are burned in the body. If you go on a diet and you lose a lot of muscle, it is pretty much a guarantee you’ll gain the weight back (and often more!) and make it harder to lose fat again. If you don’t protect your muscle mass, the more you diet, the fatter you’ll get.

[ 8. ] Overconsumption of fructose will make you gain fat.

Even though fructose is a sugar found in fruit and fruit juice, please, please, please don’t take this point to mean that simply eating fruit is going to make you fat. It’s not. Here’s what I mean: Your body stores carbohydrates in the form of glycogen in the muscles and in the liver. When your body needs energy, it breaks the glycogen down into sugar (glucose) for use in various bodily processes.

When your glycogen stores are full, extra carbohydrates will have a tendency to be stored as fat unless burned by activity. Fructose is more efficently converted into fat (more specifically, it’s converted into the chemical backbone of triglycerides, which are fat molecules) than are other carbohydrates such as glucose. This makes it that much easier for excess fructose to be converted into fat.

While high fructose corn syrup is by far the main culprit when it comes to fructose and fat gain, even the fructose found in fruits and fruit juices can have this effect. Because fructose has “nicer” associations with it (being a fruit sugar) than other sugars such as sucrose (table sugar), a person may think they can drink all the juice they want and not run into the same trouble as if they drank the same amount of a sugary drink containing sucrose.

Fruit juices are essentially a concentrated source of fruit sugar and calories - as much as 150 calories or more per glass! Certainly, juice has more nutritional qualities to it than a soft drink but it is nevertheless important to realize that juice actually has a lot of calories and that the sugar it contains can easily be converted into fat.

What to do about it? Eating your fruit and drinking your fruit juice earlier in the day will greatly minimize any chance of spillover into fat stores. Also, take steps to minimize consumption of high fructose corn syrup, which is found in foods and drinks such as soft drinks and fruit beverages, cookies, gum, jams, jellies and baked goods. As always, read the labels!

	Does Fruit Make You Fat? Learn the truth about fruits and the myth that it will make you fat… [ Click here to learn more. ]

[ 9. ] Drinking alcohol frequently will make you gain fat.

• • Alcohol inhibits both the fat-burning enzymes and the muscle-building hormones in your body for many hours after consumption.
  • Alcohol is normally consumed later in the day/evening, a time when your body has the least need for the extra calories.
  • Alcohol is preferentially stored as fat and is very efficiently converted into fat in the body.
  • Alcohol is not an intelligence-enhancing substance and can lead you to make poor late-night food choices, again, a time when your body needs the extra calories the least.
  • Alcohol is a depressant that will eventually make you tired. Remember what Sumo wrestlers do to gain fat quickly? Take in a lot of calories then go directly to sleep.
  • Alcohol contains a lot of calories (7 calories per gram) with very little, if any, redeeming nutritional value.

  Learn More About Alcohol…

Alcohol can make you fat in so many ways. Consider these points: All these points are not to say a moderate amount of alcohol consumption is bad for you. The key truly is moderation. When you look at these points all together, imagine how quickly you’ll gain fat if you drink a lot of alcohol late at night, eat fast food then go directly to sleep. There are few better ways to gain fat this quickly.

Conclusion

Keeping an eye on the above factors can help you keep your weight under control. Add exercise into the mix and that extra fat will be a thing of the past!

My goals for the next several weeks include:

• Improving my running, working up to 10K training.
• Lifting heavier weights.
• Consistent exercise. (Not just when the weather’s nice or when I feel like it, but completing my planned work out daily, regardless of my emotional response to it.)
• Start boxing training. (With the gloves, bag, jump rope, whole 9 yards. I want to be a tough chick!)
• Cleaner eating.
• Goal weight: 115; Goal size: 3/4

My beginning measurements for this 12 (or so) week challenge will be my ending ones from yesterday. 

And here’s my workout plan (for starter’s anyway, I don’t have my boxing gear yet, but it’s been promised to me.)

• Monday: 45 minute walk, lower body work.
• Tuesday: 5-8 x 400 interval workout, abs work, and upper body work.
• Wednesday: 3-4 mile run, lower body work.
• Thursday: Rest!, abs work.
• Friday: 40 minute jog, upper body work.
• Saturday: 5-7 mile run, abs work.
• Sunday: 30 minute easy jog (active rest day, they call it), and upper body work.

I try to focus on each body area 2-3 times per week, sort of like bodybuilders do, only my focus is a whole, rather than individual muscles.  (I’m not to that point yet!)  The workouts that I have for each area (upper, lower, and abs) are basically compilations of moves that I’ve gleaned from videos and magazines, such as Jillian’s 30 Day Shred, various yoga videos, and LOTS of workouts in Oxygen and Shape and Fitness magazines.  Their websites have lots of great workout information if (when!) I need something fresh.  I spend probably 20-30 minutes on each of these toning/strengthening workouts.

For right now, I’m not really restricting my calories much. I try to keep it around 1800 calories per day, with one low day (on my rest day) around 1300, and one very high day around 2200-that high day gives me the opportunity to satisfy any cravings I may have had during the week without going over on my weekly total.  The other days vary, 1600-2000, averaging out to 1800/day for the week.  It’s enough to keep me full, and hopefully enough to be able to build muscle while still burning fat.  (The building of muscle tissue actually requires a calorie surplus, but I don’t really want to gain weight; I’m open to the idea that I may in the future have to increase my calorie intake, but for now, I’m going with 1800/day and we’ll see where it leads.)  :)  I’ve been reading about appropriate diets for building muscle, and while carbs and fats are necessary, the best diet seems to be high in protein, with moderate amounts of carbs and slightly lower in fat.  So that’s what I’m going to try for this challenge (at least TRY to stick with, because God knows I CRAVE carbs after a good, sweaty workout!) ; I don’t imagine it will be easy, because so far I have been eating “whatever” as long as it is within my calorie allowance.  Not necessarily junk food, but still not monitoring the macronutrient ratios.  So this will be a new challenge for me, but hopefully one that will give me that extra boost I need to get that hard body I want so badly! 

So… that’s it.  Just a personal challenge to myself, some goals I’d REALLY like to achieve by the end of the year, and some areas of improvement I’d love to see.    I can’t help but think, after this little challenge is over, I’ll be in the midst of the Christmas rush, and then it’s time to set new goals for the New Year!  Hopefully reaching the goals I’ve set here in this time frame will help me start 2010 off on the best foot ever, fitter than ever. 

Side note: I seriously doubt I’ll be able to get down to 115 lbs over the next 3 months, as I tend to lose about 1-2 lbs per month, but it’s a goal, and I’m going to work hard to get as close as I can safely in this time frame.  I’m thinking that maybe the two goals of a lower weight and building muscle may contradict each other (???)  BUT all I can do is wait and see while working hard and doing my best. 

I don’t have any new pics to post as of right this second, but I’ll get some on here as soon as I can.  (I’m not good at that stuff, and it’s a hassle for me, so please bear with me.  )

But for anyone interested, here are the results of my 8 week challenge to myself.

Starting Measurements:                                   Ending:

bicep: 11 inches                                                   11 (-0)

chest: 35 inches                                                   33.5  (-1.5)

waist: 28.5 inches                                               28  (-.5)

33 inches at belly button                                    31.5  (-1.5)

hips: 36 inches                                                     34.5  (-1.5)

upper thigh:  19.5 inches                                    18.75  (-.75)

calf: 13.75 inches                                                    13  (-.75)

Weight: 129.5 lbs                                                   127.5   (-2 lbs)

I didn’t really have any “set” goals for this challenge; I just wanted to see how well I could do.  2 lbs is almost embarrassing, but it really does take me a long time to lose weight.  I go through a lot of back and forth, like lose 2 lbs one week, gain 1 the next week, etc…. And I gained a FEW lbs over the Labor Day weekend, so I’m pretty happy with a 2 lb loss over the last several weeks.  I’m *very* surprised by the inches lost, though slightly saddened that so many of them came from my chest area.  No big surprise though! lol  I knew I was getting plenty smaller up there!  Happy that I got a couple of inches off my tummy, though I’d like to shed still more.

I’m thinking that Autumn officially starts tomorrow and ends on December 20…. Maybe  a little pre-Christmas personal challenge is in order.    I want to set some specific goals and workout plans this time through; give me the evening to think it over and I’ll be back tomorrow.