Friday, August 23, 2013

The scale won't budge!

Reaching a "plateau" is a problem that EVERYONE faces on their weight loss journey.

You all know that I've been using FreezeAwayFat Cool Shape shorts (not intended for weight loss but for fat loss), and I've been doing Jillian Michaels Body Revolution 6 days a week for the past two months.  I just started Phase 3/week 9 so it was weigh-in time, but I stepped on the scale this morning only to discover that I have gained a pound in the last 2 weeks!  I've said repeatedly that muscle weighs more than fat, and that as you lose weight and gain muscle, sometimes the number on the scale won't budge because you're weight lost and muscle gained is equalling out, but that doesn't make the fact that the number on the scale isn't going down any less frustrating.

In the first month of BR I lost about 5 pounds (which isn't a lot, but when a work out like Jillian's isn't your first rodeo, your results aren't going to be as dramatic as someone pushing themselves to their limits for the first time).  In the last month, my weight has stayed between 135-137 (give and take half a pound), and I feel like I'm losing my mind because I'm working so hard (workouts 6 days a week, 1 cheat day every other week, 1200-1500 calories a day, and currently taking the all natural weight loss supplement Fenphedrine) and seeing no results...on the scale.

Here's where my two-cents for you comes in: your body knows at what weight it feels best and at what weight it wants to stay to keep you healthiest! I know this doesn't make looking at the number on the scale any easier, but I'm learning along with all of you to stop thinking about the scale and start thinking about how I feel.  My size 4 shorts are baggy and my size 2 jeans are just right, again.  I can't deny that my hard work is working on my body fat, but body feels just right at an average of 136 pounds and that's where it wants to stay despite my efforts to get my weight down to 128 (I thought 8 pounds would be easy to get rid of, but my body doesn't want to).

I was going to wait until the end of BR to share my inches lost, but I feel like now is a good time for me to help you (and help myself) by telling you all just how much my body has changed despite the lack of change in that always-on-my-mind number I see on the scale.

You already saw the pictures, but here are the numbers: (I measure every two weeks and there have been some fluctuation as I build muscle so I'm just going to do before and now measurements.)

Before BR                                          Now
Right Bicep: 11 inches                       Right Bicep: 10.5 inches (-.5)
Left Bicep: 11                                       Left Bicep: 10.5 (-.5)
Right Thigh: 23                                    Right Thigh: 22.5 (-.5)
Left Thigh: 24                                       Left Thigh: 23.5 (-.5)
Waist: 28                                               Waist: 27 (-1)
At Bellybutton: 34                                At Bellybutton: 32 (-2)
Hips: 36                                                Hips: 35 (-1)
Booty: 38.5                                           Booty: 37 (-1.5)
Weight: 137.5 pounds                        Weight: 136 pounds


As you can see, there was only a loss of 1.5 pounds in the last 2 months, but a total of 7.5 inches!  So while I can complain about my weight all I want, every time I look in the mirror I see tighter thighs, definition in my upper and lower back, and those nice little curves between my obliques and abs that gives my flat stomach some definition of muscle.

I still have some stubborn fat to lose, so I'm not going to quit working out or stop wearing my frosty pants (as my husband likes to call them), but it's not just because I want to look good, it's because I enjoy working out and watching my body change and get stronger.

I'm only 25, but I want to live to be 100, and Jillian with her butt-kicking workouts are going to get me there in tip-top shape!!!!  (I'm gonna be the hottest mom in kindergarten and the hottest grandma on the block! haha)



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