"I went on a diet … and in fourteen days I had lost exactly two weeks." ~ Joe E. Lewis

I have been working out with a personal trainer & eating pretty healthy since May 2010. I lost twenty pounds, ran a half marathon, and got a lot stronger. I have written down every BLT (bite, lick, taste) for the last year. As of August, the scale quit moving.  Scott gave me a bodymedia unit for Christmas (like the bodybugg on Biggest Loser) & I have been able to accurately estimate how many calories I am burning & eating every day for the last two weeks. Weight loss theory says if you burn 3500 calories more than you consume, you will lose one pound. Two weeks in, a 14,000 calorie deficit & I am not seeing results. (Patience isn’t one of my strongest personality traits…) I am at heart a mathematician & a rule follower. I am following the rules & I want my body to follow them too. For now, I am going to stay the course, lower my dietary fat percentage & sodium a bit, and wait for six weeks before I get really freaked out. (Although, I already am a bit freaked out.)

And I know that I look okay, my belly shows that it has carried babies, but I have muscle tone, cardiovascular endurance, a great recovery heart rate, and even a great resting heart rate. However, my body fat percentage is at 40%. So somewhere inside, there is fat trying to choke my organs. I would like to be here with my family & friends for a long time to come. You can read more about body fat percentage here.

 

I could have spent the 1000 calorie per day deficit on A LOT of yummy things. For example, treats like the goodies I saw in the bakery case in Charleston last weekend. I wanted to order one of everything!!! (The “Eat like crap = Feel like crap!” mantra prevailed.)  I thought about ordering something sensible & then decided that a small splurge would fit in with running around Charleston chasing Scott running all day long. My outfit?  I was wearing two coats & Scott’s sweat pants as a scarf & fleece gloves in my pocket (I didn’t want to get lint in the éclair).

So, for now I have increased the intensity & frequency of my workouts. Here is last week – I know it is a little crazy, but my body feels good. (I haven’t taken ibuprofen all week!)  I am aiming for two workouts per day for a while. One intense workout & one 30” extra burn at night. I am scheduled to run the Tybee Island half marathon in two weeks.

 

Monday: Run 4.5 miles on the treadmill. Massage. Yoga.

Tuesday: Elliptical for 40” at 5:30 a.m. (I was awake?!) Spinning.

Wednesday: Pilates Reformer (LOVE LOVE LOVE). Ran 6.5 miles (great until the GI issues kicked in).

Thursday: Personal training (mostly weights – very very hard!). That night: 400-calorie treadmill torcher (walk for 5 minutes, then add 1% incline every minute up until 10%, back down 1% at a time, started running at 3% & ran until I hit 30”.

Friday: Step aerobics, Zumba party (FUN FUN FUN & TOUGH)

Saturday: Spinning.

 

On a funny & related note, the physical therapist’s office called yesterday. “Um, we haven’t seen you for over a month & we’re wondering if you are okay?” My hamstring is still nagging but usually only in the background. My hips are still wonky & I hope that eventually they’ll be all better. We booked an appointment.