Just The 6 Of Us

It was a long week, I’m glad that is over! I was excited to get on that scale this morning, it was like seeing a long lost friend! This friend is evil and I believe is conspiring against me!

I lost nothing! Not 1lb, not even 1 measly ounce.  Oh how I hate you!  I was disappointed. At least I didn’t gain! So, I remind myself to celebrate the small things and not gaining is something to celebrate!

Next was to measure my waist, hips, thighs & arms. I checked and rechecked, I really think that I measured wrong last week. According to my measurements today I lost 4 inches off my waist. I honestly don’t think you can do that in one week, it could be possible I guess, but I am going to go with human error.

I did lose 1 inch off my chest and a 1/2 inch off my thighs. One more little thing to celebrate!

I have moved up to Level 2 on the 30 Day Shred and it is intense. It’s hard and I hate it. Although, I hate it, I do believe it is giving me the results I want to see. It may not be on the scale but I do look thinner and I have some awesome muscles!

Moving forward into next week, I will be doing the same challenge again. I am sure the scale will move eventually…but now I have learned to concentrate on other things and measure success in other ways!!

Recently I was venting on my Mom’s Group Forum about only losing 4lbs in 7 weeks. I was seriously pissed off! All the work I have done and I still see nothing on the scale, but the same number looking back at me!

My thoughts at that very moment were why even bother, just go ahead and eat whatever you want! I didn’t of course, but…GRRRR!

The voice of reason and wisdom..AKA my dear friend Angie, talked to me about burning fat/building muscle and how “only tracking weight is unreliable, but tracking inches can show you where you’re losing.”

She sent me links to 2 articles written about this.

Think Inches, Not Pounds and Losing Inches But Not Losing Weight?

“As you develop muscle and lose fat, you may lose inches instead of pounds. You may even gain weight, but you’ll appear slimmer and trimmer. Because you’re lowering your body-fat percentage and increasing your metabolic rate, you’re improving your physical fitness considerably.”

“When you talk about losing weight, what you usually mean is slimming down. But slimming down doesn’t always mean losing weight. It may sound odd, but it’s possible to get thinner without actually seeing a change in your weight. This happens when you lose body fat while gaining muscle. Your weight may stay the same, even as you lose inches, a sign that you’re moving in the right direction. But, if the scale doesn’t change, you may not even be aware that you’re getting real results. Knowing the difference between losing weight and losing body fat can change how you get results and may even change how you look at your own body.”

I am a scale stalker. I am on the scale at least 2 times a day. Especially in the morning! She issued me a challenge. Measure my my progress in other ways and put the scale away for 1-2 weeks. There is to be no cheating and I can’t weigh myself until the end of the challenge. *GASP* AND…I have to write down something I see improving besides losing inches. Because she is absolutely right when she said that I don’t want to trade one obsession for another.

I took her up on it and did my measurements. I wanted Dale to put the scale in the safe..LOL, but it won’t fit.

Since Saturday, there have been days when I want to get on the scale, the urge is really fierce. I have resisted and one day I didn’t even think about it. That is an improvement. I can only hope to have more days like that one.

I am going to end the challenge on Friday and see how well I did. Although, no matter how it goes, next I will do the challenge for 2 weeks. And maybe one day I won’t have to rely on it so much.

For a while now I have been reading a lot about how people are doing Jillian Michael’s 30 Day Shred. Even a couple of my closets friends have started it. I waited a while before I bought it, because I was happy with my workout routine and was seeing results. I have started to stall a little as far as toning and losing inches. So, this weekend I went out and bought it.

Yesterday was my first day! Now, I was thinking this will be a piece of cake, considering I have work out steady for 3 months, with & without weights! OH MY GOD, was I wrong! 20 mins of pure insanity is what I call it. No breaks, no sweet talk, just pure, non stop exercise madness. And it was only 20 mins! Holy crap, I was sweating in places I didn’t think possible and panting like a dog in the August heat! I have come to 2 conclusions…I need a really nice supportive sports bra, because let me tell you it almost got a little dangerous there for a min and I despise jumping jacks! Who knew jumping jacks would be the death of me…I really dislike them with great intensity (I did say that already, right?)

I am going to stick with it for 30 days, even though the top of my thighs want to argue about it.

Want to know what the funny thing is….it was only LEVEL 1! There are 3 levels…bwahahahaha!

I just keep repeating…beauty & being skinny is pain, beauty & being skinny is pain….some one shot me please!