Elatedly, I’m finding that I can cinch up my belt a notch tighter as I end month 2 of my fitness journey. In the first post in this series, Fitness Journey: Month 1, Slow And Measured, I shared about the hows and whys of the start of this journey.
And progress continues to be slow but that’s ok. I’m still getting to the gym to do strength training 3 times a week. I’ve added one more machine to my workout and stepped up on the difficulty of my “active rest” exercises a bit. There are 8 machines that I use for strength training; 6 of them target the larger upper body muscles and 2 are for legs. I have a general pattern as to the order I follow for those exercises but if the machine next up is already in use, then I move around the order as needed. Sometimes it’s nice to change things up a little as well. At each machine I do three sets, pyramiding up in the weight for the 2nd and 3rd sets as I reduce on the reps. In between each set, I do a bodyweight exercise for the opposite region (upper vs lower).
After looking at my stats last month and seeing that there had been no change in my thighs or calves, I realized that I needed to up my lower body game. Even though I use a squat machine as part of my strength training sequence, I now also do a variety of bodyweight squats during my active rest while using upper body machines. This change seems to be paying off but I know that I need to change it up even more to continue to get results. Now, let’s look at the latest stats.
| June 11 | July 15 | August 12 | total change | |
| Weight | 177.1 | 175.0 | 172.2 | -4.9 |
| Body Fat % | 35.1% | 34.6% | 33.6% | -1.5% |
| Chest | 39″ | 38.5″ | 38.5″ | -0.5 |
| Bust | 44.5″ | 44″ | 43.25″ | -1.25″ |
| Waist | 39″ | 38.5″ | 37.5″ | -1.5″ |
| Abdomen | 45″ | 44.5″ | 44.5″ | -0.5″ |
| Hips | 46″ | 45.5″ | 45.0″ | -1.0″ |
| Thighs | 25.5″ | 25.5″ | 25″ | -0.5″ |
| Calves | 15.5″ | 15.5″ | 15.5″ | — |
As I said, slow but at least the needle is moving. While my weight loss is only at a total of 5 pounds (if you’re rounding up) for these two months, I know that I’m making more even more progress than is evident in these numbers. Indulge me a moment while I get little mathy. I was inspired to take a deeper look at my numbers after reading this Women’s Health article.
The scale I have at home is a digital one and it uses bio-impedance analysis to measure and report on body fat as well as percentages of body water and bone mass. That’s how I can include Body Fat % in the table above. At the start, my body fat in lbs was 62.2 (177.1 x .351); as of my last weigh-in, it was 57.9 lbs (172.2 x .336) which means that 4.3 of the 4.9 pounds I lost was in body fat. Without resistance training, my body fat % would likely not have changed significantly. So even if I had managed to lose the same nearly 5 lbs in the last two months through diet alone, my body fat weight would likely be about 60.4 lbs for a loss of only 1.8 lbs. The remaining 3.1 lbs lost would have been in muscle mass which is not what I want to see happen.
Now, I realize that this all assumes that my body water and bone mass percentages were approximately the same at my last weigh-in as they were at the start. I didn’t note those numbers at either weigh-in so I cannot validate whether that is true or not. Nevertheless, progress has been made.
The differences may not yet be evident in my progress photos but I can see them up close. My upper arms have a bit more definition and overall they feel slimmer. My buttcheeks are riding a little higher and I can breathe a bit easier in a couple pairs of my snugger jeans. A review of my weekly weigh-in data indicates that 172.2 lbs is the lowest I’ve weighed in over 3 years. Woot, woot! You might’ve noticed that I switched up on the top I was wearing for these photos. I did so because the gray one is a tank top that I had to roll up which made it harder to see some of the changes in my body.
In last month’s post, I shared that I practice Intermittent Fasting (still do) and that I had started to keep a daily food diary which I continue to do quite faithfully. I find that I don’t need to do any advanced meal-prep planning because I eat mainly at home and it’s basically the same every day. Breakfast is plain greek yogurt with blueberries and granola, mid-day lunch/snack of fruit with a small turkey sandwich, and dinner is typically a grilled lean protein with steamed vegetables and rice or boiled potatoes. Green tea in the morning, chamomile at bedtime, and lots of water during the day.
In thinking forward to the next month, I need to add some core work into my non-gym days. I will also be starting to up my weights at the gym once I’m back from an upcoming two-week road trip that The Husband and I will be setting out on soon. I’m a little concerned about keeping up with my new routine while we are gone but I’m determined to try my best. All of the hotels where we’ll be staying have fitness centers that should be open (fingers crossed) so that’s Plan A. If they’re not open, then for Plan B I’ve bookmarked a few bodyweight exercise routines that I can do in our room. Keeping up with my food diary may present a bigger challenge but I’ll do my best to approximate since I won’t be bringing a food scale with me. And since we will mostly be eating out, I’ll need to be extra mindful as I focus on making smart choices and avoid rationalizing too many indulgences.
That’s my fitness journey status report for month 2. This post is part of a recurring series published at about this point each month as I track my progress for becoming fitter and losing weight. Do you have any helpful tips you can share or resources that you’ve used in your own fitness journey?
Stay well and let’s keep in touch! Subscribe, tweet, follow, friend, pin … all options are available. I look forward to hearing from you soon.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Note: This is an unsponsored post; however, some or all of the links to clothing items are associated with an affiliate program where I earned a few cents for each click.
Feature and final photos: MMPerez
12 Comments
Butt cheeks! lol.
I need your scale! What type is it?
I have a gazillion tips on how to lose. But very, very zero tips on workouts. I was doing Pilates/yoga w/ the greatest teacher for two years. At first, I couldn’t keep up w/ her. I’d slip in my own sweat!! Of course she moved.
I’d love to get the name of your scale.
Wendy
Wendy, I’ve been reading your tips and they are wonderful. The brand of my scale is Conair.
Rena, thank you for sharing your fitness journey. I’m sure you’ll be an inspiration to lots of women. RT-ing your tweet! I’ve been intermittent fasting for more than 3 1/2 years now and will never stop. Did a post about it a few years ago. If you read that post and leave a comment, I invite you to include a link to this post in your comment.
Jean, thank you for your support and encouragement. I also wrote a post about IF several years ago but I’ve loved to read yours. I’ll be doing so shortly.
Great job, Rena! I, too, am working on taking off some of this postmenapausal/COVID19 weight. Slow and steady wins the race. I used to do a boot camp on that same trail that you took your pictures on. I look forward to seeing your progress!
Thank you, Kathy. I don’t mind slow progress as long as it’s steady and I bet you have fun trying to figure out where my photos were taken.
I do strength training 3 days a week with the iFit app and they always include about 10 minutes of core exercises in at the end of each video, which helps. You are making some great progress, good job!!! I have a scale like that and I love it! It really is nice to know all the details.
Carrie
curlycraftymom.com
Carrie, I’m looking to change up my routine so I’ll take a look at iFit.
I enjoy reading what others do on their health journey. Right now just trying to have at least 5 days of exercise. My son just had me buy a ab roller and we are going to add that to our routine, I run once a week, walk a couple times a week and do some trampoline work outs twice a week. Just trying to keep moving.
http://www.chezmireillefashiontravelmom.com
I like reading about how others are getting fit as well, Mireille. Doing so can be helpful in becoming more aware of other options.
Good for you, Rena! 5lbs is awesome over 2 months. I worked for Weight Watchers/WW for 9 years and losing weight is SO much about the food vs. exercise. Exercise will help you maintain weight loss, but I would recommend a tracker for your food choices. WW uses points (a trademark calculation based on Sat. Fat, fibre, sugars) over calories, as all calories are not created equal (eg. crackers vs. a banana).
Thank you Sheila for your encouragements. I have been tracking my food and it’s been very helpful. The one thing that I’ve realized is that I need to eat more protein.