February Challenge

I liked having my January outlined for me, so I decided to do the same with my workouts for February too.

No full rest days, but I think it is pretty doable for me.  I'm starting Chalene Extreme, and I am also starting my running program to start training for my half-marathon in October.  I'll have a few walks added in there, and if I want to go hop on the bike or elliptical at the gym, that will also be in addition.

Here we go!! (A few days late, I know).

More calories = YUM (Weekly Recap)

Exercise

Moving upstairs
3 30 Day Shred work outs
2 walks
3 runs
1 Turbo Jam DVD

Total of 481 minutes of exercise
4298 total calories burned through exercise

Nutrition

1483 cals
1668 cals
1847 cals
1840 cals
1803 cals
1735 cals
1850 cals

Challenges

This week I did not complete as many 30 Day Shred or Turbo Jam workouts as I had planned.  I took two whole rest days instead.  I wanted to "taper down" my workouts as I headed into Chalene Extreme.

Increasing my calories, although exciting, was a challenge because I didn't want to fill all those extra cals with junk.  This is hard for me as when I get to the evening with extra cals I usually go for extra "treats".  I tried to plan ahead to make sure I was using my cals in a smarter way.  Some days I succeeded, and other days (like today for example) I filled the extra with junk.


Successes

Even with 2 whole rest days I feel like I burned a lot of calories this week.  3 days I didn't have my traditional treat deserts, one night I had a vitatop, one was a protein shake, and one was a fiber one bar with chocolate soy milk.

I was pleasantly surprised that by upping my calories, I seemed to be more consistent with my intake avoiding any spike days.

To up my intake, I tried to do little things like add a bit of cheese to my morning wrap, avocado to my lunch, or have some extra protein shakes.

I ran my FIRST ever 12 minute mile during Friday's Bridge to 10k run, also my pace on average was 12.30/mile.  I was VERY happy with that.

**I am NOT, I repeat (mostly for myself) NOT doing a weigh in tomorrow. I am going to wait it out until March 1st and try to do monthly weigh ins for the next 3 months while completing the Chalene Extreme program.  You can read more about that decision here!

Putting the scale away!

I had put it out there a few days ago that I was considering a monthly weigh-in.

I decided back in December that I was going to do Chalane Extreme (a 90 day strength focused program) when I finished the 30 Day Shred. The idea of taking the time concentrate on muscle building is just plain smart weight-loss, even smarter if you have been doing it all along. More muscle = more calories burned.

Since I am on this journey long-term, I need to think about long term goals. When I get to maintenance, do I want to be stuck to a 1200-1400 calorie a day diet to maintain... OR would I like to be eating 1600-2000 calories a day plus some exercise calories on top? I mean really, which one would you choose?

In addition to doing the Chalene Exteme Program, I have increased my daily calories to my BMR which right now is 1850. I'm doing this so I can maintain current muscle as well as build new muscle.

The scary part of these changes is that during the transition, the scale may not show an accurate reflection of what is really going on with my body. I am going to have to TRUST that I am doing the right thing for my body and wait a little longer to see those benefits on the scale.

I had a few people with "mixed" feelings on doing a monthly weigh-in. The common question is: "What if you get off track because you don't have to weigh-in?" My answer for that now is:  I seem to be on the right track nutrition-wise, and I don't feel in any danger of falling off that wagon because I still keep my food diary public for all my MFP pals to see and I will still be logging every morsel of food that enters this body.

Knowing what I do about increasing calories and starting a new fitness regimen, I will most likely see no-loss or even an increase in the first few weeks and I believe that weighing (while I try my best not to take the scale too seriously) may just be discouraging.

I'm going to have to put my inner instant gratification whore away for a while, measure my progress in inches instead of pounds and really remember that I am doing this for long-term gain.

This has been a hard decision to make because I desperately really want to get to my goal of seeing the 100's for my 30th birthday.  I may still make it there, but I also have to prepare myself for the fact that I might just have to look like I weigh in the 100's on my birthday.  Eventually I may even have to raise my goal weight too, if I am doing lots of strength training and toning, I may look better at 160, than I once did at 149.

So, I will still do weekly recaps of food and exercise, but I'm not going to weigh myself until March 1st, when I will also do my next progress photos!

Wow!

It's always nice to know that people believe in you!!

Today, my husband came in the door with a plant. He said "this was at the front door". Now, it's still a ways from my birthday, so, I'm kind of confused.

The card is to me, so I open it and see a note "keep up the great work, you're doing fabulous". Seriously almost brought tears to my eyes (Ok, so there was a tear there). It was from a friend whom I've known since elementary school. How special, he totally made my day!!

I've also had a few people I know personally take a moment to drop me a note saying how I am an inspiration. Who knew I could do that??

All of it is motivation to keep going and get to my goals!

Progress Pictures and a Small Gain

So I weighed myself today, only for accuracy with my progress photos, I'm up one pound from Sunday.

I share this because I am not worried about it! I have sore muscles and I'm still dealing with TOM. Also I have been on the right track with my food and exercise so, Mr. Scale can tell me I'm up all he wants today, we'll see who's boss at the next weigh in.

Speaking of which, I'm debating on whether that should be weekly still, or if I should give a monthly weigh in a try.

So, as promised here are a few progress pics.

This one below is Jan 1st to Feb 1st

This one is from the start of my journey in September, where I was already down 23lbs from my heaviest.