I mentioned in January that I’d joined the YMCA and started exercising more, and the results are finally starting to show.
I’ve lost nearly 20 pounds since November when I decided it was time to lose weight, and most of that loss has come since January. I never really thought I would lose weight between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I just tried not to gain my usual ten pounds while still enjoying a season that for me has increasingly meant good food and cookies, not presents. I was happy not gaining any significant weight.
Once I started exercising four times more a week, though, I was losing nearly two pounds a week. Of course, I was also “dieting,” if that means not eating every time you’re hungry and trying to make better choices when I did eat. I’ve managed to cut my cola thirst in half, and often find myself thinking even that 8 oz bottle is really too sweet to taste good.
I’ve cut out most of the hot dogs and bacon, and found myself returning almost exclusively to eating Cheerios with fruit for breakfast. We’ve gone to one vegetarian meal per week, and one fish meal per week, but I haven’t given up my one steak a week rule.
Unfortunately, most of the body fat I’ve lost, and I know I’ve lost some because my scale measures the percentage of body fat, has not been the fat on my stomach. It’s amazing how hard it is for me to lose fat there. Even if a I had abs of steel, which I don’t, no one could see them due to the layer of fat on my stomach.
Still, I feel considerably better. My resting pulse is down considerably. My blood pressure seems somewhat better, though it’s hard to tell since I hit panic mode every time I hook myself up to one of those machines at the gym.
I know I’m in better shape, though, every time I take Skye for his daily walk. Most of the time now I can actually make it all the way up the steep hill at his pace without having to stop and gasp for breath half way up the hill. I even find myself walking further faster than I used to.
I feel less tired throughout the day, though I still haven’t managed to get motivated enough to make good use of that extra time.
My biggest complaint is that I resent the fact that I’m now burning less calories on my daily walk because I’ve lost weight. That just doesn’t seem fair considering all the effort I’ve make to get back in shape.
To make matters worse, I’ve hit another of those plateaus the last two weeks. Though I dropped to 179.5 several days, I’m just as apt to bounce back to 180.5, especially if I splurge on an extra Pepsi and burrito, or two, after a five mile walk. Losing the next ten pounds looks like it’s going to be a lot harder than losing the first twenty.