The long overdue curvy body update

I promised myself, quietly, that I would keep a running update of my body shape changing success (or otherwise) here, to keep myself motivated.

I just finished the six-week intensive challenge set down by the gym. Weekly training with a personal trainer who put me through my paces - each week, I shared my food diary with her and she tailored a program to my body type - and I had to commit to attending at least three times per week and keep my heart rate at over 75% for the entire workout.

I did all that. Except the past two weeks I could only get there twice in a week. I was really disappointed in that, because I wanted to see how much I could change (and hopefully lose, in weight) in that six weeks. I injured my calf half way through, which made anything to do with my legs impossible these last two weeks. I still cannot squat (which is hard with a toddler) as it siezes and is excruciating - all stemming from my lower back, which I am working on from a Peace Space perspective. More on that some other time - I'm sorry, I know I say that a lot!

At the end of it, it was just half a kg loss on the scales. HOWEVER.... 9cm total lost on my bicep, bust, waist, hip and thigh measurements! Not bad in six weeks. So I am guessing a fair bit of the lack in weight change is a reduction of body fat and increase in dense muscle. The proof is in the measurements and how many of my clothes now fit me nicely. I look at my upper arms and can see they are smaller. This is saying something. I am usually very derogatory, but at the moment I am really attempting the Think Positive attitude.

I am going to persevere with the new regime (exercise at least three times per week and keep that heart rate up while I'm there), along with eating more often - my biggest enemy was a sluggish metabolism due to my lack of eating for hours and hours and sometimes not for an entire day from dinner time to dinner time (yikes), coupled with a serious shortage of protein. I've upped this to the 1g per 1kg of body weight they have recommended for maintaining healthy muscle. I guess you could say I am fortunate in that I build muscle incredibly easily, however this can cause an awful, hefty and somehow masculine body shape if I don't exercise (heh!) a little restraint. At my peak, just a few years ago, I could bench press 40kg and I maxed out on the leg press at 25okg. Yes. 250. Ridiculous! Just because you can, doesn't mean you should. I had gargantuan thighs that made me look more beefy than lean. So I am also going to go light on the weights and do more repetitions to keep it a more cardio-based workout each time, with a little weight added in for resistance.

But the true test is going to be in maintaining my own drive and determination to reach my goal. I have enlisted Steve to help me here - I am going to get him to keep measuring me for incentive. I asked him to measure me on Tuesday night (I will keep it at Tuesdays like it was with my trainer) and so far, in the past week:

Another 2cm off my thigh
Another 2cm off my bust
Gained 1cm on my bicep
Gained 2cm in the waist
No change in my hips

... so that's 13cm in just seven weeks! Huzzah!!! It's working!

I can take the bust and thigh measurements as accurate because I used the same method to find the point at which my trainer's been measuring me. My biceps, hips and waist are a bit more iffy and inaccurate but now that Steve is doing it, we have a new benchmark to go off for each week from now on.

I've decided to only look at my weight every six weeks and see if there's a change. Doesn't mean I won't hop on the scales and see what I'm doing, but I am only going to mark it that far apart.

Got a long way to go to reach my goal weight, but now I'm thinking the weight isn't as important as losing the cm's. I think I have to keep this in mind as my more realistic target because I am quite obviously *aherm* a dense person. Oy! Enough with the snickering.