For the first time in six weeks, the weekly scale check has not yielded progress. I have held steady at 246.8 pounds.
OK, so I check my weight a lot. It has become a go to activity that I do when waiting for the shower to heat up, and so it's not unusual to weigh myself twice a day (or more, just for curiosity's sake). One thing that has struck me during the process is how much your body weight fluctuates during the day. I remember one day I weighed myself to find that I had gained two pounds, and then after a work out at the end of the day, had lost four pounds from there. So, I don't put a lot of stake in the daily ups and downs, as long as the general trend continues.
It was a bit odd to see the scale stay the same. I felt like I had done my usual routine and had been ok with my food (I am not exactly on a strict diet). But, I did continue on with workouts and steps, and will continue to do so.
Overall, I've lost ten pounds so far. I'm hopeful that I can continue to lose weight at about two pounds per week. And here's hoping that next week, the downward trend continues.
Sunday, September 18, 2016
Saturday, September 3, 2016
A most glorious feeling
Happy Labor Day Weekend everyone. I started mine out with a little sleeping in (7:00....WHOO!) and then it was time to get in a workout.
I started out with yoga. I have continued the 30 Day Yoga Camp. I haven't done it every day, but I am now up to Day 18. Today was a lot of moving with the breath (I suppose that is what yoga is supposed to be, but I'm pretty new to the practice. It was the focus.) It also featured some amazing stretches. Thanks to yoga, I am now able to touch my toes. Today, as I was lifting from forward folds and the such, I found my self smiling. I have enjoyed yoga, but I rarely smile. This may just be trying to stay focused (on account of having literally no idea what I'm doing) but today, I found myself smiling. The stretches felt good. I felt good (losing 7 pounds will do that). I think I was also finding that my muscles were getting stronger. It was easier to roll up from forward fold. It's easier to maintain a downward facing dog. It felt good to start the day this way.
As I have stated before, as much as I'm liking yoga, it alone is not going to help me achieve a weight loss goal. Though, as a co-worked pointed out, if you aren't stressed then you might not eat so much. And this is true. We are three weeks into the school year, and I have been relatively stress free. This is partly due to this being year 3 and I have a better handle on what I'm doing, but I think yoga has helped to. But, it's not going to get the job done by itself, so I turn to the elliptical.
I love the elliptical. While I eventually want to get back into running again. right now I think that would put too much pressure on my joints. The elliptical is a good way to get around that. Today, I decided to push myself a little bit.
Now, I'm not sure how the elliptical decides what a calorie is, how accurate that count is, or anything like that. But, usually I burn ~8 calories per minute. I usually go for an hour. This results in a 480 calorie burn. Recently, I started to see if I could bump that up to 500 calories in an hour. I could. Earlier this week, I was burning at a 9 cal/minute clip and doing well, until I hit a wall. So, today I decided if I could go that rate for the full hour. If I succeeded, I would burn 540 calories, 60 more than my original pace.
Of course, burning an extra calorie per minute is work. To sustain it is work. At about the thirty minute mark, I could feel sweat pouring out of me. I was, believe me, experiencing the name sake of this blog. Sweat came off my forehead, down my tear ducts and dripped to the floor. My shirt clung to me.
AND IT WAS GLORIOUS!
I love that feeling of sweat rolling through you. It's like seeing steam come off an engine. You can feel the work. Every minute, another nine calories. Sometimes, I had to push extra to catch up to pace. My legs held strong. At about the 55 minute mark, I thought I was going to hit a wall again. I gathered my strength, and pushed through. My shirt was drenched, I could feel sweat literally flying off me with each revolution on the machine. Another nine calories, 4 minutes. Put the head down, push, push, push, another 9 calories, three minutes, find another gear, push, another 9 calories, 18 to go, every seven revolutions a calorie, 1-2-3-4-5-6-7, 1-2-3-4-5-6-7, go, go, another 9 calories, last minute, you got this, go hard, go now, 1-2-3-4-5-6-7, maintain pace, watch as the calorie count ticks to 540, the clock reads 59:52. Bang out another seven revolutions to make it 541.
To push one's self to a higher goal, to feel the work it takes to get there, to achieve it....there's no better feeling than that.
Here's to feeling like this more.
I started out with yoga. I have continued the 30 Day Yoga Camp. I haven't done it every day, but I am now up to Day 18. Today was a lot of moving with the breath (I suppose that is what yoga is supposed to be, but I'm pretty new to the practice. It was the focus.) It also featured some amazing stretches. Thanks to yoga, I am now able to touch my toes. Today, as I was lifting from forward folds and the such, I found my self smiling. I have enjoyed yoga, but I rarely smile. This may just be trying to stay focused (on account of having literally no idea what I'm doing) but today, I found myself smiling. The stretches felt good. I felt good (losing 7 pounds will do that). I think I was also finding that my muscles were getting stronger. It was easier to roll up from forward fold. It's easier to maintain a downward facing dog. It felt good to start the day this way.
As I have stated before, as much as I'm liking yoga, it alone is not going to help me achieve a weight loss goal. Though, as a co-worked pointed out, if you aren't stressed then you might not eat so much. And this is true. We are three weeks into the school year, and I have been relatively stress free. This is partly due to this being year 3 and I have a better handle on what I'm doing, but I think yoga has helped to. But, it's not going to get the job done by itself, so I turn to the elliptical.
I love the elliptical. While I eventually want to get back into running again. right now I think that would put too much pressure on my joints. The elliptical is a good way to get around that. Today, I decided to push myself a little bit.
Now, I'm not sure how the elliptical decides what a calorie is, how accurate that count is, or anything like that. But, usually I burn ~8 calories per minute. I usually go for an hour. This results in a 480 calorie burn. Recently, I started to see if I could bump that up to 500 calories in an hour. I could. Earlier this week, I was burning at a 9 cal/minute clip and doing well, until I hit a wall. So, today I decided if I could go that rate for the full hour. If I succeeded, I would burn 540 calories, 60 more than my original pace.
Of course, burning an extra calorie per minute is work. To sustain it is work. At about the thirty minute mark, I could feel sweat pouring out of me. I was, believe me, experiencing the name sake of this blog. Sweat came off my forehead, down my tear ducts and dripped to the floor. My shirt clung to me.
AND IT WAS GLORIOUS!
I love that feeling of sweat rolling through you. It's like seeing steam come off an engine. You can feel the work. Every minute, another nine calories. Sometimes, I had to push extra to catch up to pace. My legs held strong. At about the 55 minute mark, I thought I was going to hit a wall again. I gathered my strength, and pushed through. My shirt was drenched, I could feel sweat literally flying off me with each revolution on the machine. Another nine calories, 4 minutes. Put the head down, push, push, push, another 9 calories, three minutes, find another gear, push, another 9 calories, 18 to go, every seven revolutions a calorie, 1-2-3-4-5-6-7, 1-2-3-4-5-6-7, go, go, another 9 calories, last minute, you got this, go hard, go now, 1-2-3-4-5-6-7, maintain pace, watch as the calorie count ticks to 540, the clock reads 59:52. Bang out another seven revolutions to make it 541.
To push one's self to a higher goal, to feel the work it takes to get there, to achieve it....there's no better feeling than that.
Here's to feeling like this more.
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