Couple of pounds down
In the interest of keeping myself accountable, here’s a brief progress report on the quest to get down to 125 by mid-September:
I’ve gone from 134 to 131.4 since I began this latest push about a month ago and lost three-quarters of an inch from my waist.
At this rate, I may not achieve my stated goal, but it’s good to be getting leaner. I’m not cutting as many calories as I could—am consuming between 1,850 and 1,950 on my reduction days and about 2,200 to 2,300 on maintenance days. The routine is three reduction days, followed by one maintenance day, repeated ad infinitum.
I’m getting to the gym about three days a week (I find I can’t sustain five days a week—probably has something to do with my age and recovery ability) for both weights and cardio, and we get a 30-minute walk with the dogs most mornings. My strength on the leg press and bench is improving, although it’ll take me a long while, I believe, to get back my former upper-body strength. (A dratted case of tennis elbow is hampering my back and bicep movements.)
I’ve started using my Accu-Measure bodyfat calipers again, although I never like the fat percentage the calipers give me. Even if I don’t consult the chart, I can see whether the skinfold measurement is getting smaller.
That’s important, as I’m working out fairly intensely in the gym and add muscle fairly quickly for a female—that is, former muscle “returns” fairly rapidly. So even if my scale weight stays the same because I’ve lost a few ounces of fat and gained a few ounces of muscle, the calipers will tell me whether I’ve made progress or not.
