Day 24–Assessment

I’ve run out of time waiting for my body to adjust from my cycle and the 4th of July.  It’s time to weigh and measure and accept things the way they are for a new starting point.

STC 2013 Midway results

Total loss in the last 3 weeks:  2.9 lbs and 2.75 inches.  Not to shabby, but not as good as it was the day before the 4th of July :).  It’s easy on, hard off for me.  When I was younger I could have a few big eating days and then the weight would fall off as soon as I went back to good habits.  Not so now.  It takes the full pound per week–good lesson to remember.

STC 2013 Midway Results backSTC 2013 Midway Results frontSTC 2013 Midway Results side

 

The pictures aren’t the best with the striped swimsuit and the morning shadows, but I can tell in the first photo that my belly is sticking out in a pooch above the waistband and not in the second.  Yay for little victories!

What I’ve done right this challenge so far:  Doing all my strength workouts and all but one of my ITs.  Logging my food daily and measuring everything.  (I missed a few days of holiday eating where it was hard for me to figure out what I was eating to write it down.)  Photographing my food with my phone to help me remember what it was to write down later.  Writing here or in my FYM journal every day.

What needs improvement:  Challenging myself more for ITs.  Room for improvement for cleaner eating.

Breakthroughs:  I am emotional and stress can stop my ability to control my eating.  I need to guard my stress and how busy I make my schedule for my health and my family’s well being (since how I feel affects them even more than it does me.)  I need to stay hydrated and add electrolytes when I’ve been super sweaty.  No more blacking out means I am more motivated to work out again the next time.  Also, I love how a recovery shake keeps me from getting sore after a big strength work out and helps me recover faster so I can function the rest of the day.

 

 

Week 5 Time to Measure!!!

With FYM challenges, we typically check out our progress every 4 weeks. So I’ve taken new pictures, stepped on the scale and took new measurements.

At first glance at the scale I was totally bummed. I only lost .8 pounds. I was super dedicated to my workouts and was 90% clean on my food. What happened? But then, I took my measurements and everything changed. I have been a muscle building machine! Darren felt my flexed bicep this morning and said, “Whoa! You need to slow down!”

“Not a chance, Dear.”

NYTC 2013 week 4 assessment

NYTC 2013 week left side

(I’m sorry about the skin pictures. I really don’t like posting them, but wanted to show you the difference with the clothes vs skin–it’s just harder to see progress through clothes.)

Here are my stats:

Height 5 foot 6″
Age 36 years old
6 Kids (oldest 13-youngest age 21 months)
Weight 145.2-144.4 (-.8 lb)
Bust 38-38
Waist 33.25-31.5 (-1.75″)
Tummy 38.5-36.5 (-2″) I’m thrilled!
Hip 39-38.5 (-.5) My hips were 38″ when I married, so I’m not expecting a big loss here. I carry most of my weight in the belly.

Totals for the last 4 weeks: loss of .8 lbs and 4.25 inches. Also my arms will flex rock hard now and I can do things I couldn’t do before, like stability ball leg curls and stability ball planks. I still have a long way to go to reach my 10 push up, 1 pull up, and 20 burpee goals. But I can definitely see progress.

I did Feb workout of the month A, Saturday for the first time. When I went through it, all the exercises were possible without modifications and I was telling Darren how I planned to increase weights next time. Bwa ha ha. I’m SOOO sore today that I can hardly go upstairs. I think my weight level was appropriate :).

Anyway, my scale situation reminded me of this pin I found recently. It’s super motivating to me and reinforces the idea that strong truly is the new skinny:

It’s Assessment Day!

Today it doesn’t matter what size I ended other challenges.  It doesn’t matter what I looked like when I got married, or before my first baby was born.   All that matters is today, where I’m beginning now.  I can’t change the past, only learn from it.  I choose to embrace myself as a wife and mother, daughter, sister, friend, aunt, teacher, and business woman.  I am more than a set of numbers. I am a complete person, whose value comes from my creator, not what I look like, or what I do.

But today I choose to make choices that will make me healthier, and make the rest of what I do easier and more effective. To evaluate my progress and to see what works, I will use numbers and photos. This is hard for me, but gets easier each time I do it.  The first set of assessment pictures I ever took was emotionally crushing and very motivating at the same time.  I felt a lot more attractive than I looked! But I couldn’t argue with my pictures!

Where I began my FYM journey May 2011

Where I began my FYM journey May 2011

Where I begin today:

Starting Picture for the NYTC 2013

Starting Picture for the NYTC 2013

Stats:

36 years old

Height: 5 foot 6 inches

Weight:  145.2 pounds

Natural Waist: 33 1/4 inches

Mommy Tummy: 38 1/2 inches

Hips: 39 inches

I have 6 children.  My youngest is 20 months old and has been weaned for 4 months.   I did all my previous challenges while nursing.

We moved to our new house last year on New Year’s Eve.  The New Year transformation challenge of 2012 was the first challenge I totally bombed.  I underestimated the stress of moving and having 2 houses to remodel simultaneously while homeschooling and working part time. (What was I thinking, honestly?)

So this year finishing the same challenge strong, is important to me, just to prove that I can do it.

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