Monday, April 1, 2019

This is Not an April Fool's Joke, I Swear!

BCS Fitness started a 28 day Good to Great challenge two weeks ago and I decided to join in, mostly because while I know I'm doing good with my exercise, I also know I could be doing a bit better with my eating.  A little extra focus couldn't hurt, right?  Part of the challenge is having a body scan done at the beginning and at the end, so I went ahead and did my beginning scan last Monday.  I wasn't really planning on looking at the print out because I don't care about specific numbers pertaining to weight or body fat, but coach Jared came over and wanted to look at it with me.  OK, fine.

I was happy to see that I've gained some muscle - yippee!  All of that weight lifting is working!  I was surprised to see that I'd lost some body fat, which was nice.

The biggest shock was that I've lost 16 pounds.  What the what?!  

I've not been working that hard at eating decently - the only conscious changes I've made recently were to not get a bakery treat along with my breakfast bagel or ciabatta roll on Saturdays at Blue Baker, to not eat milk chocolate (dark chocolate is fine because I don't tend to go off the rails with sugar like I do with milk), and to stop getting root beer when we'd go out to certain places to eat (I'd fallen into that little habit when we were doing the house remodel and were eating out a lot).  But other than that, I'd go on jags of eating vegetables and a lot of fruit, and then jags of eating hamburgers and fries.

My biggest takeaway from this is that had I been doing regular weigh ins, I would have been disappointed.  Basically it works out to a little over half a pound a week.  That's nothing, right?  But if you only check numbers every six months or so, it adds up to a nice amount.  Perspective.  It's a funny thing.

I'm really glad to see that I'm getting results but I already knew things were changing - as I wrote in February, my body is becoming more compact.  Recently I got to evaluate and toss some clothing that was too loose...I was still wearing those items, but Jeff pointed out that they were doing me no favors, and he was right.

I have no huge plans for weight loss, or to fit into any specific size; I'm working at becoming fitter and for me, apparently that comes with losing some weight.  Give me the strong muscles to go along with this so I can run well and I'll be very happy.

I'm going to do a body scan when the 28-day challenge ends and honestly, I'll be very surprised if there's any change in that short time-frame.  I probably won't do another one until I hit my one year anniversary of working out.  Being that I am coming up on 11 years from when I started this blog and my last diet, it's interesting to see how much my focus has changed.  I think I've become more realistic with what is a reasonable way to go through life - for me, dieting like I did in 2008/2009 is not something I ever want to do again.  But being active and eating mostly healthy foods?  I can do that.

24 comments:

  1. Congrats that must of been a pleasant surprise. Always nice to see our hard work pay off.

    What kind of scan are they doing?

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    1. It's an Inbody Scan - Brad has a machine at our gym.

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  2. Fantastic!! I know you've been working hard on fitness so seeing that fat loss must make you feel so good. It's like found money isn't it? You weren't expecting it, but you'll take it. I'm with you on the no crazy/hard diets and honestly, I'm not into crazy/hard workouts either. There's something to that moderation thing and sticking with it provides results!

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    1. Found money is a great analogy! And yes to everything in moderation, which seems to be working for me - yay!

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  3. Nice!
    You have found the combination to unlock the balance between fitness and a healthy lifestyle. Your BP and cardio conditioning will thank you.

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    1. I'm interested to see what my BP is next time I go to the doctor...

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  4. Congrats on the body composition changes! Strength training is definitely the way to go. I never weigh myself--I'd obsess about the numbers--but I do go by how my clothes fit. Things were getting snug around the waist, so I made some dietary adjustments. My biggest issue is the daily wine I drink. I keep vowing to eliminate it but I love it so...

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    1. It's hard to give up something you have on a daily basis!

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  5. This ---> "I think I've become more realistic with what is a reasonable way to go through life - for me, dieting like I did in 2008/2009 is not something I ever want to do again." AMEN SISTER. Me too!! I am so much happier since I stopped dieting. And yay on the muscle gain - that's awesome!! :)

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  6. Its so exciting to hear about the little changes you are making and how they are making a difference in your life!

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    1. Thanks! I'm still a little shocked, to be honest.

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  7. I have been shifting to more weight training, so adding muscle is so exciting! The scale is only one possible measure of progress, and definitely not the best one. Focusing on overall health and fitness seems so much better, and sanity-saving!

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    1. I am so happy to have added some muscle - I want to be strong!

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  8. Ahh, awesome! And what a good point about the perspective of it - if you were dieting and losing a half pound a week you'd be frustrated, but to be living your healthy life and have the weight loss happening over time, is so great. I don't know what your dieting was in 08/09, but it sounds realistic and balanced now. I can't imagine eating healthy 100% of the time. I'd be so miserable! But it's easy to make small changes like you are!

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    1. Exactly - small changes, not trying to be perfect...and I'm happy and healthier. This is the way to live.

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  9. How awesome is that??? Very cool results!!! And a very good reminder at how little changes add up to big results!!!

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  10. I'm glad you looked at the printout. You can see how your daily activities are paying off.

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  11. Way to go! Strength training is really a big booster for that progress, too - and it's great that you are seeing results. Makes all that sweat worth it :D

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    1. Plus strength training is a bit of an ego boost when you get to go up in weights!

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  12. That is so amazing. Losing weight without trying. The best news ever. You deserve to buy new clothes.

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    1. Thanks - and I will be buying some new clothes one of these days for sure.

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