Weekly Weigh-In
251 lbs
I saw a one lb drop on the scale, which is encouraging.
I want to avoid losing weight too quickly however. There’s a lot going on inside my body right now…fat is being burned and muscle is being built. Weight can be a deceptive metric. I monitor it just as much to ensure it’s not dropping too quickly as to ensure it’s dropping in the first place.
Details
My Day One (Chest & Biceps), Day Two (Legs & Shoulders), and Day Three (Back & Triceps) sessions were solid. This week was a heavy weight/low rep week. All three days had good gains across the board. I even saw some personal bests: one on Sunday, a whopping four on Tuesday, and two on Wednesday. It’s not too often that see four personal bests in one workout anymore, unless I have a series of brand new exercises that I’m introducing into the mix. In this particular case, one of those bests was the new Leverage Shoulder Shrug machine that I just started using.
I hit it hard on my Sunday workout – got in an hour of yoga, an hour and forty-five minutes with the weights, and twenty minutes on the bike. I was worn down pretty good by the time I got home.
I was held over at work Monday night and didn’t get into the gym as a result, but I did get a one hour yoga session in that morning. I finished out the rest of my Big Three on Tuesday and Wednesday.
My yoga and cycling time were spotty this week. I had some work related things crop up on Thursday and Friday that just left me in a sour mood. I was in no space to be in a crowded gym full of people so I hunkered down at home and was a couch potato. I felt guilty about slacking so today, on my scheduled rest day, I did an hour of yoga and got in a 37 minute core workout.
Today during my core workout, I bumped my sets up to 4 and started inching up on my reps. I hate sit-ups. I can do crunches all day, but sit-ups are painful and humbling. Last week, on my third set, I couldn’t get more than five. Today, I did four sets for 10 and am claiming a victory. I have to keep in mind that, at 251 lbs, about 150 of that is in my upper body. Things like sit-ups and push-ups, when I’m as burly as I am right now, are hard work.
I look forward to the day when these things are easy for me again and I actually have to add weight to keep it challenging.
I have a ways to go for that, tho.
This past week wasn’t my best showing, but it also wasn’t terrible. I was in caloric deficit the entire week. During a couple of days I was in deep deficit. I also met or exceeded my water intake goals for six out of the past seven days. I do need to get better about staying on track with my time, however. I also need to be better about getting my yoga in during the morning. Even tho sometimes it’s a real challenge for me to get motivated for movement at 5 am, I always feel better afterwards for it, both in my body and my head.
I’m seeing some more subtle changes in my body. I can see the puffiness in my face fading. My underwear feels looser around my waist. I can see shallow dents forming between my shoulder caps, biceps, and triceps. This morning, I pulled on one of my favorite t-shirts…the sleeves were really snug around my upper arms and looser around my midsection. So I know things are happening and I’m getting more and more excited about them as they do.
Bring on Week 05!