Sorry I’ve been MIA the past little while.  My oldest has had swim lessons every day for two weeks and it really ate into my computer time.   Here’s an update on what I’ve been doing/thinking:

 

Lately, I ‘ve been  struggling with my lack of progress on the scale.  While I know my body is changing (at least, visually) it kind of messes with my head that the numbers don’t reflect that.  My sollution- hide the scale for a month!  That’s it.  Cold Turkey!  I refuse to let that machine dictate my self of self-esteem and progress.    My second sollution for this “plateau” is to add a bit more cardio to the mix.  My plan is to get up early and go for a run twice a week.  Today was my first day at it and here are my thoughts on it:

 

6 a.m. came EARLY today! Honestly, I haven’t been up that early since my youngest was still breastfeeding – LOL!

I used to get up early and go for runs back in the day. I’m not sure why I stopped – maybe because after having two kids back to back, I learned to jealously guard my sleep?….
It was a struggle to get moving….my legs felt like they were encased in lead – but once I got going I felt better. The air was cool and the sun had just come up. The streets were quiet and I had the company of The Black Eyed Peas to keep me going. In truth, it was perfection!

I ran for 35 mins (including about 5 mins of walking to warm up and a few walk breaks when I was going up steep hills.) I’ll wear my Polar HRM and footpod next time so I can track calories and my pace. It was a great start to my day.  It definitely motivated me to keep at it.  Despite waking early – I feel really energetic (okay, the coffee helped) and well-rested. 

 

Okay – the extra cardio is totally do-able.  My next plan of attack is to focus on feeding my body to fuel my workouts – as opposed to starving myself to see progress on the scale.  In short, I need to ensure I’m eating enough to maximize my muscle gain AND my energy expenditure during my workouts.  Now, this doesn’t mean that I’ll eat junk and go crazy with the calories.  I will just make a conscious effort to eat a minimum of 1600 high-quality calories a day (and much more on heavy workout days…)  Not obsessing over the scale should make this easier.  My weight may go up slightly while my body adjusts to this new intake amount but it should settle down in a few weeks once my body trusts that I’m no longer starving it and it’s okay to start releasing a few pounds. 

 

I’m feeling optomistic about these changes and feel like they are more in-line with my overall philosophy of what a healthy, fit lifestyle should be.  I don’t how I lost my way but….I feel as though I’m back on track.