Hey all!  I’m a slacker.  Didn’t get around to a post on Friday.  Busy week! I was just not in a blogging mood.  I’m sure you can all understand.  Brent has been away all weekend with the boys snowboarding so Sienna and I have been having some quality Mommy & daughter time!

So for today’s “News, Facts and Fitness Monday”, its a two-part post.  All about my Week 4 Results and also wanted to talk more about body composition.

I’m a wee bit disappointed with my Week 4 results, well how it looks on paper anyhow.  I am noticing changes, its just not translating onto paper as much as I had hoped. Ha!  Not to mention its getting closer to that time of the month and so there’s definitely the bloating factor going on, which skews everything!

Week 4 Results

Differences from Week 2 (last time I measured)

Weight – 129.5 -0.3
Waist – 26.8″ -0.2
Abs – 30″ -0.1
Lower Hip – 37.1″  same
Upper Hip – 33.5″ -0.7
Thigh – 22.2″ -0.1
Arm – 10.6  +0.4

I’m totally happy about actually putting on some size in my arms, since I think I had lost a bit of muscle there which I’m hoping I got back.  Not really getting my hopes up though because I did do biceps the day before.

So in 4 weeks – Down 2 lbs & 3.7 inches

Could it have been better?  Yes.  Could I have been stricter with my food intake? Yes. I’m still awaiting my BodyMedia which is like a Bodybugg, which tracks how much your burning each day, including during activity.  I’m still stumped as to how many calories I need to eat each day, just because when I’m not working out I’m mostly sitting on my butt.  Either at the computer or driving in my car (I’m a Sales Rep).  I only started tracking my food diligently since last week. I think I was undereating before then overcompensating on the extra food over the weekend.

So this past week,  I was hitting 1600 calories a day.  Ratios were approx 40% protein, 30% carbs, 30% fat.  I don’t really want to make any changes until I see what the BodyMedia says.  The last thing I want to do is drop calories a bunch more, that definitely isn’t the answer.  It also takes a while for your body to get used to a new program.  I’m totally not stressing over it.  Workouts have been great!  Still doing 5 days a week. I think they are definitely helping me look leaner.

So all this talk about how you look versus how things read on the scale basically comes down to body composition.

Body composition makes a BIG difference in how a person looks.  A fit person at 130lbs will look a lot different than an un-fit person at the same weight. If you’ve read my story, you’ll know that with hard work and healthy eating I was able to change my composition. Can you believe I’m the exact same weight in both pictures below?

Believe it!  As you can see, having some lean muscle and less fat makes a big difference.

So the lesson here is….don’t give up!!!  Especially if your at a sensible weight, but just trying to change your body composition.  You can’t totally depend on the scale.  Take measurements every 2 weeks, see how your clothes fit.  You may also just look different in the mirror, and start noticing muscles you haven’t seen before!

First thing I had to do years ago was stop focusing on cardio.  I shifted my focus to weights and be eating enough food to support muscle growth.

Everything is always a learning process and what works for one person won’t necessarily work for someone else.  I certainly don’t have all the answers, but boy, don’t I wish I did!  It really is just a fun learning experience and I’m enjoying the process!

Would love to hear what your goals are this year.

See you on Wednesday!