Scales can be deceiving

I have had two weigh-ins since my last post and while I'm still losing weight, I did not have a massive drop of four pounds in one week again.

In the last two weeks I lost one pound off of my total weight, that's deceiving though. The scale I am weighed on is not your typical scale that you'd buy in a department store, but rather is a massive device. The InBody is a scale that I step onto barefoot while holding metal arms attached to the machine. Electric pulses are sent through my body (no, I can't feel them) to determine how much of my weight is muscle, fat and water. It's an extremely cool device.

Keeping up with the diet and exercise (I still have to do the ridiculous routine of hopping from one exercise to the next) resulted in the loss of four pounds of fat and the gain of three pounds of muscle! That's not bad, however I was expecting bigger results since I was working extra hard the last two weeks. I'll take what I can get though!

I think a lesson I've learned from this, which everyone should learn, is not to put too much stock into that number staring back at me on a scale - there is a lot behind that number that's not explained.

The closer I come to my goal weight the harder it is to shed a pound or two, which can become frustrating. However, I have to remember this is normal and that this is a good thing because it means I am closer to where I only dreamed of being seven months ago.

Total weight loss since the beginning of January: 40 lbs. That's not half bad :) However, I'm officially done with this diet next Tuesday, and I'm going to have to make sure I don't gorge myself on all the things I've craved in the past 24 days or I'll gain half of the weight back in a week.

Wish me luck on my last four days through the "sprint phase"! I'm going to need it.

Getting back on that really big horse

Finding motivation to get back on track can be one of the hardest challenges.

It took a few months for me to realize that not everything was just going to be magically fixed by medication. Towards the end of December I sat contemplating how things in my life were going and I decided that I just couldn't live like this anymore. So I began by confronting one of my biggest problems: being overweight.  

How do you make yourself do something you have no desire to do?

The same technique may not work for everyone but here's how I tackled the problem.

I signed up for an aerobics class - this way it wasn't an option of whether or not I exercise since you have to attend a class you sign up for. Feeling that you are not doing the exercise alone also helps.

On the days I did not have aerobics I scheduled in a specific time to go to the gym and I viewed it as a class. Look at it in the grand scheme of things as well: when I hit that point on the treadmill/elliptical when I felt I couldn't go any longer I thought to myself this is only 45 minutes out of 16 hours that I am awake, I think I can stand physical work for 4.6% of the time I'm awake today. Besides these techniques, tell people that you're exercising 5 times (or however much) a week and tell them about your routine. I found this to be motivation in itself because now I had a standard to live up since other people believe I am going to the gym all the time and I didn't want to look like a liar or fool for not going.

Eventually I began to love the gym and it wasn't such a chore. In fact, I came to crave going to the gym as exercise was a release to all the stress I would have and it gave me alone time to just think. Not to mention, when you begin to feel healthy, your confidence goes up.