It has been another productive workout week in the books. I have managed to continue my consecutive days worked out streak alive, and now stand at 29 weeks without missing a workout. For someone as good at rationalizing things as I am, this is something of a record.
This consistency continues to pay off in terms of weight loss. This week I lost a further pound, for a total of 81.5 pounds lost, to 252.4 pounds total. Here's something - - workout out regularly, and eat sensible meals in manageable portions and you will lose weight - - nah, it will never catch on...
More than the weight loss, this week also saw some wins.
My new workout clothes arrived this week from Go Figure (online at http://gofigurego.com/). My original workout capris (purchased a few months ago) were literally falling off me while I was on the elliptical recently. That had the potential of getting quite embarrassing, and necessitated regular hitching up. Definitely not for public show- - it's a good thing that I work out at home. My first capris were in size 5 (22-24), and my new capris are in size 3 (18-20) and they fit fine ... with the potential to be too loose in the not too distant future, I can see. Yay!
Another win this week is something that has snuck up on me. A little back story is in order here. Back when I was in grade 8, our gym class was primitive at best. Our school did not have proper gymnastic equipment other than those ubiquitous blue mats. For balance beams they used wooden benches turned upside down. Instead of the normal balance beam width of about 10 cm, the wooden slats on the bottom of those benches were only about 5 cm wide. This wasn't a problem for most girls who possess both a sense of balance and binocular vision. But for yours truly, a veritable gazelle (not) and blind in one eye to boot, it was a disaster. I fell off the end of a bench and carved open the front of my shin. To this day I have a divot in my leg from the accident. I don't remember the accident clearly, but judging from the scar, it must have been spectacular.
When I was at my heaviest I suffered from edema in my legs. Sometimes the pressure in my lower legs would be so severe that the skin of my legs would be tight, hot and painful and would leak lymph fluid (and for the record, yes, I know that is a very unhealthy condition). Because the scar from my gymnastics incident was less flexible than the rest of my skin, it left a huge dent in my shin. My scar was so deeply indented you could practically store candy in it.
With my weight loss, however, the edema has decreased to the point where it is essentially gone, in no small measure due to my increased activity levels. It has been more than a year since I have noticed the edema being problematic, and just this past week I noted something else - - my scar was no longer a deep groove. Rather, it was only a slight indentation, barely noticeable. In fact, my scar had virtually disappeared. This is a big deal, because it is not merely a superficial cosmetic change - - it reflects major improvements in my overall circulation that can only be good for me in the long run. As a side bonus, this has made shaving my leg much easier, as I no longer have to try and shave inside a hole in my leg. Hey - I will take the wins where I find them, thank you very much!
This week has been very social and this weekend in particular I have been enjoying baked goods provided by one of our friends. In consequence, I think it is probably a good time to step up my workout routine, just in time for the holidays.
So this week I am adding another 5 minutes to my elliptical routine, for 50 minutes x 6 days a week. This is officially the most cardio I have ever done in my life, and I have to say that it was easier than I expected this morning. I am not burning up the strides per minute, but I am able to handle the time just fine, which is very satisfying. My fitness levels are such a long way from where I was when I started.
The other change I have made to my program is to add another set of weights to my free weight routine. I am now doing 3 sets of 12 reps using the 6 pound weights. I have really started to see some toning beginning to happen in my arms, and I am quite keen to continue to see progress.
For the new year I am exploring taking up some boxing routines to add yet another element into my fitness routine. Stay tuned!
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