If you do what you've always done you'll get what you've always got

The title of this post cuts both ways - - before I began working out regularly and eating healthily, I was overweight and miserable about it.  And by doing nothing to change things, nothing changed.

But the opposite is also true.  Now, I have a consistent routine in which every day I try and do something good for my body, be it drinking lots of water, working out, or eating nutritious foods.  For the last year and a quarter I have continually worked to become healthier, step by step.  And by doing this every day (and by extrapolation, every week and every month), I have consistently generated positive results.

Case in point: this week I lost more weight - - down 0.8 pounds to 213 pounds.  That's 120.9 pounds lost overall, which is, as people seem to delight in telling me, "a whole person!". 

I did not lose as much weight as I would have liked this week.  Perhaps I have been spoiled by my weeks of larger losses, or perhaps I have gotten a bit complacent.  More likely, however, it's the result of a confluence of events.  First, it was shark week this week, which always plays havoc with my endocrine system and often has an impact on weight loss (and usually not in the direction I would like, either). 

Second, I really stepped up my workout this week.  I don't know what came into me, but this week I added more weight to my elliptical routine so that during the main workout I am carrying weight to add up to 230 pounds, up from the 227 pounds I was carrying last week (through a combination of wrist weights and ankle weights).  It is a little easier now, as I am carrying the extra weight in a backpack, but it is still a heavy load to carry on the elliptical.  I also took the tension back up to 6 (30%) from 5. 

I have also added an extra 15 minute "cool down" routine on the elliptical, where I don't carry any extra weight and where I keep the incline and tension at the lowest settings.  After the increased tension and added weight on my main workout, this little short spin on the elliptical feels like flying. One added benefit of this additional time on the elliptical is that it is really increasing my daily average step count, which I like.  After all, it is increasing my daily time on the elliptical by around 25%, which is a significant increase, even if I am not pushing extra weight or high tension. 

I have to admit that this made for a difficult week.  I really felt the added weight and tension in my legs this week after every workout, which I suppose is a good thing because I haven't felt a burn in my legs like this in a while - - it's good to push things a little bit once in a while (within reason).  Every workout this week was challenging, and although my streak of consecutive workouts remains intact, almost every day I fantasized with quitting early.  Not that I ever did - - but it made for a nice fantasy. 

I have to say that I felt amazing after pushing through and finishing the workouts every morning.   Stepping up to the increased challenge really felt good.  Especially when I stopped. 

I don't usually see fabulous weight loss results the first week that I step up my workouts for some reason.  Perhaps my body is trying to figure out what the hell I am doing to it.  But the second week after stepping things up is generally pretty good - - I am hoping to return to a 1.5 pound+ loss this coming week, although if working out for 16 months has taught me anything, it's that I am not the boss of my body - - I'll frankly take what I can get. 

My weight loss goals are closer this week than ever:

Only 10 pounds to overweight - - I can almost taste it!  The 48 pounds to go until my final target still feels a bit remote right now, but 200 pounds is looking increasingly accessible.  I am mere weeks away from being at my lowest weight in more than a decade.

In other motivating news, I think I have officially seen the first of my collarbone!  Hidden under its protective mantle of fat for years, my shy little clavicles are finally coming out to play.  About damn time, I say.  I can't balance an egg on the little guys yet, but it's really gratifying to see them. 

We'll see what this week brings!