Let me start by saying I am actually enjoying this blogging process far more than I anticipated. I feel like I’m back in those days of having a tiny little baby. Do you remember feeling so excited to see your newborn baby in the morning, or when they woke up from a nap? This experience can’t even compare to that on the same level, but I am catching glimpses of that same excitement of nurturing a little one. My thoughts are dominated with, “what am I going to write about today?” and “how can I best share what’s in my mind and heart on the topics of weight loss, fitness, and nutrition so that it can help someone else on their own journey?” I’m learning my limits, and working to implement systems. One of the systems that I’m implementing, moving forward, is to make Thursdays my weekly results post days. I’ve actually been taking my measurements on Thursdays through this whole process, I’m just moving up the day that I “reveal” my weekly results.
Now, I’m really excited about this week’s weigh in because I get to show you what the real process of weight loss looks like, and why the scale isn’t our best measure of progress. This week, I’ve followed the plan to a “T” (What a weird phrase… I should research why “a T” means exactness…) and I actually weigh more than I did last week. It is at this point that many people get discouraged and assume their efforts aren’t working. But the scale doesn’t tell the whole story. The information we get from the scale is simply the total weight of our body. Most scales won’t tell you all of the different components contributing to our total weight such as body fat, muscle mass, water weight, bone/dry lean mass, etc. (You can actually purchase a “smarter scale” such as the Renpho scale which will measure your weight, BMI, body fat content, and muscle mass. It will also store your biometrics (aka measurements, in an app on your phone.) I’m a firm believer that women should only step on a scale once a month, unless you have one of these more advanced scales to give you more specific information.
There are a few factors that might contribute to why you have increased your total weight even if you’ve been following all the rules for weight loss.
- You might be retaining water at certain stages in their menstrual cycle.
- You might have increased your muscle mass.
- You might have had an indulgence meal, or eaten a higher carbohydrate quantity than normal and you’re retaining a bit of extra water.
- You might have had a drink of water close to your weigh in.
I believe my water weight is up this week for all of these reasons except the third. I’m happy to say that I have stuck to my plan, and have not had an indulgence meal or increased carbohydrates.
Now on to my weekly results.
First we start with the before and after pictures from the last two weeks:
End of week 2: Before and After pictures
Here is my food journal from myfitnesspal from last Saturday. The rest of the week’s food journal pictures will be shared at the end of this post. For the most part, I followed the week 2 meal plan. Although, I believe that most days I ate one less meal than was suggested on the meal plan. Just like last week, the food may have been logged in a different order than it was actually consumed. But the food quantities are correct.
Week 2 bioelectrical impedence assessment results:
Breaking my total body weight down into different categories of body composition:
My total body weight: 139.8 lbs (That’s up a half a pound since last week! Total of 3.1 lbs. lost since start date).
- Total Body water: 79.5 lbs. (This actually increased by a whole pound. Total of 1.2 lb. increase since start date).
- Dry lean mass: 29.7 lbs. (Increase of .7 lbs. Remember that this includes muscle and bone minus any fluid)
- Body fat mass: 30.6 lbs. (1.1 lbs less than last week. Total of 4.9 lbs. lost since start date)
- Skeletal muscle mass: 60.8 lbs. (Increase of .4 lbs from last week. Total of .8 lb. increase in muscle since start date)
- BMI: 24 (Thanks to increased water weight and muscle, this actually increase by .1, this week. Total BMI decrease of .5 since start date)
- Body fat percentage: 22% (Decrease of .8 from last week. Total of 2.8% decrease in body fat percentage since start date.)
- Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR): 1438 calories. (This actually increased by 15 calories, meaning I burn an extra 15 calories per day at rest!)
- Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE): 2232 calories. (Because my BMR increased, this number increased by 33 calories from last week)
- Calorie target range for weight loss: 1700 calories. (I decided to decrease last week’s target of 1800 calories to 1700 calories. I never ate over 1700 calories in a day, besides today (but I did workout twice today, so I felt like I needed a little bit more). I was plenty satiated, and never felt deprived staying between 1500 and 1700 calories per day. Also, I’m anticipating an indulgence meal at the end of this next week, so I kind of want to be conservative throughout the rest of the week and not stretch to the top of my calorie range).
Week 2 measuring tape results:
- Right calf (measured at widest part): 14 1/2 inches (Down 1/8 inch from last week, and down 1/4 inch from first measurement)
- Right thigh (measured at widest part): 22 5/8 inches (Down 1/4 inch from last week, and down 3/8 inch from first measurement)
- Hips (measured at widest part): 39 7/8 inches (Down 1/4 inch from last week, Down 3 3/8 inches from first measurement. I’m still highly convinced that the first week’s measurement was a measuring tape user error. I might just go off of week 1’s hip measurements moving forward.).
- Butt (measured at widest part): 38 1/2 inches (This measurement stayed the same from last week. Down 7/8 inches from first measurement.)
- Right below my muffin top: 35 5/8 inches (Down 1/8 inch from last week, and down 1/4 inch from first measurement)
- Waistline (measured across belly button): 34 5/8 inches (Down 1/8 inch from last week, and down 3/4 inch from first measurement)
- Chest (measured at widest part): 37 ¾ inches (no change here since the beginning. The ladies aren’t wanting to budge. I’m a tiny bit surprised by this…but my hubby is happy!)
- Shoulders (measured at widest part): 40 3/8 inches (Down 1/8 inch from first measurement)
- Biceps: (measured at widest part): 11 5/8 inches (Down 1/8 inch from first measurement).
This is what my workouts looked like:
My rest day was Sunday, and I ended up skipping a workout on Monday. I made up for it by doing two workouts today.
That’s it for today. Progress is being made. I love the way that I feel with all of these healthy and delicious meals I’ve been eating. I’m feeling focused and ready to tackle another week. The one thing I am going to focus on improving upon is getting around 8 hours of sleep. I’ve been falling short at 6 hours most nights of the week. Here’s to self improvement, and taking it one step at a time!
Talk to you soon! (In case you care to see what I ate the rest of the week, it’s posted at the bottom:
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Sunday:
Monday:
Tuesday:
Wednesday:
Thursday (today):
(I did an intermittent fast, today, so I didn’t actually eat until lunch time. But I still consumed plenty of food!)
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