Day 54--Measurements Take 3

I've been at this for 2 months. My first set of measurements were 12/20/2009. And, since my weight seems to be stuck, I thought I'd remeasure to see if that's been changing since the second set on 01/17/2010 I'm really hoping they've changed, because if my weight AND my measurements aren't moving, I'm going to feel really frustrated. Here goes....

Waist: 30 inches (I measured that twice to make sure I've really lost 2 inches. I have)
Hips: 38 inches (This hasn't moved in a month, which is ok, I guess.)

My waist to hip ratio is .789 I'm finally to the goal of .80 or lower for a low risk of heart disease.

I have 27% body fat. 35.9 Pounds of fat and 97.1Pounds of lean (muscle, bone, body water)

Upper chest: still 34
Under bust: 30.5
Thigh: 21 (same)
Calf: 13 (same)
Wrist: 6 (same)
Bicep: 11 (same)

Two months of work and I've managed to lose 3 1/2 pounds of fat and gain 1 pound of muscle. It's easier to monitor my weight and use that as a gauge of if my work is having any benefits, but it's clear that weight isn't the only way, or even the best way to monitor my progress.

I'm a little bit disappointed in the lack of change in the measurements. My weight isn't moving and that's not because I'm shifting from fat to muscle, which is what I was hoping for.

Day 47--back at it

Thursday was a scheduled rest day and yesterday was bowling. (We went 6-1, and probably stayed tied for first place.) I started right back at it this morning, though. It turns out that I miss working out on the days when I can't get to it. Bowling may qualify as a sport, but it's not much of a workout. I did better at the fast kick-ups today. I had to run 2 "laps" of them, and that's way more than I can normally manage. If I'm just running, I can do 2 "laps" in about 90 seconds. It takes me much longer to finish them when I'm doing kick-ups. Part of that time is because I have to do slow kick-ups for at least half of the distance. Today, I managed to do the full distance at full speed. I was really winded after it, but I still managed to finish that and keep going with the rest of the work out. I may not be seeing a dramatic change in my total weight (I'm down to 131.2 pounds), or even my appearance, but I know that I'm getting stronger and building up my cardio limits. I really need to look into testing my heart rate and aerobic capacity so I can see the actual levels of improvement.

Day 33--One Year

I've now had my Wii for 365 days. In that time, I've lost 14 pounds and shed 3 points off my BMI. Much of that was during the summer when I was biking 15 miles (no hills) every day. I was also doing the EA Active workouts most days along with the Gold's Gym boxing. That was all during my company's step total contest. I came in 2nd place with over 2.5 million steps over the course of 12 weeks. I think I may have to start doing more than the Wii fit and EA Active if I want to see any more weight loss. The Gold's Gym is a great aerobic workout, something that I'm not really feeling right now, but might get in the hard version of the 30 Day Challenge.

One great thing that has come out of a year of Wii Fit is great posture. When I first got the game, it took every ounce of strength and concentration to keep my posture anywhere near the 50% mark when weighing in. As soon as the measuring was done, I would bend one knee and put all my weight on one side. I rarely, if ever stand that way anymore. I don't cross my legs when sitting in a chair or slouch as much, either. The Wii fit exercises and games really help build up core muscles and improve posture.