Don't let the scale get you down! That's my motto. In fact, I'm wondering about using the thing altogether. Weight is an indicator, but it is limited in its ability to reveal your state of health. A person can have a high weight for their height, but could be in amazing shape and you would never know. Or you could be like me, and hide your fat well. Oh yeah! Hourglasses forever!
No, the scale is a trickster, and therefore should be taken as such. BMI is now the going way to figure out your physical health, that and taking the measuring tape to different parts of the body. My favorite way, currently, is the measuring tape. This is so simple, so easy, and it doesn't require any special equipment except that which you might use to sew (which you can get at any grocery store in the odds and ends aisle). There is no trick of the light on the LED screen, no questioning about why you ate the chocolate mousse. It is honest, completely, and therefore incredibly reassuring.
Before you start your workout regime, you measure and record everything. Then, as you go along, perhaps at the end of each month, you measure the same parts. Let me tell you, I may have gained some muscle weight (muscle weighs more than fat), but boy, have I lost inches. It's only one month in and I didn't feel like I was particularly consistent at all. I tried to keep track of my food intake (but my system is a little wonky, so it takes more discipline than I have to allocate at the moment). However I was good about recording my weight and my workouts. My workouts just weren't as consistent as I want them to be.
More specifically, I need more cardio in my life more consistently. I need it, but in general, I hate it and so it is a struggle to get myself to do it. Cardio is dirty. It's sweaty. Some might say that strength training is just as sweat inducing, and that might be true for them, but not for me. I soak in water like a sponge, and I keep it. I don't sweat when I work out, not really. I get up to muscle fatigue in a certain exercise and I might get a slight sheen. My sweat sheen would be barely discernible to someone else, to me it is like a red strobe light. My husband sweats when he sits he's such a ginger.
It could also be that I get bored doing cardio. Most of the time I end up hiking, riding, or running by myself. While the outdoors are a necessary and beautiful place for me to be, it is better to share the experience with someone else. The treadmill in the workout room in our apartment complex is nigh the epitome of boring. How long can I stare at my sweaty red-faced reflection in the mirror before I bore holes into it? I don't have a music player...so that's out. There isn't a TV, so I can't watch poorly written sitcom story arcs. Bleh! Cardio!
Even still, my weight training and inconsistent cardio has paid off. All around my body there are two fewer inches. It's a beautiful and exciting day! It might be slow progress, I don't know how it compares to anyone else, but I really don't care. I like the shape of my biceps more than ever. I can do more push-ups now than I ever have been able to (which might not be saying much, but a victory is a victory). Muscular details continue to reveal themselves and I continue to relish in my new reflection. Pretty soon, my old jeans will be making appearances. I can't wait!
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