The Verdict

Well, I promised you I'd share the results. I'm actually kind of happy with them and after I share the changes, I'll explain why.

Without getting into the specifics, I will say that instead of my early Fall 2012 goal fo breaking into the 140s, I broke back into the 160s. I am not really sad or angry about it. It is what it is. I know exactly why it happened. Although I did great right up until Christmas, the rest of the holiday season did me in.  Or, really, I should say I let it. I'm really okay with that. I had a great stretch of time to spend with family and I didn't worry about food like I normally do. Sometimes worrying about food would ruin my day, although I'd do my best to hide it. In the end, I gained a lot of fitness, even if I gained a bit of body fat too.

The rundown, from Fall 2012 to this morning (measurements are in cm NOT inches):

Weight: up 2.2lbs

Body Fat: up 0.9%

Chest: up 3/4 cm

Ribcage/waist: no change

Abdomen (at belly button): up 7 cm (Seven. SEVEN!!! Hello holiday party food and drink...)

Hips: up 0.5 cm (only 0.5 cm was a nice surprise)

Upper Arm: down 1 3/4 cm

Thigh: down 1.5 cm


So wow...some of that was expected and some not. Luckily, the ugly part was. I am not surprised I gained 7cm (about 2.5 inches) around my waist. If I suddenly start consuming more booze, sugar and salt, it all settles there. If I gain weight slowly, it disperses everywhere. The fact that my hips had barely a gain and my arms and thighs went down is great! Those have always been really difficult areas for me to lose on. I did some quick math (nerd!) and based on my weigh, weight gain and body fat % difference, I gained some fat, but also a little bit of muscle! I know that it's impossible to out exercise a poor diet, so now that I'm getting that under control I should be golden. For the first time ever I have been consistently putting 5 days a week of pretty intense workouts in. This week marks week 5. No matter how tired and crappy I feel, unless I'm genuinely really sick, I go and feel better after. I'm getting fitter, based on workouts being easier to do and a gain in muscle. Nutrition should be fairly easy now that the holidays are pretty much over. I tend to lose around my abdomen first, so I'm just going to keep on doing what I know I should and I'll be fine.

So there it is! I forgot to ask when the next round of measurements will be, but I'll keep you posted.