Hello lovely readers! Did you all have a great day yesterday? Raise your hand if you are sick of seeing what people’s husbands bought them for Valentine’s Day on Facebook! (Um, meeeeee! hahaha) My husband did get me something very small and thoughtful but I am purposely NOT putting it on the blog. You can breathe a sigh of relief! haha
Anyway, I wanted to check back in with you all about my Year of the Hot Mom Challenge. Yup, I’m still sticking with it!
After 6 weeks, here are my stats:
I’ve only lost 4.6 pounds (*sniff*),
BUT
I’ve lost a total of 8 inches all over my body! Whoo hoo!!! (I took my first measurements on January 14th, which was about 2 weeks in, so technically I’ve probably lost more inches than that overall.)
Most significant was my (natural) waist – I’ve lost TWO inches!! Isn’t that crazy?! My stomach was a close 2nd (belly-button area) with a total of 1 and 3/4 inches lost.
Least significant was my arms – a total of ZERO inches lost – not even a quarter of an inch. Isn’t that crazy?! And I have been lifting weights and everything! (Does anyone know a great workout that is guaranteed to give good results on arms? I was using 2 pound weights and then switched to 8-pounders when a friend let me borrow hers. I do a variety of arm exercises but clearly they’re not cutting it! If you have a link online or a video suggestion or really anything at all for arms, I would love the advice!)
Moving forward from here, I’m going to continue working out on my elliptical 6 days most weeks (occasionally it’s 5 depending on how busy I am at night). I’m going to strive to really streamline my portions and my snacking to keep that weight loss moving forward! Right now I am 1.4 pounds away from my goal of losing a pound per week. I’m hoping over the next 6 weeks I can make up the difference! That would require me to lose 7.4 pounds in 6 weeks. Sounds like cake for most people, but not for my sloth-like metabolism body.
But I have nothing to lose except weight, right?! lol
Three final thoughts:
1. I strongly recommend taking your measurements if you are going to begin a weight-loss journey. I would be SO bummed out about a measly 4.6 pounds if it weren’t for the 8 inches I’ve lost in addition! They’re less than $2 at Wal-Mart and SO worth the investment, in my opinion!
2. It’s a crazy, weird, awesome feeling to read any magazine article about exercise and to count myself in with “those people” now. I work out! I’m an exerciser! I get more than the recommended amount of exercise per week! Whoo hoo!! It’s a crazy new world, baby! lol
3. This is probably sick and twisted but I always think about weight loss in terms of butter! hahahaha So even though 4.6 pounds in 6 weeks isn’t that awesome, it’s still like losing almost EIGHTEEN STICKS OF BUTTER from my body. LOL!
If you’ve been trying to work out or watch what you eat, let me just encourage you to KEEP GOING! You ARE worth it and you DO deserve to feel good about yourself!
(If anyone has any tips about how to help tone my arms, pretty please share in the comments!! :)
you're doing awesome girl! i love seeing results in measurements. keeps me going on those weeks with not much showing on the scale. have you ever tried the 30-day shred? it's a video put out by jillian michaels. i noticed a difference in my arms with her workouts!
ReplyDeleteGack! That 'sticks of butter' analogy really got me, I've got like 40 sticks of butter to work off here! I mean granted I do have a little Butterball in there, but it's cooking in an entire fryer full of BUTTER! AH! hahahahaha
ReplyDeleteSeriously though Jess, great job! You look fantastic :-)
Hi Jessica,
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your results! Good idea to measure yourself rather than just weigh - you're right, it's so much more encouraging to see inches lost. I want to do that, too!
About your arms, I'd recommend push-ups or plank (you could google it up or find some videos on youtube, also Whole Living online magazine have some workouts including plank position). I find these very effective.
All the bst with your challenge:)
Aneta
You cracked me up with the butter! That's a great way to look at it, though :) I think you're doing a great job! Looking forward to joining you in this after my baby is born.
ReplyDeleteWoohoo!! Great job on losing weight and inches! You are doing fabulously!
ReplyDeleteI love workout videos by Jari Love. I have found that they give me great results and they incorporate arms while working with lower body. She encourages you to use heavy weights which is where I feel I get results. (The newer workout DVDs are better, but my favorite is one called Ripped & Chiseled)
ReplyDeleteand the Ripped and Chiseled one is kinda old and doesn't incorporate arms WHILE doing lower body. I'll be back to the workout regime in May. :)
Deletethis is success! the inches are what count! go you!
ReplyDeleteI love this! "Year of the Hot Mom". You go girl! I wish I knew of some fabulous arm exercises for you. I am a WholyFit instructor (a Christian alternative to yoga) and it does seem to help strengthen and tone arms. I would recommend exercises that focus on the eccentric (lengthened) portion of the movement and static holds vs. concentric focused (shortening) movements like curls. Does that make sense? Good luck on your weight loss journey! Oh, and P.S. I like your butter comparison :-)
ReplyDeleteI google searched "homemade bread crumbs" because I want to make zucchini sticks for my new clean eating "lifestyle change" (lol). Just had to comment because, I, too, started my weight loss journey on January 13th ("Friday the 13th!!). This is the longest I've stuck with anything and I've lost 13 pounds so far, but never checked my inches. Maybe I will! Best of luck to you! I will definitely keep visiting your blog. I love it! Thanks much! - Dena
ReplyDeleteThank you, Dena! That is very sweet. 13 pounds is awesome!! :)
ReplyDeleteWay to go!! I totally agree measurments are a great way to see success when the scale doesn't show it. Also - for those arms, you may want to try P90x - there are a ton of push up/pull ups along with the full body stuff.
ReplyDeleteI love reading about your progress! Keep it going Momma! I'm working off my baby fat now too!