Week 2: Results Begin

The second week of a program is a great time to catch your breath and notice improvements in energy levels, and it's inspirational to see some early results. It's often when the scale starts to shift a little bit and clothes feel a little bit more comfortable.

In my personal journey, I experienced a midweek setback as a health condition I have decided to rear its less-than-lovely head. I have a condition called IC, which stands for interstitial cystitis, and it causes severe pain along with ulcers in my bladder. When I experience fatigue, pain, and bleeding, I also start to see some heart issues kick in. I rested for three days midweek after an intense 5-day streak. My body was warning me to listen.

On the upside, my wife meal planned for us this week, so I was able to keep my nutrition on point. A key piece of success is reducing processed foods and eating more whole foods- it's incredible what a balanced diet with fruits, veggies, and healthy carbohydrates can do to improve bloat and digestion. I am so grateful Patty was able to spend the time to get this piece of the puzzle blasted out on Sunday so that the rest days I needed were fully restorative.

My numbers are looking better this week!

My weight is now 146.3, down 3.5 lbs since the end of week 1 (I had increased my weight the first week to 149.8 eek... always a scary thing). Don't be freaked out if this happens to you!

My body fat is down to 35.1, and my BMI is now 25.00 (down 20% each). I've lost a bit of muscle mass and a bit of water weight, which I want to monitor because this plan is working if I increase muscle mass and decrease fat. I don't want to assume I am making the right choices for my body if the scale looks better, but I have actually lost water weight and muscle. For now, I feel comfortable because the fat has decreased and I wasn't able to lift like I normally do. Workouts this past week were:

Thursday 4-mile run on the treadmill

Friday Pilates

Saturday Weight lifting

Sunday Weight lifting

Monday I taught two 40 minute hiit classes and went for a walk, so I burned 1200 calories

Tuesday-rest

Wednesday-rest

Thursday-rest

Friday- I taught two 40-minute hiit classes and went for a walk, so I burned 1200 calories

While my HIIT classes always combine weights, core, and cardio- they are a high-calorie burn and that has a different impact on our systems than the heavy lifts. I see that there was quite a bit of cardio altogether and less weight lifting than typical, so I am not surprised to lose some muscle. At 45- it's harder to gain and easier to lose. This is a good reminder to focus at least 2 days per week on weightlifting. I prefer to do 4-5 days.

As I think about the benefits, the greatest is to my mental health. Clients and I agree that we feel better emotionally when we take the time to challenge and nurture our physical body. I have been hit with some of the winter glooms- so my daily practice for that is meditation.

There are amazing apps to help develop a meditation practice- I love Happier and Calm. I might have to do a share on the practice of meditating soon, but let's just say between the health scare and other stress, I really leaned into meditation this week. When I can't work my body, I need to balance my mind.

How is your health journey going? If you need some help, let me know!

Love,

LeeAnn