Yes, I’m still doing it! Who is surprised? I am! I’ve never stuck to anything this long in my life.
I am working on week 4 right now. I’m able to complete the intervals on the elliptical, but the heat and humidity along with impact related pain are preventing me from finishing it at the track. I barely break a sweat on the elliptical and don’t really even have to breathe hard to do it. Obviously my endurance is in good shape. But the heat and humidity wreak havoc with my asthma. I think if I was able to breathe I could push past the pain, but my inability to do more than gasp for air after the first 2-3 intervals prevent me from finishing. It’s incredibly frustrating!
Another thing that is currently frustrating to me is the scale. I am not seeing the pounds drop off like I want to and that irritates me. I have never in my life been this active…they should be dropping off, right? Apparently not! The good news is that I am losing inches, so obviously I’m going in the right direction. I noticed just how much I’ve lost yesterday while I was on the elliptical. It is strategically placed in my bedroom so that I can see only my gut in the mirror. When I want to quit, I only have to turn my head to the side and look at my flab and I’m suddenly motivated to keep going! It had been a couple of weeks since I was on it, so when I looked to the side I was really amazed at much less there was of me.
There are a couple of factors that might be preventing me from losing weight. First of all, I’m nursing. Most women find that the first few months of breastfeeding will have dramatic weight loss (generally what was gained during pregnancy, though I’m an exception since I tend not to gain much while pregnant) but that it settles down and can become difficult to lose weight once you hit a certain point. I think I’m at that point now and I may not lose dramatically until she is fully weaned. I’m fine with this, because I know that breastfeeding is best for her and it’s not worth sacrificing her health (which is even more important now since she got diagnosed with asthma Saturday, but more on that in a later post) so I can see a prettier number on the scale. I’m OK with this for now.
The second is that I’m still building muscle. I’m losing fat, but gaining muscle. This is good, but I’m told it may take a while to really lose weight if I’m still working on building muscle. Not sure how true that is, but it’s an intersting theory. If muscle is replacing fat right now, once I’ve built up muscle as far as it will go with the activities I’m doing, then the weight will come off as I continue to lose fat. Makes sense, I guess!
And then there’s the whole problem with me not changing my eating habits. Well, that’s not really true…I guess I’m not changing them enough. I am trying, but I am so hungry all.the.time. I’m sure it’s because I’m nursing and burning lots of calories, but it’s hard. I’m just trying to eat lots of protein and cut back on sodas and other empty calories.
So that’s the current status of the C25K and weight loss efforts. I’m (mostly) happy with the results so far.
Tinker
June 30, 2009 at 1:31 am
You’re working on it, bit by bit, and that will get you there!
This is my first visit here, but I’ll certainly check back. In reading the last few posts I see we have a pile of life situations in common (more than two kids, some fertility treatment, weight troubles, exercise-induced asthma, Couch to 5K, and nursing a newborn) so I’m certainly interested to hear how you manage it.