Progress Update April 2013

With all my motivation this month, I decided to take some progress pictures yesterday, which I knew weren’t going to be pretty.

This morning, I took my scaled measurements:  160lbs, 38.1% lower body fat (via stand-on scale), and 32.1% upper body fat (hand held scale) for an average of 35.1% body fat.  (I also took my body measurements but forget them at my apartment near school.)

These are not good numbers.  To give you an idea, I’ve gone up 16lbs and 8.2% body fat since October 2011.  I don’t have a progress picture from then but this is pretty close in numbers:

And to make it pretty clear to see the changes:

Not huge changes in my legs really but significant around my stomach and in my face.

I was sad to see that scale go just above the 160 mark.  I thought I would never go back there but life happens.  Over the last year and a half, a lot has happened and the stresses took their toll on me.  Also, I spent most of last year injured, trying to figure out what was wrong with my ankle, making it difficult to exercise.  The last few months, I’ve been desperately trying to get back on track but the stresses in life were getting worse, making it harder to concentrate on my health.  This ended up making my diet the worst part of my lifestyle.  Forget Paleo, how about just eating clean?

This month, I’m really feeling the motivation if you couldn’t tell from the last couple of posts.  The stress is still there, but I’m handling it better (or just accepting it better).  I’m really just hoping that it lasts through the month (and beyond).  Some of the things that feel different this time:

• I’m more organized, scheduling out my workouts into my busy life.
• My ankle doesn’t hurt at all anymore, making it easier to work out.
• I’m in a better mindset to avoid cravings and junk food.
• I’m not overly restricting my diet, allowing myself to just eat clean.

I don’t know what made it all click recently, but I’m done gaining and neglecting my health.  I would have been far worse off if I hadn’t been at least aware of my gaining and doing the little bit I could to slow it down.  So I’m starting over.  I’m not comfortable in my own skin.  I’m ready to fit into my skinny jeans again!