March 27 2010 Fat Loss Journey Goal Achieved

Weight: 120.8 pounds
Neck: 13.5 inches
Waist: 27 inches
Hips: 34 inches
Body Fat: 17.5%
That equates to 21.14 pounds of body fat and 99.66 pounds of lean mass

Unfortunately, I didn't have such specific numbers when I started out, but February 5, I measured 22.4% body fat and 130 pounds. So, I lost around 10 pounds in approximately 8 weeks. Went from 29.12 pounds of fat to 21.14 pounds (a loss of 8 pounds of fat); and a loss of about 1 pound of lean mass along with that.

My next phase, I will post Sunday March 28, and will focus on building muscle, with fat loss as a secondary goal. I want to see how much I can achieve in four weeks (because then my fat loss journey and muscle building will have reached a 12 week stage), and then from there, readjust my goals for a life long commitment to health and wellness. These first eight weeks were a great eye-opening and motivational drive for me, because I kept seeing changes (and I'm sure I will continue to see changes). But, I don't want to ever fall in the thinking that I will always be fit and lean and healthy without any additional work because quite frankly, getting back into working my body lean has been so difficult and mentally taxing, that I really don't want to have to start from scratch all over again. I want to just start from here, and improve myself day-to-day, rather than set myself back to where I was just two months ago.

I mean, I know I started measuring progress the beginning of February so that I could have a neat and simple focus on my goals (8 weeks/60 days), but seriously, right after my birthday vacation, I came home to see that I was 135 pounds. Yikes! That was a wake up call right there, because I had always envisioned my "fat" body as 125 pounds, something that I can lose really easy. When I saw 135, I was like, oh, that's 15 pounds over normal, not 5 pounds. Something needs to change! And, thankfully, I was able to turn it around, but not exercising regularly for a year and trying to get back into it was honestly very humbling, especially knowing what I can do versus what I was able to do in December and January, what I call my rehearsal months. Thankfully, in February and March, I got my act together, and now, from here, from this point, I can finally get back into a routine where it's part of my lifestyle again and something that I just do, and just progress from here. To the point where I feel like I don't have to "catch up from behind" but that I'm "maintaining" the weight now, the difference is "getting better" on a day-to-day basis.

I have attained a point where now I feel like the true changes of my body composition can finally begin, from here, rather than having to shed the layers of fat to get to the "real" me: the "me" that wants to be able to do 20 chin ups (I will be happy with 1 right now!), squat 200 pounds in perfect form, and crank out 100 push ups and bench my body weight. That's the real me, and I couldn't even begin to think to attain it while I was hidden underneath my fat layer. Now that that layer is gone, I can start from here, and see where the next four weeks will take me.