Fitness Victory

I know my posts have been less than consistent lately my schedule has just been all over the board for the last couple of months. In an attempt to get things back on track I am currently writing out several posts for this week that I have been meaning to get around to. So up first lets talk about a little fitness and health victory. 

 

As I'm sure you can tell from many of my posts I try to actively pursue a healthy lifestyle. I try to eat right as much as I can and exercise regularly. However sometimes I feel like I don't make any progress towards my goals. Accessing your own progress can be tricky for many reasons. The first being you look at yourself constantly so you may not notice small changes as they happen, also of course everyone is their own worst critic. That's why it is important to track your progress in other ways such as pictures, measurements and the scale. 

So last week feeling a little like all the work I was putting in wasn't showing I decided to retake my body measurements with a tape measure. The last time I measured was March of this year. I was pleasantly surprised to discover I had lost 5 total inches and 5 pounds. For me I thought this progress was huge and I was thrilled this was exactly the motivation I needed to keep going harder each day. In addition to this metric progress I notice increased muscle definition and strength.

Since March I have been hitting the gym 5-6 times a week spending 90% of my time in the weight room. I love weight lifting it is a challenge, it keeps me interested, and I don't dread it like I do with cardio. I have noticed bigger changes in my body through weight lifting in a shorter period of time then anything else I have ever done. I supplement my exercise routine with good nutrition. I base my diet around iifym most of the time. I wont lie and say I followed it for the whole time period because I did not, I fell off tracking many times but still applied the general principals I learned through iifym about portion size, macro makeup and getting in enough protein. I have recently started tracking again in hopes of reverse dieting to get my carb intake up. I have big fitness goals for next year and I am excited to see what I can accomplish.

Stay tuned because tomorrow and the next day I am coming at you with the recipe for my healthy protein packed pizza and over-stuffed sweet potatoes!