Getting Hot - Week One Progress

I've worked out six out of the past nine days. I'm just starting to feel myself coming out of the, "What the hell are you doing to me, ramping up physical activity like this?" phase. After that I'll start entering the, "you need this to feel normal," phase. I love that phase, and I hope it gets here in full soon.

As mentioned, I'm incorporating elements of Tony Horton's Power 90 and running for at least four days a week. I plan on incorporating cycling when I acquire a gym membership (spinning!), or when it stops raining, whichever comes first. I can deal with running in the rain, but cycling is just too much. I ran 3.5 miles last night in a cool drizzle, continuously wiping my glasses with sweaty wet fingers, changing the blurriness of my surroundings from a hazy prickled star field to twin murky smudges. It wasn't a bad run, my time was 31:48. That's a pretty respectable pace for me, and I wasn't pushing myself that hard. I need to keep my heart rate in the ideal fat burning zone if I want to see more immediate physical results, but I tend to enjoy running at slightly above that rate. Either way it's a great workout. At a higher cardio zone I'll be burning sugars instead of fat, but also increasing my muscle mass, lactic threshold, and cardio endurance. I'm okay with that. Muscle burns more calories than fat.

I've lost just under two pounds so far. I'm taking weight readings about every other day, at the same time of day. I control for added clothing weight and meals by weighing myself in the morning right after I wake up, right after my morning shower. Two pounds a week is a pretty healthy amount. Any more and it is more likely to be water weight, or has more potential to return. Weight should be taken with a grain of salt since it can fluctuate so much naturally. Most experts agree that the best way to see results is to take measurements of the various parts of your body. I tend to lose weight from the top down. That pesky belly and love handles are the last to start to go. The way your clothing fits is a good indicator without all of the measurement work. I measure my success using the holes on my belt. We'll see how long it takes to move that buckle one more notch! I'm sticking with it.