One Month In

Tonight I weighed myself and took measurements to celebrate my first month of going to the gym and being more active. I can't seem to find posts on any of my social media sites about what my previous measurements were, so I don't have a good comparison to make at this point. I am surprised by some of the numbers and bummed at the fact that my hips are still on the big side in my opinion. I definitely have those "birthin hips" that people laugh about when they see a shapely woman. I'm Hungarian and Irish, neither of those nationalities are petite women, so I blame my genetics, lol!


Here are the one month results:


Weight: 195 lbs
Waist: 38 inches
Chest: 36.5 inches
Biceps: 14 inches
Thighs: 26 inches
Calves: 15 inches
Hips: 45.5 inches (WHAT??)


My waist and thighs are by far my winners for the "That's awesome" moment. I used to have a 42 inch waist and my thighs were like 36 inches I think. My chest used to be 40 inches and my hips were 48 inches give or take. When I started my exercise adventure back in December of 2011 I was 215 lbs. Over all I have made progress, maybe not the progress that I imagined but it's only been one month since I got back onto the exercise and healthy eating wagon. 


Tonight I totally blew my calorie intake for the day because we went to Red Robin for dinner so I could get my free "birthday" burger for this month. I couldn't resist. I was hungry and I wanted something more significant than some fish and quinoa. It was tasty, but heavy and my stomach is unsure how to feel about that at this point. I feel over stuffed even though I had my burger in a lettuce wrap. I can't believe I used to eat like that all the time, how could I feel like this for years and never realize that something was wrong? Guilty for having eaten that much at this point is doing me no good, so I will keep in mind that next time I have to make a much healthier choice than a Royal Robin burger.


I have also done some research on becoming a work out runner. I have discovered two things that I didn't know about. First, running 6 days a week for beginners is not a good thing. Your body does not have time between runs to heal the muscle strain that you encounter from the impact of running. So I am going to alter my running program to only 3 days a week. Probably on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. I will continue to do my strength training as well and the running will be the cardio part of my program. Also I will eventually have to break down and buy some running shoes. Right now I am using my hiking shoes which are very basic and broken in from having them for a few years now. They are definitely not made for jogging or distance running at all and there is not enough support for my arches which is why my feet ache after any significant time spent running. It will get put on my "things I need to purchase" list and once I get some spare cash, I'll see about getting properly fitted and into a pair that will comfort my feet and if I'm lucky be cute too!


Here are some photos from last year and recent to get a good idea of how much smaller I've become:

This was last summer for a birthday party at the lake. I didn't look very healthy at all. (215lbs)

This is a picture of Dakota and I at the Tunnel Hill Train Museum in May of this year. I look taller =P (197lbs)

This is a picture of me in April of this year getting ready for a job interview. (197lbs)