Yesterday evening it was time for a monthly weigh and measure at Curves. It’s been a bit over 4 weeks since I joined, and during that time, I’ve gone to work out an average of 4 times per week for 30 minutes stretches of time. I’ve also cut my Coke consumption down to 1 can per day, cut out almost all other sugar (including a huge chunk of sugar from my iced tea) and incorporated more whole grains and fruits/vegetables into my diet. My diet has become almost interchangeable with that of my rabbits. Fried foods have been limited to once per week (that’s my wings night at Kokomos), and there’s been a lot of grilled fish in my meals lately. In other words, I’ve changed my diet. In the past four weeks I haven’t really noticed much of a change except that I’m a lot more tired than I used to be before I began working out. I’m tired during the day, tired before I work out and tired after I work out. I tried working out in the mornings, but found myself wanting to curl up in a sunbeam mid-morning for a snooze. Midway through my afternoon workout, my endorphins wake up, only to roll over and go back to sleep. I don’t feel refreshed or invigorated after a work out—I feel like taking a nap. However, I’m trying to keep in the right frame of mind, and think of my heart, my blood pressure and cholesterol and all that stuff. You know, the healthy benefits of working out. I heard a rumor that there are some of those healthy benefits.
So, last evening, it was weigh and measurement time. This is a “perk” that comes with Curves. Good if one is following the program and working towards body toning and weight loss. Bad if one is there to socialize and the focus of the 30 minutes is invested in that arena. But, I’ve been working out, not socializing. Weighing and measuring is a bit like preparing livestock for a 4-H showing. There’s the grooming (a rush of switching out of heels and pantyhose in the changing room prior to a workout), the weighing (stepping on the scale and watching the little weights scoot closer and closer towards the big numbers) and the measuring (the measuring tape strategically placed across the various parts of the body). There’s also a nifty little machine that measures body fat—I’m not sure how this occurs, but it’s very scientific looking. When I initially joined Curves, they took all those numbers and wrote them down in my chart, and each month they’ll take new measurement and write them down in my chart. However, numbers and I…well, we aren’t very good friends in any setting. This is no exception and last month I really didn’t pay attention to the numbers. Yesterday, after the 4-H exhibit they gave me a piece of paper with the numeric message written for me to keep. I opened it in the car.
It said, “Your Results: Total Inches lost: 6.0. Total pounds lost: 4 lbs. Total Body fat pounds lost: 0.3”
Since none of my clothing fits any differently (nothing so loose that I’ve got clothing falling off my body), I’m not sure from what part of my body those inches left, but if you should find them, don’t send them back. I’m hoping more will join them soon. That’s if I can stay awake.