Incredible, I tell ya.
Let's take a walk down memory lane and go back to when it all started.
And here we are at the end of February, having completed 36 weeks of this journey.
I'm just so dang proud of myself for sticking with it and literally changing my lifestyle and LOVING IT.
Week 33 kicked off with my 39th birthday.
There's not a ton to note except that I'm starting to think about taking another day of rest each week.
Right now I'm working out 6 days a week, every day except for Fridays.
It's not that I'm becoming lazier.
I promise.
It's because I'm starting to split my workouts and train specific parts of my body (instead of doing full body at each workout).
So because of that, I'm training one muscle group for at least 30 - 45 minutes. And I'm lifting heavier than I normally would, to challenge myself and to my surprise, I've been able to maintain (somewhat) without dropping down weights as the circuit goes on.
I definitely feel stronger. Some of the programs I did earlier on are definitely much easier to get through with way less effort.
Progress, people!
I got a new scale as well and finally took a few minutes to calibrate it.
The problem?
It's showing a 2lb difference from my old scale. Ugh.
So instead of weighing in today at 110.5, I weighed in at 112.4.
So, I'm going to go with the new scale. I'm also assuming my weight loss is the same, I was just heavier to begin with. lol.
Anyway, this scale I picked up at ALDI (that's right! In the AOS "Aisle of Shame") and also calculates other body metrics like body fat %, muscle mass %, bone mass, etc.
I was interested to see where I fall. I wish I had "before" metrics, but alas, I don't.
Here are the stats as of January 28, 2021.
Body Fat: 22.3%
Water: 54.1%
Muscle mass: 39%
Bone mass: 14.1%
What I've found as benchmarks for a woman who is 39 years old, moderately active:
Body Fat: 21 - 32%
Water: 41 - 60%
Muscle mass: 29 - 33%
Bone mass: I CAN'T SEEM TO FIND THE RIGHT METRIC FOR THIS.
So I think I'm doing pretty well considering.
I will probably retake these stats in another month or so.
I'm still maintaining my protein shakes in the mornings and trying to pay attention to my overall protein intake. I'm not tracking my macros as diligently as I was - I kinda know what I'm eating these days.
Here we are - starting week 34, folks!
A few updates for this past week. I ordered a set of 15lb dumbbells and those should be arriving sometime next week (spoiler alert - they arrived 2/17 - making that week 35).
I'm trying to plan my workouts so that I'm being more efficient with my time and effort, and ensuring I'm hitting all muscle groups appropriately.
Like I mentioned before - I used to do full-body exercises and now I'm focusing more on certain areas.
Here's what I started doing to track.
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| Shoulders and triceps - Feb. 2, 2021 |
We closed out week 33 strong and going into week 34 without issue.
I'm choosing to do a hard leg day on Saturdays, to give myself the time to really get a good workout in, but so I also have time to recover. LOL. Leg day is NO JOKE!
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| February 4, 2021 |
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| February 6, 2021 |
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| February 9, 2021 (Post-workout shoulder PUMP) |
February 10, 2021
34 weeks complete, people!
I ended the 34th week of my fitness journey by doing a 30-minute TRICEP workout. Yes, focusing only on that one muscle group (3 heads) for 30 minutes with minimal rest is LEGIT. I definitely hit failure with the skull crushers with fear of dropping the weights on my face.
I was going to do a lower body workout, but came across this Tricep workout and wanted to try it.
Tank top season isn't that far away people!
Did you know that our triceps are bigger than the biceps? They are a larger muscle group with 3 heads vs. the biceps 2 heads so there's more potential for growth. So I'm trying to lift heavy (and for me, that's like 12lbs lol).
My new weights have shipped and the delivery date range is Feb. 9 - March 2, so who the heck knows when I'll actually receive them. (Update: they arrived on 2/17!)
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| Pic taken February 13. Still tracking well weight-wise. This scale did have a 2lb (heavier) difference than my old scale, so I'm back to 110lbs lol. I think on my old scale it'd be 108. But let's stick with this new scale! |
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| Pic taken February 13. Right after a shoulder workout. The day before was legs. I'm so excited about them shoulder caps! |
One thing I'm proud of this week, as I close out week 34, is that I've started lifting heavier consistently.
When I would normally be using my 8lb weights for lateral flies, I'm now opting to go at least 10lbs, even 12lbs if I'm feeling aggressive. Knowing I can drop down as the circuits go on, but man! Let me just say - I'm DEFINITELY feeling it!
My back and shoulders and triceps for fuck's sake are SORE.
WAY more sore than normal.
And I've hit failure in a couple of the workouts.
For back rows, I'm using my 15lb kettlebell. And I know I can go heavier. I just can't find dumbells.
For triceps I'm still only able to do 8lbs for either skull crushers or overhead tricep pulls.
Biceps I'm able to do 10lbs alternating.
Slowly but surely. I've been afraid, I think to go TOO heavy.
But I'm realizing that I need to push myself. I keep hearing the lady's voice about hitting failure and how that's the goal.
I think I'm really going to start incorporating one more rest day into my routine.
This will allow me to really focus on specific body parts/muscle groups and not get bored or feel like I don't know what to do next.
What I want to do is 3 days of upper body, 1 day of full body and 1 day of legs.
The 3 days of upper body would be something like shoulders, back + biceps, chest + triceps.
Full body is just that - full body. Maybe (and this is a HUGE maybe) but I might throw in a cardio session here?
And then legs. Leg days are killer and so far I've been enjoying this specific leg routine.
I'm still loving my early morning workouts. The sunrise is unreal!
Here's a little side by side:
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| Left pic is from late June. Right pic is from November 19, 2020. |
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| I can't say there's a lot of difference between these two. Maybe a little bit more definition. Left is from January 9th and right is from today (February 18). Maybe I see some gains in my shoulders! |
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| Left - end of June, 2020. Right - February 18, 2021. |
Officially writing this 35 weeks and 1 day into my fitness journey.
And you know what else I can update on this week! My new 15lb dumbbells arrived!
And OOF.
They are HEAVY!
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| These suckers are my HOLY BANANAS. |
Today, as I write this, I'm 35 weeks, 5 days into my fitness journey.
I started using the "big kahunas" 15lb dumbbells this week.
I started with legs Saturday and I didn't just use the 15's because that's a lot for me. But I did what I could.
I did some squats and side-to-side lunges with these guys.
I did backward lunges with them.
I did sumo squats with them.
Slowly integrating them into my routines.
Then today (Monday), I did shoulders.
These big dumbbells really made me feel it! I LOVE IT!
I got to fatigue at the end of set 3, which is what I want.
Shoulder presses with 15's are no joke for me.
I'm excited to work out my back with these tomorrow!
I can't believe I'm almost done with 36 weeks of working out.
You guys.
That's over 8 months of focusing on my health, wellness and physical fitness (which, ergo, has improved my overall mental health as well).
I'm still hovering around the 110 - 114lbs range. I think it's safe to say this is my "maintenance" weight.
I'm eating around 1500 - 1800 calories a day, but I'm NOT counting macros as I write this.
It's too much work to keep up and I basically eat the same things. I will always need to up my protein.
But, here's to completing 36 FUCKING WEEKS.
251 days since I started this journey.
128 days until vacation!
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