I’m happy to report that the bathroom scale shows I lost a pound and a half this week. That’s still about a pound and a half more than six weeks ago when I hit my low weight.  Still, after a month of gaining a pound or so every week, I’ll take it.

Coincidentally, I joined the gym about six weeks ago. Even though my percent body fat has only dropped by point-seven percent (0.7) since then, the timing suggests the weight gains are the result of an increase in muscle from all the exercise I’ve been doing. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

It’s an easy case to make. I haven’t done anything even vaguely resembling exercise since I took an aerobics class in college about thirty years ago.  Now I exercise for ninety minutes or more at least six days a week.

My weight may not have changed much, but I feel like all the exercise is making a difference. I still have my pot belly and muffin top. But beneath the jiggles, I can feel a hardness that wasn’t there before.

There are other differences, too. I’ve increased the amount of weight on all the machines that are part of my work-out. For some it’s only ten or fifteen more pounds, but with others I’ve added as much as sixty more pounds.  I’m doing a lot more push-ups and sit-ups than when I first started, and can hold my planks three times as long as I could just a month ago.

Now that I’ve worked my way up to running five kilometers, the focus has shifted to improving my time. The first time I ran the full distance, my time was forty-two minutes. Since then, I’ve managed to improve my time by a full minute every time I go out. Today my time was just thirty-seven minutes–an improvement of five full minutes in less than a week.

Yes, I’m frustrated that after six weeks at the gym, the results aren’t more noticeable.  But I’m in this for the long haul–not instant results. I know that if I just keep doing what I’ve been doing, slowly but surely the weight will come off.

For now and for as long as I keep doing what I’ve been doing, I’m not going to worry about the weight. Between now and the end of April, I normally gain ten, twenty, or even thirty pounds. If I can make it to May without gaining more than a pound or two, I’ll have done something I’ve never managed to do before. Losing a few pounds between now and May would be downright miraculous.

Even though my partner is doing the same thing, it’s not a competition. It’s about changing from a sedentary lifestyle and eating whatever we wanted to a more active lifestyle involving healthier choices.  I’ll keep you posted on our progress here on…

My Glass House