Fat versus muscle

The weekend is drawing closer and I couldn’t be more excited. The work week has been a long one and i am ready to relax and enjoy life!

We have been talking a lot about work life balance.  We don’t have a good balance and honestly I am not sure how to get it.  My commute sucks up so much time of my day.  I leave the house at 6:30AM and if I’m luck I get home at 5:30.   That is dependent upon. It getting tied up at work completing a task and of course the never ending rush time traffic.  On Thursday it was a combination of both and I didn’t get home until 6:30.   Make dinner, eat, clean up and voila...it’s bedtime...because that alarm is going to wail in my ear at that ungodly morning hour!  For this reason, I again struggled with exercise after work.  Grrrr!  It is also the reason that we are so protective of our weekend time together...making the most of what we get!

Yes, I am so looking forward to the weekend!  Yup, even though Jason is making talks of going back to the trail that I I have dubbed the ‘trail of tears’ after this experience and that experience    Of course it frightens me, but...well....I won’t conquer it if I don’t go and ride it...over and over!

I managed to keep my weight within a pound of my lower weight this week, no nasty jump up!  I was tickled and hope to have a stellar weigh in tomorrow morning!  But even better?  All week long I have been receiving compliments.  I have had four different people, at different times tell me how I look like I’m losing weight...slimming down.  Uhhh?  Yeah, no weight lost...but thanks a bunch!  Seriously, the first day it happened twice...I was ready to vow that I would wear that outfit every day of the week!  Because surely it had to be the outfit...right?

  But I have been working my tail off on the weekends and keeping my food under control.   I know that muscle weights more than fat.  I also know that my muscles have been working HARD when I ride and that those neglected muscles are growing and coming back.   So honestly, maybe...just maybe I AM losing fat but gaining muscle.   Totally feasible.  In terms of my weight maybe it has just been an even exchange...lose a pound of fat and gain a pound of muscle!  But in terms of mass, a pound of fat is greater than a pound of muscle...so that would account for the unexplained ‘slimming’ look.    Either way, I’ll take it...people are noticing a difference...so that’s a good sign.  As for the scales....they will figure it out sooner or later.   (And the bonus...those muscles will burn more and more fat!!)

This week has been easier.  I have been focusing on the ‘choices’ concept. The idea is that  that everything I do is a choice.  So think about it as you have two options...indulge or lose weight.  (When talking about eating something unhealthy).  I was in the cafeteria yesterday. (I had PLANNED to splurge for lunch...it was rainy so I wasn’t walking and I knew that my planned dinner would allow for the calories in my chosen lunch).  I saw the chips and I chose the baked chips at 140 calories versus the ones I normally get which are 300 calories!  I chose to stick with my water.  And the biggest choice of all?  I certainly saw the Reece’s cups.  But I CHOSE to forego.   I knew that if I wanted them, that I could have them.  No one is telling me to not eat them.  I could work it into my daily calorie budget if I really wanted. But the choice was mine. And when I thought about it I realized that the fleeting pleasure of the candy was not worth it.  It was my choices that brought me to this weight.  It will be my choices that take me away from this weight.    Now tomorrow, I may make a different choice.  I may have more calories to play with.  I may decide to indulge for any number of reasons. But that day in the cafeteria, I chose health.  It was really quite empowering.

So that was my week...choices for health and that ever present unhealthy work life balance.   And this weekend...let’s see how the mountain biking goes!