End of the Making the Cut program

Day 30 was a few days ago.  Let's just say that this past month didn't go as I had expected.  We'll start with the ending statistics:

3 March 2011 [End of 30 days]
3-minute step test pulse: 103
Push-ups (1 minute): 35
Sit-ups (1 minute): 45
Wall sit: 76 seconds
Weight: 159 pounds
Bust: 35.5 inches
Chest: 31.5 inches
Waist: 30.0 inches
Hips: 40.75 inches
Right Thigh: 25 inches
Left Thigh: 25 inches
Right Arm: 11 inches
Left Arm: 11 inches
Body fat: 31.3%
Body H2O: 49.4%
Body muscle: 34.3%
BMI: 25.7
BMR: 1492

I thought that this 30-day program would end with me about 5-10 pounds lighter with a couple inches off my waist, hips, and thighs and an improved fitness level.  If you compare my stats from 31 January, you'll see that the weight and measurements didn't really change much at all.  I did change my body composition slightly; more muscle and water, less fat, which is good.  I just feel like I watched my diet and worked out too hard to not have a little better results.  I am happy with the improvements in my fitness level.

There are a few possible reasons for this outcome.  First, I did not stick to the diet letter by letter.  Didn't care for some of the foods and my life just can't support cooking that much.  However, I did select a handful of the recipes and made those part of my regular diet.  I also stuck very close to my calorie allowance and fat:carb:protein ration on most days.  I did have some diet lapses though.  I cannot deny that.  There were probably no more than five days where I ate too much.  But overall, I simply can't believe that my calorie intake and calories burned by exercise ended up with the exact same weight at the end.

So maybe I didn't do enough cardio exercising.  The plan called for four days of intense circuit training with an additional 15 minutes of cardio at the end of that for a total of about one hour of exercise on those four days.  I only missed one workout, but I did skip the cardio for about half of those workouts.  I either felt so exhausted after the circuits or didn't want to spend the additional 15 minutes exercising.  These workouts without the straight cardio, got my heart rate up between 70-90% of my max and kept it there pretty consistently for between 35-45 minutes depending on the day.  I have a watch that monitors heart rate and gives an estimate of calories burned based on my age, gender, and heart rate.  That watch showed that I burned on average 500 calories during these workouts.  On the days that added the extra cardio, that number shot up to over 700 usually.

Final thought is that my metabolism was just that slow that I've got a lot more work to do.  I do have an appointment with my doctor to discuss my thyroid and other hormones later this month.  I've been on thyroid medication since the end of June and had my levels checked once.  I was due for that recheck this month, but maybe something is a bit off.  Or maybe it's the stress of work causing cortisol levels to be elevated.  Or maybe some other hormone is out of whack.

Now I move on to the next phase of this.  I do feel like I'm making progress on improving habits.  Of course, I need to stick with things for several more months before I'll feel like they are truly going to stick.  My plan for the next couple months as I prepare for my Army PT test is to do more running, but still do two days of circuit training that includes weights.  Today I gave myself a practice PT test.  I came within 3 push-ups of 100%, easily maxed out the sit-ups, and ran two miles about as fast as I did on my last official test in October.  That's definitely not fast and needs lots of improvement, but considering I haven't run much for the last several months, I'm happy with that.  My goal between now and the end of April, when my unit takes the test is to be able to max the push-ups and sit-ups and shave 2.5 to 3 minutes off my run time.  I also hope to lose 5-10 pounds.  I know that is quite ambitious considering that in less than two weeks, I'll be TDY and on leave in the States for a couple weeks.  I'll be surrounded by all of my favorite restaurants and with friends and family that I can't wait to visit with.  I know I'll indulge some, but I am going to try my best to do so in moderation.  That has always been my problem...moderation.  I'll try to get a few workouts in as well while I'm gone.

So I changed the name of this blog because the quest continues....