Tag Archives: wellness

Weight Watchers Weigh-In

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I’m not a slave to the scale, so when I began weighing myself every week while on Weight Watchers, I was really more annoyed than anything. I was (and still am) working out a lot, lifting weights, building muscle, so even though I was getting smaller in inches, the number of the scale wasn’t budging very much. As a result, I thought it’d be more beneficial to only weigh in on the first of every month so that I could at least have some idea of where my weight is.

Well, yesterday was the first of April, and in this last month I’ve lost 2.5 lbs. So excited. Even though that number isn’t very big, I’m still very proud, and hopefully next week when I check in with measurements, I will have lost even more inches.

(via Reasons to be Fit)

Where did you go?

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So, where are those weekly weight watchers check in? Why haven’t you been writing? We’re waiting for posts here Ms. Murphy. These are things I’m sure some of you are wondering, some of you don’t care about (I get it, it’s cool), and some of you have actually said to me.  Well, my path with weight watchers has changed a bit. I’m still following the plan as I really love the new points+ system, but I’m not weighing myself every week as planned. I’m weighing myself every month.

As I take on this new, healthier lifestyle, I’m working out, building muscle, and subsequently staying the same weight or maybe even gaining. I’ve decided that I can’t let myself be a slave to the scale – I need to base my success based on how I feel, how I look, how my clothes fit, and my measurements. Within those four critera lies true success. Not in a number on a scale.

That being said, my next weigh in will be on March 1. If the number isn’t much better, whatever. It’s life. It’s all about how I feel and how my clothes fit.

I’m really taking inspiration these days from fitness posts on Pinterest as well as on Tumblr. Join up and let’s motivate each other, together.

The New Rules of Lifting for Women

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The New Rules of Lifting for Women is a book I discovered while perusing the forums on MFP. Best 17 bucks I’ve ever spent.

In college I was always a pretty big lifter (for a girl). Bench was never my thing, but I had a pretty big squat max (225, I don’t want to talk about it). After I stopped playing softball, I swore to myself I would never again pick up another weight. I didn’t want to be big or bulky anymore and the days where I needed the big squat max were long behind me. After about a year or so, I started dabbling in the weight room again – a bicep curl here, a tricep extension there – but I never really did anything for fear of getting big again. Truthfully, I missed the intensity of lifting. Distance running doesn’t provide the same intensity nor is it as interesting. I still liked running, but I had pretty much resigned myself to the fact that I would never really lift again. Well, after reading the New Rules of Lifting for Women, I realized that I can lift again AND not be a hulk. After all, the subtitle of the book is “lift like a man, look like a goddess.” Obviously I already look like a goddess, so this will just make me a mega-goddess.

For the last week I have been pretty much incapacitated by soreness – my quads feel like they’re peeling off the front of my legs, my abs are so sore I can barely sit up after laying down, I have to go down the stairs holding the hand rail for fear my legs will give out from under me. It hurts so good. It’s worth it. Even through the soreness, I can feel my body getting stronger. I’m back to squatting, dead lifting, shoulder pressing, split squatting – everything I used to do in college, but hopefully with a bit of a different outcome. Now, I’m not lifting as heavy as I did in college, but I’m also eating better than I did in college. The combination of a nutritionally sound diet and a solid lifting program (and the occasional interval sprint workout) will hopefully allow me to become lean-strong instead of bulky-strong. That’s the goal. And what’s the worst thing that can happen, I get too big? If that happens again, I’ll back off on lifting a little. Not a big deal.

The workout plans are extensive and comprehensive, laying out a 6-month program with everything nailed down but the actual size of the weights you are comfortable using. The exercises are detailed in both text and pictures, and the plan is complete with number of workouts per week, number of sets, number of reps – everything you need to know to be successful. And being successful is what I plan on doing. I’ll check back in soon and let you know how it’s going, what changes I’ve seen, and if I’m still enjoying it as much as I am now.