The results are in, and….

The End of the First Challenge

I have to say that I am disappointed on the whole. There was little or no support throughout the 12 weeks from the gym. One email once a fortnight is hardly enough to inspire you to keep going, especially when you train on your own as I did.

But there are some positives – I have gained several kilos of muscle mass and lost some body fat – I might weigh the same on the scale, but I fit in my clothes better than I did. My cardiovascular system is also much better and I can run for half an hour without keeling over. But the responses from others, has been interesting. One person that I speak to at the gym said that “you look fantastic” whilst another person that I know said “you’re still fat and you look pregnant”. Hmm the latter comment is a little ironic given my recent(ish) operation. But insults aside – a fair comment given that I do carry a good deal of fat across my belly button and always have.

So what to do? Well a couple of decisions:

I decided not to trade the insults. Well I could have done, but what good would that do after all. It’s hard to reason with people when they think they are totally in the right and no amount of reasoning will change their opinion of you. Or I can take the comments on the chin and say yes, whilst I am looking much better than I did before the start of the last 12 week challenge, I can and should do something about my stomach!! Especially as my “baby” is now 12 years old!

However, as most of you know if you have ever tried to spot reduce a certain area – it just doesn’t happen. Your body will get rid of the fat in the way that it wants to and sooner or later, but usually later, will reach the area that you’re really targeting.

I will continue with the weights programme as set out by the gym – and I will run that for another 12 weeks. However, I will ramp up my own cardio component. Fat is merely an energy store. However, if you sit on your butt as I do all day staring at a computer, it becomes hard to fit in enough movement during the day….so you need to find alternative methods of burning it. 30 minutes 3 times a week just isn’t enough for most people (the gym program)

And I will choose a known “diet” plan and follow it, and in doing so I will write down what I eat each day…..it is easy to overeat when you don’t know what it is you are putting in your body. So the theory - if it goes in your mouth it goes in your book. That way if the weight isn’t shifting you can tell if your energy in is greater than your energy out and hence the problem you have.

And of course I will let you know how I get on.