This morning I awoke to the news the 5% body weight challenge was over; Kim had reached 5.04%. My other friend had dropped out after the first week, so I had beaten him at least (hurray). But props go to Kim, she was dedicated and took the goods. Congratulations!

As for my performance I’m disappointed to say in the least. I’ve been very cautious with the foods I ate, and made sure I was exercising in some form every day. My weight loss chart went as follows:

I think you can see where I experienced that monthly “girl” time! Overall it’s been positive, I’ve lost a total of 3.7kg, which over 3 weeks is nothing to be sneezed at. That’s pretty damn good! I think I’m just disappointed because of the curve for the last week, it never really dropped much.

After discussing it with some friends I’m going to change some things, and see how my body reacts. For example, one of my gym sessions each week consisted of a class called “Body Pump”. You have weights on a bar, and do various exercises with light weights and high reps. I think my body still might be gaining a bit of muscle from that, and therefore not losing weight. I will try sticking with cardio for the next week, and see how that goes.

Also, for lunch I had been having the wholemeal bread option from my eating plan for lunch each day. For this past week I’ve felt like I wasn’t eating enough fresh produce (even though I was having a salad each night for dinner, and tomato/celery/carrot for afternoon tea. So this coming week I will try switching back to salad for a couple of those days and see how that goes. Perhaps my body just loves bread so much it grabs it and holds onto it for dear life? I am a big sucker for the smell of fresh bread, yum.

I should point out though, that I’m a little worried we’re putting so much of a fixation on the scales. When I visited weight watchers a few years ago I had gotten the “weight” mentality out of my head. It was about the body fat percentage, not your weight number. I think that’s what caused a bit of a mood swing for me this week, I had put far too much emphasis on weight. My scales at home are meant to calculate body fat percentage as well, however that function hasn’t worked for a good year now. Also, each morning when I weigh myself for the challenge I have to step on at least 5 times before I find a consistent number. I think it’s time to buy some new scales. Then I will be able to track my body fat percentage as well, and that will be the number I will become fixated on.

Kim and I agreed that at the completion of the challenge we would take a week’s break before resuming for another 5% challenge. To that end, I think I will be enjoying the odd treat or two this week, but nothing crazy. I would hate to undo what I’ve already lost, and I want to keep going with being cautious with what I’m eating. After all, being health conscious is a great habit to get into.

So, let round 2 begin!

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