A Picture Is Worth....

Ok, so I'm in the room cleaning up and I find a pair of pants that I haven't been able to wear since 2012.  So I decide to try them on and guess what?  They fit!  Perfectly.  Hey, don't just take my word for it:

As a bonus, here is a progress picture from January 2014 at 159 pounds wearing size 12 pants:

Down a total of 17 pounds from my heaviest at 167 pounds!  These pants are a size 10!  Five more pounds and I'll be completely happy.  Those arms are looking good too.  I could afford to lose a little bit of for the abs as well but overall I'm happy for now.

Remember the Give It 100?  Ok it's been roughly 60 some odd days and I can do 25 pushups and 3 pull ups!  Total of 30 before I'm through and 5 pull ups before my arms say no more. The real ones too.  Progress!

I finally made it to a Zumba class last Thursday.  It was a lot of fun and requires a lot of endurance and very little inhibitions for dancing in public. I have both. I just neglected to bring a towel and water which had me drinking over a gallon for the rest of the night and first thing in the morning. Lesson learned.  I've never sweated that much. I'll probably do it once monthly so it doesn't take away from my weight training.

Feeling Good, Getting Strong

Somehow my crafting blog became my fitness blog.  Go figure.  I am still crocheting and knitting but have yet to actually master the art of completing.  Projects have either been left undone or frogged.  I did put together two 1000 piece puzzles and pinned a bunch of stuff on Pinterest so I was a bit creative...somewhat.  So, yeah.

I got an upper respiratory infection from my youngest around the 26th of February.  Misery.  The kids all caught it and recovered after a day.  I caught it and was sick for a week, even missed a few days of work.  Hubby caught it and it knocked him down too.

THEN because life wasn't eventful enough, the alternator in the car died and left me stranded on the one day the temperature dropped from 60 to 30 in a 15 minute span and left me waiting an hour for a tow truck.  Why do alternators give NO WARNINGS whatsoever?  Things just stop working.  I'm driving along.  It's pouring rain and the windshield wipers stop working.  I try calling my husband to fuss him out but he doesn't answer.  Then I noticed the lights on the dash were dim and after a quick test of the interior lights, I knew the battery was dying.  I quickly turned into a Dollar General parking lot and cut the engine which was apparently a smart move, not letting the battery completely die.  I've had a dying alternator before so I knew the signs.  It was rainy and cold but the tow truck driver was nice and pretty darn cool.

The rain finally cleared up over the weekend...heavenly seventy degree weather!  Could it be that spring is finally here?  I certainly hope so because my muscles aren't feeling the temperature rollercoaster South Carolina's been on the past couple of weeks.  Speaking of muscles...

I've decided to put my powerlifting aspirations on hold temporarily.  Why?  I would rather have muscle definition.  I'm strong but nothing about my physique screams it.  I want defined arms and legs, especially arms.  They are slender now but where is my Michelle Obama muscle definition?  Nonexistent.  So my husband is changing up my routine to that of a body builder although I am still doing some of the powerlifting development routines. 

So I got back on the bench today.  I can bench press the bar ten times with perfect form.  It isn't wobbly or falling to the side.  Not the 45 pound bar.  The 50 pound bar.  I don't know what happened but somehow I got stronger.  While enthused, I wish it would bring muscle definition.  I upped my cardio and will go to a Zumba class on Thursday.  I'm writing it here to make sure it gets done.  So far I haven't been able to do them for the following reasons:  snow, illness and injury.  Yep, I aggravated a groin muscle (irritating) last week, I was sick the week before that, and it snowed and shut down South Carolina the week before that.  If something happens this week, I'll take that as a sign to leave Zumba alone. 

That is all...well not quite.  I did try an Arabic Bellydance Fat Burn Cardio workout yesterday (all four parts on YouTube).  I haven't tried those since I first started working out in October/November.  They were torturous then.  I have a bit more endurance but they are still hard to do.  Worked up a crazy sweat.  Got up this morning and was a bit confused as to why my calves were so darn sore.  Then I remembered.  That workout is no joke so I may do that twice weekly as my cardio in case Zumba doesn't work out.