Saturday, November 17, 2012

Postpartum- Week 4

11/17/12

This weeks stats are the same. Weight and measurements are the same. I've hit a plateau. What do you do when you hit one? Well, I'm not discouraged, I knew it'd come sooner or later. What's my plan now? I'm not going to cut calories to lose more weight. Continually fine tuning the quality of foods I'm consuming is still a top priority. What I am going to do is focus on my weight training.

Weight training? Not cardio? Some of you may be asking these questions. Why weight training? Adding muscle and reducing my body fat is my #1 goal. If I cut my calories then my metabolism will slow down. If I increase my activity and I'm cutting calories then my deficit will be too big and I don't want that. What I want to do is increase the speed of my metabolism through weight training. I can readjust calorie intake once I start decreasing fat and increasing muscle.

Muscle is the key after having a baby. When we (women) get pregnant, our bodies fat percentage increases naturally to help take care of the baby. So I need to take those extra pounds of fat off my body now that I'm not pregnant. If you don't actively lift weights to increase muscle mass after having a baby then you're setting yourself up for a big problem. Each child you have will increase your body fat percentage. Which will in turn slow your metabolism down....making it HARDER to lose weight. Sound familiar? It is possible to reverse the cycle by lifting heavy weights (not 5 pounders).

My Body Fat percentage is currently 25%. My goal is to get back to 19-20% like I was. The healthy range of body fat is between 19-32% for women.

I've still got 10 pounds to go and the "fun" has just begun. Ha. I am ready to take on this challenge. I know it'll take time and consistency. Losing the last few pounds takes time.....

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