It's all about momentum

This week was just damn crazy!  Sadly, I missed two cardio workouts this week; Tuesday I bought a car, so I missed my jog at the gym.  Wednesday, I had a date, which led me to shorten my workout that day (did 2 cycles of chest, back, legs, shoulders, biceps, triceps, and abs - usually do 4 cycles).  I stayed out late on Wednesday (didn't get to bed until 1 am), had to be in work early (6:30 am) Thursday, and had a second date that night (good times :)).  So, I missed my cardio workout on Thursday too, because I was so exhausted.  Friday, got back into the swing of things with the full workout, and my jog on Saturday.

In addition to missing some workouts, I totally splurged on the diet this week.  Paula made enchiladas and Strawberry short cakes for me on thursday.  It was so cute - she was so worried that it would set me back on my progress, because she knows how anal I am about my diet.  I told her it was cool, she would just have to help me work it off :)

So, why is it all about momentum?  Well, lets sit and think for a minute.  The difference between fat people and people that work out regularly is simple.  What people don't realize is that you don't build muscle and burn most of your calories during your workout, it happens afterwards.  Your body needs that full day to recover, rebuild, and replace all the energy it consumed in your workout.  People who work out regularly allow their body to continually do this.  Also, the leaner you get, and more muscle you put on, the maintenance of the muscle your body does burns calories.  So the inverse is true.  If you're a lard ass that would rather sit on the couch and watch TV than try to keep in shape, not only are you not burning your calories, but your muscles are not being maintained because your body knows "I don't use these that much, so I'm going to put all that energy into my ass, where I need it because I'm always sitting on it.  Fatty!".

The point of this post is not to just to make fun of fat people that don't have a clue what their abs look like because its covered in a thick layer of insulating material; it's to educate about the fact that regular workout pays off.  If you're sporadic about it, you will see the devastating results when missing a workout, or cheating on your diet.  When a regular schedule is in place, one missed workout or ice cream sundae doesn't have as big an impact.  Think about it; if you eat shit food all week, and have one healthy meal, do you expect to lose weight?  Didn't think so - the opposite is also true... if you eat well, and work out, and have one cheat meal, do you expect to put on 5 lbs that week?  Good call.

So here's what I accomplished with some poor diet choices this week, and 2 missed cardio workout (the 2 workouts hurt more than the meals)

4/10/11:
Weight: 152.5 lbs
Body Fat %: ~ 10%

4/17/11:
Weight: 152.5 lbs
Body Fat %: 9.7%

What!!! How the hell did that happen?  It's all about momentum baby.  Weight training was good, so I feel I may have added a bit of lean mass.  At the same time, because I did do a jog on Saturday, and because of the "maintenance effect", I shed a tiny bit of body fat.  Not as much as I wanted to, but still a good amount.

This coming week is recovery week, which means 3 days of cardio and 3 days of Yoga.  I will be adding some stretching in there either on Sunday, or on days where I feel the cardio isn't enough.

My expectation is that I will shed nearly a full % of body fat because of the yoga mixed with cardio.  I will more than likely lose a  little lean mass, because the Yoga isn't enough to build muscle... just strength and endurance.

Ok dude, don't knock me for doing yoga... it kicks ass, and have you ever seen fat people do yoga regularly?