Day 52 – Illness Brings Me Down

Don’t pay the ransom; I’ve escaped!

It has been several days since I have been able to write a posting. I was sick for several days and as a result, my day-job was really backed up. So since I make my living from the day-job, I focused on that work.

As you can see, getting sick causes some problems at my desk. But the other issue is that getting sick can also really be disruptive to my weight loss. For three days I was unable to work and it would be bad form to be seen in the gym after calling in sick! Plus, even though I called in sick for three days, there were additional days I felt good enough to be at work and function but I was in no condition to actually workout! So for about a week I was unable to go to the gym.

Yesterday was my first day back to the gym in eight days. My big surprise is that I didn’t gain or lose weight. I guess my weight loss was suspended while I was sick. My first day on the treadmill was very difficult! It is amazing how much ground I lost in losing a week of exercise. I did manage to push myself through the 35 minutes on the treadmill at a speed of 5.5. I was exhausted at the end but I did manage to get through all the weight machines done as well. It was pretty difficult to do 15 repetitions.

At this point in my journey, I have lost a total of eight pounds in 52 days which gives me an average weight loss of .15 pounds a day. This average is dropping rapidly since my weight loss has plateaued for the last month. I am at the point where it is a struggle to keep going because I’m not seeing recent progress. I’m sure this is the point where most people quit. I need to keep pushing myself and renew my commitment.

I do have one encouragement: I have gotten myself to 35 minutes at a speed of 5.5 on the treadmill. I have also gone from a minimum weight for 10 reps/2 sets on the weight machines up to 15 reps/3sets on bumped up poundage. In a nutshell, I know my abilities have increased greatly even though I am not seeing a loss of weight. But that much energy must be having an affect! I do believe my father was right when he told me that I am building muscle, which is four times heavier than fat. If that is so, I should see my current plateau end sometime soon.

I keep on going!