I didn’t really make it public on my blog, but I participated in my Orangetheory Studio’s weight loss challenge, which started in February and just ended this past week. It was a 6 week challenge that required us to work out at the studio at least 3 times a week, work with an assigned trainer to eat healthy, and take time outside of class to get extra cardio. Additionally, our trainer gave us some weightlifting clinics after class time to teach us proper lifting fundamentals and encourage us to lift heavier. Not only did we have fun, but we also enjoyed the time spent together making new friends.

Our local Max Muscle store from Johns Creek came and provided a body composition machine which showed us our total weight including fat and muscle mass, as well as % of body fat.

Over the six week period, I was able to lose 6.6lb – only about half a pound of that was muscle, which is good, meaning I didn’t overwork myself and burn from my lean muscle, even though I was in the studio at least 3-4x a week and also did some kind of cardio twice a week and yoga once a week. I am down about 3% body fat.

I still have about 15lb left (or thereabout) to reach my goal. However, as I wrote about in my last post, practice makes progress… and every step moving forward is a step in the right direction, even if it takes longer than I would like.

Honestly, I highly doubt I will reach my goal this year. So, I’m not the cleanest eater. I like my food. AND, my body just seems to like to hang on to weight no matter how hard I work. It has always been a slow process for me. But I will keep moving forward and see where I get. I have fallen in love with the heavy weights and see what kind of progress can be made by using them, so I’m going to keep it up as best I can (despite a slight shoulder injury… shhh… let’s not even mention that word… it’s just a little strained muscle).

While I have gone a bit lighter on my weights lately at OTF as to not aggravate my shoulder, about a week ago I decided to see how much I could bench press at a “regular” gym (my mom got me a pass at the place where she goes so I have a place to run when it’s rainy/cold/hot). I pressed 105lb and got 4 reps at that weight! I could not believe it!

At Orangetheory, I maxed out on the 40lb dumb bells on my chest presses and after a while was strong enough to do them without a spotter, so I probably should not have been surprised. I was pretty excited. I wonder, however; what would my one-rep max be if I was able to get four reps at 105lb? Can’t wait for the opportunity to try again!