Week 4 Results

So...I'm not so good at keeping everyone updated on our progress with the THF program. The good news is, things continue to go well.

I went into this week's meeting figuring that I probably hadn't had a very good week (especially since I had lost 5 lbs in week 3 alone..that's a lot to live up to). Jeff got measured first, and he was pretty sure he had gone backwards. With us trying to evacuate our house as fast as possible, and with him working no less than 12 hour days all week long, he never got around to exercising, and he was forced to cheat here and there on the diet.

Jeff goes out to get measured and comes back all happy. Somehow he still managed to lose a half percent of body fat and even gain a little muscle. Our trainer couldn't believe it. He said it should be physically impossible to gain muscle without exercising. He had determined that Jeff is a fine human specimen with the gift of building muscle just by thinking about it. Jerk.

I on the other hand have to work my butt off (although I will admit, the exercises have been relatively simple up to this point). It's just that I have to make sure I get all my workouts in regardless of how much of an inconvenience it may be on me (or others --thanks mom!). Knowing what Jeff had managed to squeak out, I went back to be measured feeling like the pressure was on.

I saw the disappointment in my trainers face when the scale showed that I had only lost a half pound since the prior week. So then we go into the pinch test to determine just what exactly that half pound had consisted of. After he took my measurement, my trainer's jaw dropped. I had lost 2% body fat in just one week. A loss of 0.8% each week is considered an excellent loss. My stats now reflect someone who has been flawless on the program for six weeks--and I'm only finished with my 4th! Wha-hoo!

Here is where I am at:

Pounds of Fat Lost: 12
Pounds of Muscle Gained: 2
Fat Percentage Lost: 5%

I know results like this won't continue. It's going to be devastating when I hit that almost-inevitable plateau.

Side Note: Our trainer gave us the okay to have a cheat meal at the end of week 3. He told us that having a steak once a week is actually good for the program, and to go out and have a steak, vegetable and carb (all in nice portions of course). So Jeff and I made a date to visit Lonestar (Jeff's favorite). We both had not had even one morsel of contraband food up to this point, so we were like kids in a candy store while looking at the menu. Of course we couldn't just eat a nice small meal. We started out with the Amarillo cheese fries (don't forget the bacon please) complimented with two (yes, two) of the southwest ranch dipping sauces. That was followed by our dinner salads with (gasp!) full fat blue cheese dressing. And hey? Where the heck is our bread? Waitress, can we get some bread? That came...we had forgotten what real butter tasted like. At this point we had finished our appetizer (we even pulled the baked-on cheese off the plate) and salads, and both of us looked at each other as if we were gonna burst. Who cares though? We had steaks on the way. Our steaks came and we piled as much of those into our bellies as we could. Jeff with a loaded baked potato, me with my massive sweet potato. In the end I think we pretty much rolled out of there, but it felt so nice to be liberated. Needless to say...I spent the rest of the night not feeling well. I think my body was in food (and flavor) shock. We decided we probably won't make cheating a weekly thing. Maybe once every 3 weeks, and maybe with more moderation. :)

Side note #2: I don't want to threaten you, but if my results keep up, your pretty little eyes just might be subjected to a before and after post in eight more weeks. We'll see....