Frustrating!!!

So I do think taking a month "off" was an excellent idea. I only worked out a couple of days a week and I watched what I ate, but wasn't militant (hmmmm, cookies at Stitch n Bitch and the extremely dangerous baked Cheetos and let's not forget the really yummy chocolate covered pretzel ice cream from Turkey Hill. That stuff should be illegal).

Part of me knew that taking time off and cutting down significantly on my exercise would be detrimental and that I was risking a weight gain.

So I knew it was time to get on the scale again. It can actually be very motivating for me to see a gain, so I was prepared for a 3-4 pound weight gain.

However, that's not what it was... so guess what kind of weight gain I had. I mean I barely worked out the last month, and when I did workout, it was for maybe only 30 minutes or so. My eating habits, while close to my "usual" eating habits, did have a lot more junk than usual.

That's right, I weighed in at 155 lbs. That's actually right around where I normally am (I've been flucuating between 154 to 155 lbs since January). All the hard work I put in this year for no loss and then I relax and there's really no difference?

It's actually very frustrating. You're told that if you work hard and eat right the weight will come off. I worked hard and I ate right and I didn't lose weight in 9 months. I decided that I needed a mental break from worrying so much about it, prepared myself for a set back and it didn't come. Argh.

Now while not gaining a lot of weight is a positive, it's very frustrating to me. What the hell do I need to do to lose weight? I'm thinking the break might have been it.

Well, I think the break was necessary. I think my body just lets go of weight in small increments and needs to get used to maintaining a weight before it starts allowing me to burn off more. Maybe this little break will help me kick up my metabolism again. Shock it back into a weight loss cycle again.

I'm also going to focus on a lot more variety this time. While I still think I get the best workout with Maya, I don't think she's good to use every day. The fact that she does the same weight training exercises EVERY day is actually not good. The squat/lunge combo in every single workout isn't good. She needs to take a break from strength training exercises. While I think it's great that she offers a complete workout, she really should only be used every other day to allow the muscles to recover from her weight training exercises. So that's what I'm going to do. Maya will be done on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Alternate days will be a treadmill or stationary bike workout with no weights at all. If I decide to do an aerobic workout, I'll use Maya, but only the cardio segment (I'll shut her down when she gets to the weights). I'm also going to be sure to take one day off a week.

Yesterday's workout: 45 minutes (well, actually 50 minutes as Maya thinks when you select 45 minutes you actually really want a 50 minutes workout) of the upper body workout with Yourself!Fitness

Today's workout: 2 miles on the treadmill at a brisk pace (for my short legs, that's about 3.0 mph), level surface.