Blog

Erika week 2

Posted By: Erika Mitchell on 02/15/2011

Week two of my quest for Skinny Erika was a challenge! First there was the Super Bowl, which brought with it some delicious nachos and homemade fudge sauce. Then there was my husband’s busy schedule, which made it difficult to make it to the gym during the afternoons.

That said, I did manage to get out of the house and do some cardio work on the treadmill  on Monday and Tuesday, with a personal training session with trainer Toni on Thursday and another session with trainer Jeff on Saturday. Four days out of seven isn’t too shabby for someone who was an avowed couch potato two weeks ago!

My trainers encourage me to exercise at least five times a week, six would be even better, so I definitely have some room for improvement. I’m going to start doing my cardio workouts in the early mornings so I’m not at the mercy of my husband’s schedule.

I got the results of my Fitness Assessment on Saturday and…Wow. I knew I was out of shape, but had no idea of the extent of the damage. Yikes. I’m slightly less fatty than a beluga but not by much. I also have acres of room to improve in my arm strength, abdominal strength, and cardio fitness.

My goal this upcoming week is to exercise five times. I learned this week that I should strive for more strength training than cardio. I had always been under the impression that cardio was better for losing weight, but it turns out that strength training is far more effective.

The trainers tell me that muscle burns fat more effectively, and that if I focus on just nutrition and cardio the weight is apt to just come right back. One thing I’ve learned about myself is that I dislike strength training (it’s really hard!) but I see the value in it, which is why I’m so glad I have personal trainers who aren’t afraid to endure my complaining (and frequent peals of laughter!).

I didn’t lose much this week in terms of pounds, but I did lose a centimeter from my waist so that’s progress!

Here are my stats from this week:

Weight: 207.2 lbs.

Waist: 43 inches.