UPDATE: Challenge: 30lbs in 3 Months

What woman wishes to share her body issues with the general public??  -- Um,  not me!   And yet somehow,  this is my third blog about it.  Go figure.   Ever heard of a plateau??  Well that's apparently where I have set up camp and had my body decide to hang out there for a while.  On a dang plateau! 
It's funny how the science of our bodies actually functions.  And how so many outside factors can truly affect the outcome of our overall success.  ( - or for some,  the failures)   For example, I've never been considered "small".  I have a big bone structure and have always been naturally athletic - and pretty strong for a girly girl.   But MAN did I use to eat garbage.  My sisters and I still laugh at our younger years when we could each eat 3 bowls of CoCo Pebbles cereal for breakfast,  one big hamburger - one McNuggets order- large fry - and ice cream sundaes for lunch (a piece!),  snacks of meal-size-proportions and usually containing lots of chocolate or grease,  then dinners of pizza or more hamburgers or Bbq or boiled hot dogs or even pancake dinners with bacon and biscuits and sausage and eggs, then followed by a rich decadent dessert and then usually a late night snack of another bowl of cereal or another bowl of ice cream or even a bag of potato chips.  Daily.  -- Yes my favorite foodies,  this was a standard day in the life of Donna's stomach.   (if you don't think I'm being accurate here .... sadly, ask any family member of mine.  We were not exactly raised to eat healthy)   --- Shocking,  I know.   Vegetables were never in my vocabulary.  Fruit came in the form of Strawberry Shortcake or Apple Pie.

However,  here's the odd point.  . . . . WE NEVER GAINED ANY WEIGHT!!  Me and all of my sisters still turned out to be star athletes and extraordinarily active -- and even kinda cute!  :-)   I look back and understand now that it was because our metabolism was the true champion.   We were "those kids" who could eat whatever we wanted because of how active and energetic our lifestyles were.  I may not have been the skinniest nor the model-type  --  but I never had to worry about 'gaining' weight.  No matter what I ate!   In fact .... I was the EXACT same weight on the scale from my 8th grade year,  all the way until I hit 30.   -- This is no joke.

Ahhhh.  30 years old.  The moment when everything suddenly changed.  The moment when my metabolism decided to stab me in the back.  (or should I say, my mid section!)  For the first time in my life,  I noticed the scale inching upwards.  I noticed my strong solid arms suddenly turning into motion.  (like when the wind blew, I could feel my former tricep flapping in the breeze!)  I would stare at myself naked in the mirror and ask out loud,  "What is going on with my body?!?!?!?!?"
Sure enough,   TIME had caught up with me.   AGE took on a new meaning.   - And the past 4 years of my life have been an eye-awakening lesson in science.   (and humility).     As I mentioned,  my poor mother endured a husband who never ate anything other than McDonalds and Pizza Hut,  and had her eldest child  (me)  following directly in his footsteps.  The most nutritious vegetable my father and I could swallow was a potato.  And even that was in the form of a french fry.  --  After the age of 30,  I was hit hard with the reality that sausage meatballs and pancake dinners could no longer be devoured without severe consequences to my love handles.    My gluteus maximus actually became a pancake!!
So here I am,  struggling to stay in shape at age 34.   And here I am,  actually talking about it to the general public.   ----  What????
Thankfully,  a gentleman named Scott Hornsby, General Manager of Gold's Gym in Roswell, is trying to help me understand where my body is at this moment in time.   I'm receiving personal training 4 days a week now and have lost a total of 11 pounds so far.   My goal,  as previously stated,  is 30 lbs.      (Yes,  that's how much my metabolism has let me down)   I wanted to lose 30 in 3 months,  but it's been 7 weeks already and I've plateau'ed around this 10lb mark.   My trainer Scott tells me its because I've gained back so much muscle (we weight lift like crazy!)   and muscle weighs alot more than fat.   Therefore,  this upcoming week -- instead of relying on a scale,  we are going to measure my success instead.   Literally.  With a measuring tape.  
Because he says I could have lost 20 pounds of fat,  but have earned 10 pounds of muscle!  (a "scale loss" of only 10 lbs)   He basically teaches to throw out the scale.  - Period.  He says it is all about body-fat percentage.  Not a scale. 
-- Good to know since I work my butt off in the gym and believe it or not ... have begun to like salads!   Two days in a row this week my lunch has been the same,   spinach salad with boiled egg whites, almonds, feta cheese, carrots, broccoli, and either salmon or chicken.     -- WooHoo!!!!  Go me!!

I know I'm not supposed to look at the scale,  but come on.   When a green salad is my meal instead of half a Pizza Hut pizza .....  aren't I allowed to get frustrated at my plateau???    But I'm not giving up.   11 pounds in 7 weeks may not be the number I was hoping for,  but I'm hanging in there until I atleast get to see my body-fat percentage loss.     ( then again,  I have selectively not told you about my cheating indulgences.  - I'm not a robot, people!!)
---- So this blog is just an update. 
Scott ......  you still have my committment and my perserverance.

Just please atleast make my pancake bootie into a muffin bootie! 
I promise,  I'll eat the apples without the pie.
 - MMmmmm.   Pie.





www.dishingwithdonnashow.com