We're starting out today with a before and after pic. The first was taken last June, and the other one yesterday after bench exercises and a metcon.
One of the challenges of being a female and being entrenched in the journey of "body recomp" is that we ladies increase muscle mass at a less speedier rate than males. If males can increase muscle mass by approximately 2 lbs. per month, we increase it by about 1 lb. And, that is just a moving average. Increase in muscle mass regardless of gender is also reliant on a whole slew of other factors from nutrition, amount of weights being lifted, reps, sets, muscle groups being worked, and appropriate recovery time. And, let's not forget "beginner gains" vs. "non-beginner" gains.
Even if it wasn't a moving average like ".3 lbs" here and ".2 lbs" there - we never fully know how the heck our bodies are going to paint this canvas with definition. As much science is out there to guide our way, the end result is still a bit of a guessing game.
One of the challenging perspectives this girl continues to work through is accepting if I want to see the muscle mass continue to increase on this body, especially at this current weight and BF percentage - I will need to accept that the number on the scale is going increase as well. And, I confess that is not easy, even when one knows it's muscle filling in those gaps.
However, the truth is I love the end result. I love how this body is filling out, even if the changes are incremental! For lack of a better phrase - I'm hooked!
And, it needs to be stated here - it's not merely about the image. Besides, when it comes to females and body recomp - the image really is a matter of preference. There are definitely folks who likely prefer the leaner gal in the left pic taken back in June, rather than the recent one taken yesterday on the right where despite the difference in angle - one can definitely see some nice development happening around the chest, peck, and shoulder area.
Even these abs are beginning to fill out since I began doing a modified "toes to bar" with 8 lb. leg weights about 2 months ago. The lower abdominal area now has this little "poof" of muscle. And, I'm not going to lie it made me grin from ear to ear when Mom took her fingers, pressed in on my stomach and exclaimed
"My God girl, you can bounce a quarter of that stomach! I bet if someone sucker punched you, you wouldn't feel a thing!"
LOL...just to be clear- I have no intention of testing that theory.
But, more than just enjoying the way it looks...I LOVE THE WAY IT FUNCTIONS!!!
Since working at home and incorporating my daily walking circuits around the neighborhood instead of downtown, can I just say I have had the absolutely wonderful pleasure of enjoying the fruits of this body's labor.
There are a lot of hilly parts to this neighborhood. The street itself is uneven with a lots of cement craters and when snow and ice hit this area, everything becomes a veritable treacherous ice rink full of pockets of black ice and slippery dead leaves and pine needles from the ponderosa's. Not to mention, unlike the downtown area I did my walking circuits in, there are no city officials that come out to shovel and salt the sidewalks.
It's a "to each his own snow shovel" situation.
When your cane slips - you know the walking is going to be touch and go!
But, can I just say this is the first year since I moved here that this body just glides across this winter landscape like a damn mountain goat dancing up the a vertical face of a cliff. I can feel the glutes kick in now and provide a balance I never thought possible, and the strength in those abs keep me upright so the balance is centered more on my heel where it needs to be rather than on my toes.
This is the first year where I've been walking these icy streets and felt the cane was more an accessory than an actual tool to help these numb legs navigate obstacles they can't even feel.
It's like they don't even know they're numb!!! LOL - They just keep moving with this pace that blows my mind and I can almost here my quads whispering
"You just calm your mind girl - we'll show ya how it's done!"
All that being said, we have an increase on the scale this weekend. The moving average on my app has me about 113.5 lbs, which sounds about right. And, all this gals measurements are still the same 25.5 around the waist, 31 inches around the hips.
And, yes some of this increase is definitely due to the slew of allergy medicines ingested yesterday for chronic sinus issues
...but, not all of it :-)
No, I do declare some of these gains are the kind that keep me showin' up to do the work so I can have blissful moments like dancing on ice with numb legs that don't give a damn, because for the first time since that MS diagnosis - they know they got this! LOL
Anyhow, I'm not readjusting cals. I'm going to continue keeping the 1890/day calorie target and we're just going to see where this takes us :-)
Have a beautiful blessed week, everyone! I will catch you next weekend!
