Dropping inches and gaining pounds?

The Numbers

Here are this week's results by the numbers:

Weight - 234 (229 last week)
Blood Pressure - 140/78 (131/81 last week)
Heart Rate - 75 (75 last week)

Nicole and I also took measurements last night:

Hips - 43 1/2" (43 3/4" on March 10)
Waist - 44 7/8" (46 7/8" on March 10)
Chest - 45 7/8" (46 3/4" on March 10)
Neck - 18" (18 1/4" on March 10)
Biceps - 15 1/2" (14 7/8" on March 10)
Thighs - 24 1/2" (28 3/4" on March 10)
Calves - 16 3/4" (16 5/8" on March 10)

Now is it just me, or do these numbers make absolutely no sense? I am now 1 pound heavier than I was when I started tracking this stuff but yet, with the exception of biceps and calves, am significantly smaller. I fully understand that people tend to plateau 4-6 weeks into weight loss treks (I am now at 4 weeks), but I am just really surprised as to what happened. Maybe I should have taken that really big dump before I weighed myself and not an hour afterwards.

Now let us focus on the measurements. The thigh measurement is not a typo; I really have lost 4 1/4". This is certainly due to the fact that every workout (5-6 workouts per week) I am on the elliptical. Just by looking in the mirror, they will probably get bigger from this point on. My legs are really lean muscle, and with the weight training will certainly [hopefully] get str0nger. Also notice that my gut went down exactly 2"; this proves the need for the suit jacket adjustment noted in the previous blog.

Here are some quick notes on the other measurements:

Neck - This will only get 1/2" smaller at most
Calves - Dear God I hope they continue to get bigger; I first gained the nickname "Chicken Legs" in sixth grade
Biceps - Hells yeah! These guns are dangerous!
Hips - One day I might consider the Hank Hill butt implants, especially if they continue to get smaller
Chest - This will most likely stay right around where they are for a long time

At the Gym: Adding a Third Set & Better at the Cardio

The Fairfax County Rec Centers have a computer system called Fitlinxx. It is really cool in that there is a touch screen at each weight station that keeps track of your last workout's results, where your seat settings should be at, and whether or not you are lifting at the appropriate speed. The rec center also assigns a trainer to everyone who has an account set up. At the main computer station, I had a message waiting for me by my trainer saying to see her about reaching all of my weight lifting goals for the month. Being the non-expert on these matters, I went and saw her.

Fortunately she was in the rec center, so I met up with her that day. We had a short conversation about making sure that I have been going up in my weights (which I had been), and the result was to move to 3 sets of 15 instead of 2 sets. Holy crap that one set made a world of difference! On machines that I could do the 2 sets of 15 with effort, that third set was nearly impossible. Fifteen sounds like a small number, but add 50 pounds to each count.

I hit a cardio milestone over the weekend. On Saturday and Sunday I completed 2 miles on the elliptical in under 19 minutes each day. My goal for this week is to add a third mile and complete it in under 27 minutes. I will definitely have to have a separate 5 minute warm-up on the treadmill (the 19 minutes included the warm-up) to get my legs moving, but I know that I will be able to do it.