103...Abs and Arms: You're On Notice!

It's still odd for me to conceptualize any number over 99. The 3 digits 1-0-0 were something I had always hoped I'd see in terms of weight loss, but, if I'm being totally honest with myself, I'm not entirely certain it's a milestone I completely and wholeheartedly believed I had the ability to achieve. Yet, here I sit at 103 pounds lost (as of last night). Now my goal of losing a full 180-185 doesn't seem nearly as impossible or far off. In fact, I think that I might just make it there by the time I get married in July.

Here's the latest round of pics.

Ooops! Now, how did THAT get in there?

The difference over the past few weeks has really been in my abdominal region and in my arms. I've gotten a lot more aggressive there.

On top of the bike, which I do at about 16-18 mph for 30-35 minutes 3-4x per week plus a ten minute hand weight routine, I'm also still doing my full body 40 minute pilates workout at least 2x per week.

Then, I've just added a customized stability ball and resistance band workout to the arm, arse and ab toning regimen. The ball/band routine is still a work in progress, but here are the highlights:

I've combined the Biggest Loser Stability Ball Workout (if you're interested, it came with this product: http://www.amazon.com/Biggest-Loser-Advantage-Stability-Orange/dp/B001JIV6A0)

...with a core routine courtesy of Real Simple (http://www.realsimple.com/health/fitness-exercise/workouts/stronger-abs-in-fifteen-minutes-00000000022852/index.html)

...plus another resistance band routine, also courtesy of Real Simple (http://www.realsimple.com/health/fitness-exercise/workouts/resistance-band-exercises-00100000067997/index.html)

I've cut the overlapping exercises, making it about a 25-30 minute strength training blast. It's a nice change from what I've been doing and a hell of a challenge. Did this on Friday and am still sore on Sunday. That "Monkey" exercise in the last RS workout is a hell of a killer.

Anyway, I think I've ramped things up in the exercise department just enough to hold me for at least another month. I've built in a good amount of variety and challenges to keep me interested as well. I really want to see my abs and arms take shape, so it feels good to start targeting them more directly. The rest of me is kind of falling (or raising) into place pretty naturally.

As for the diet, Medifast is shockingly easy for me to stick with. It's been weird to move back to being a carnivore...but I'm still steering pretty clear of red meat (minus the roast beef yesterday). That said, I feel a lot of energy, I see a lot of progress and, while it's friggin expensive as all hell, I also see it as a worthy investment in my future. I'm actually really glad that I started it when I did, since it does put me on a path to be pretty slim (if not at my goal weight) by mid-July. I had no idea we'd be getting hitched back when I hopped on the train in November, but things do often have a mysterious way of working out.

Onward and downward!