Training Session #16 - My Three Chins

July 1, 2009 - Spent a large amount of the day out in the sun and heat with my Activity Day girls at Camp Jeremiah Johnson. This was probably the first day that I was out in the heat for the large portion of the day and was sweating like crazy! We've had such a cool and wet spring and it just barely is hitting in the 90's. The girls had a blast! I had to leave a bit early to get to the gym...

Afraid of the results. I knew my weight wasn't down much and was so scared for the measurements. As I was changing into my gym clothes, I noticed my legs and ankles were a bit swollen. You know those indentations that your socks leave, yep, present and accounted for. I hadn't had any edema since I started training. (Before, yes, LOTS and ever present!) I have been so conscious of keeping my diet extremely low-sodium so it just wasn't making sense.

The results: everything still went down except my neck, which went up! Whyyyy!!?? I was only down about 2 pounds over 2 1/2 weeks but fortunately, that was the last thing we measured. Biggest achievement - waist down another 1/2"! The caliper measurements are starting to get painful. He really has to pull at my skin to get a fold to measure as I have been so tight lately.

Caliper Bi - 17.9

Caliper Tri - 22.9

Caliper Sub - 28

Caliper Iliac - 23.8

Body Fat % - 36.2

Neck - 13.5

Chest - 44.25

Upper Arm - 12.5

Forearm - 10.12

Waist - 37.75

Hip - 47.75

Thigh - 23.7

Calf - 15.3

Weight - 208

Biggest accomplishment - I have consistantly been down 0.8% body fat each time and this time it was still 0.7%

I mentioned to Steve that lately my shins have been hurting alot, but especially that day. He took a look and noticed how swollen my legs were. Then he placed his thumb on my shin and pushed down on it little by little all the way down my shin - OH MERCY, OOUUUCHHHH! He said there was a lot of water that had pooled on my muscles. Conclusion: over exertion, my body hasn't acclimated to the heat, AND I'm not getting enough electrolytes - i.e. sodium and potassium. What....?! Really? I guess I've been a little too conservative on the sodium as I had depleted my body of electrolytes which then resulted in water retention. So crazy, it's a wacky balance where too much or too little have the same results. Solution: chugged a "Zero" sports drink when I got home, elevated my legs and iced all night. I'm still needing more info on this subject as it has me confused.

And I'm so frustrated with the small amount of weight that was lost. I've gotten to this point before and never can seem to get below 200 pounds. Steve is changing up the workouts a bit. I can pack on muscle quickly and not tire of the weights. But as soon as my heart rate starts to go up by cardio or circuit training, I have to rest a lot. Sounds like Steve wants me to bust through that fatigue as he says he needs all my cardio to really count now. Today, he wasn't giving me much time to catch my breath between sets. I was sopping wet when we were done!