The Not-Fat-but-Still-Flabby Bride

Time for the ubiquitous post that every blogger-bride-to-be has in her queue.

So. I am what you would call not-fat. And I think that many other ladies who call themselves fat aren't fat either. But hey, we're female and we live in America. Of course we're fat. (Not.)

Now being toned and not flabby, that's another issue. I have gone through stages of my life where I have been very toned, and then I have my muffin top/arm flab stages. Now is one of them.

It started with the cap sleeves on my favorite tops. They were a bit too snug...

Then it was a bit harder to button all the buttons on my pants...

Things that used to require a belt now didn't.

My clothes still fit me- but just not comfortably. It was time to do something about it.

Armed with a 24 hr Fitness 2 year dealy for $299 from Costco, I have been joining Jerry at the gym about 5-6 times a week for the past month. Jerry has been a member for so long (over 15 years) that he has a Ray Wilson card and only pays $5 a month lifetime. We have a really good system going on- workout 3 days, rest 1. Repeat. Given that we only live a mile away from the closest facility and it's on the way home from work for the both of us, there's no excuse for us to not take advantage of the convenience.

Not every workout is the same, which I appreciate. There are days when all I do is run, run, run to build stamina and have a good sweat. Then there are workouts where a light run is paired with a more intense weight lifting session (hello, buff bride!). When I don't feel like thinking, I join the aerobics class of the hour and I "down, and up, down and push it up" over and over again, like a robot. There are times when all I feel like is phoning it in with some elliptical work and then calling it a day. But that's okay. I don't want every session to be intense. I just want to do something that involves engaging my body physically.

Even though only a month has gone by, I've noticed a bit of a difference. I can run longer at a faster speed w/o stumbling off the treadmill. I'm growing out of my 5lb free weights and getting used to the 8lb weights. I can do more sit ups w/o gasping for breath. And my clothes are fitting slightly better.

The real challenge is not to just get to where I want, but to keep this up. November and December are months of gluttony. Let's see what happens- stay tuned!