Week 4 weigh in and progress

So we're now in week 4 - and the program definately works!

So assuming I didn't stuff up my measurements - I've lost 6cm (I found it hard to figure out where to measure so its possible I'm not entirely in the same spot.  Maybe I should have photographed where I was measuring each 4 weeks hehe.

My fitness test results:
- 1km time trial.  Completed in 5:21 that's 20 seconds quicker than last time
- Pushups (1 less on toes, and 1 less on knees than last time - I did have a neck related headache lingering so it probably wasn't the best time to test my arms - I also haven't been doing a lot of arm work apart from my boxing classes :))
- Abs - same as last time.
- Reach - supposedly 6 cm further than last time.  I say supposedly as I really couldn't hold that distance.  It was more like 6.5 but I'm not sure how legit it was so pulling it back a bit :)
- Wall sit - an extra 50 seconds (so something like 2:20 against the wall) - and OMG agony when I tried to get off the wall. Hehe when I first wrote this sentence I put minutes instead of seconds - that'd be pretty extreme :)

So I think that's advanced apart from my pushups and abs?? Something to work on for next time.

Things I have learnt so far:

• I'm still not very good at JFDI - but I've never been a morning person and here I am getting up by 6:30am to do a workout most mornings.
• I haven't gotten better sleep since starting the program. Though I'm not being overly diligent about getting to bed by 9:30, not reading the iphone/ipad in bed.
• I get very grumpy at not being able to eat what I want, when I want it.  Not that I had much to lose - but I did want to try eating healthy and follow the program as closely as I could. I'm easing up slightly now - hopefully not too much :)
• My portion sizes must be too large as I often feel what we're eating on the program is too small. There's a Penang Chicken recipe that's supposed to make 6 serves.  I got 2 dinners and a lunch out of it. (Granted that lunch was 2 big for me to eat.. but hey I got 4 serves out of what should have been 6).
• It's nice to work out with other people - well I already knew this but having access to various Facebook groups lets you easily find people near you who are interested in exercising together.
• I now have more recipes that I can add to my repertoire that are good for me (well I assume they're good for me) - I don't feel there's much discussion on why things are on the meal plan.
• I hate spending so much time in the kitchen.  Granted I'm making dinners almost every night, lunches every weekday and breakfast most days (although I've started taking toast and sometimes an egg to work to have there rather than sticking to all that preparation). I'm hoping to find a happier balance once the program finishes - I miss just getting home and hanging out with the puppies.  Instead of standing in the kitchen as they sit to the side and watch.
• Buying the food for the program is expensive - but it is replacing expensive eating out meals (most of the time :))
• There are a lot of calories in innocent looking dumplings!
• I don't need to work out an hour a day every weekday and 2 hours+ on Saturday to achieve results - I think it largely is related to watching what goes in (calorie, and health wise) and being active in some way.  Although its nice to do a big workout knowing you can stuff more calories in :)
• Some days when you're sore sometimes its better to rest up.  I pushed through a cardio workout and did ab work when I wasn't feeling over well.  Ended up with a 2 day headache.
• I'm still not sure I want to run the distance of a half marathon - but lets see how I go with 8kms :)
• I still hate burpees - the sprawls we do in the boxing class seem marginally easier!