Sat and Sun were good, poverty, workouts done, no adult beverages...lucifers waterfall is finally gone and I feel pretty peppy about everything...

need to get on a scale so I have good start of month measurements!

yesterday could have been better, I didn't do my 2nd workout because I forgot to even look at the calendar...need to get back in the doubles mindset...it was just stretching, so no major calorie burn, but still, need to get on it...at least food was good and I didn't snack

thursday was solid - both workouts, poverty calories, protein a little low, but just not in the mood for a second shake

traveling to the beach friday, so I'll miss my second workout unless I slam it into break time...I should have gotten up early to do a morning and then lunch one, but my slack *kitten* surely didn't...<sigh>

Monday was good...food on point...made up a workout...all in all fantastic...

week has been a bit of a mess, but food has been mostly good...missed some stretching and ab workouts, had to cut back the weights on chest/back/shoulders due to shoulders being super unhappy...also lots of painting and such, so more stresses and odd movements than just working out..fun times...

drinking on sunday...maintenance on monday...other than that at least food has been good!!!

February results...gained 2 lbs but lost an inch

160 to 161.8
30.5 to 29.5

My glutes have gone from a little flat to nice and round...going to keep the 1 leg day for march while increasing the glute days from 1 to 2...I was also able to progress the counts in Feb (24 to 32), but I think I'm going to go from 3# ankle weights up to 4# ankle weights and drop the reps back down to 16 or 24 depending on what I can do day 1 with the heavier weight. I was also very consistent and only missed 1 glute day in the entire month.

I will continue with Beast in March, now onto Phase 3...I'll probably keep the weights at their current level, mostly because I don't want a repeat of the back/shoulder problems I had early in Feb when I tried to progress the weights...March will be full of raking leaves, and hopefully I can get out and walk more as well, so not progressing on the other weights is fine. going to keep in the cardio-ish light weight total body 3 days a week as I feel that really helped...not only because there's almost no walking happening with the feb weather, but also because it keeps me from reaching for a snack immediately after work. I was very consistent with most of my weights, I only missed 2 the whole month which is pretty amazing given that I was dealing with injuries and whooping cough, go me.

I'm still aiming for losing some belly and growing some more glutes, so all other weights just need to maintain so as not to lose muscle, not worried about progressing those other lifts at this time.

Food - I had alcohol 7 times in Feb rather than the planned 2...while it's not that hard to fit these little splurges into my calories, it does detract from meeting protein goals, and it jacks up my hormones more than it did when I was younger...it brings back the night sweats, and hot flashes, and difficulty sleeping, and I'm pretty sure that's at least part of what's making it even more challenging than usual to lose the belly fat...I have increased my DIM and will stay on the higher amount for march...I will aim for zero alcohol days...on the plus side the trip I have planned is with someone who doesn't really drink, so that usual vacation temptation will be lessened...I'm also working through this vacation except for 1 travel day, so keeping to routine and keeping to my workouts should be easier...I need to pack/download things to watch so that I can have entertainment while lifting...I had 5 maintenance days and 1 day I didn't really track, so overall very consistent on food...

Why is the scale up? Well, I'm still dealing with whooping cough, so that could be some water retention from the meds/herbs to handle those symptoms. Also, my glutes are more round, so at least some of it could be water retention from the lifting or actual <gasp> muscle growth!!!! <squeal> That would be truly exciting...my belly has that wrinkly skin look it gets when it's shrinking, and the side abs are getting more defined...my love handles are definitely a bit smaller, so overall I'm headed in the right direction...better than January's no progress...even small progress is better than nothing.

Stretching and abs remain something I really need to strive to hit goal on...I always sacrifice those first, but I really need to stop doing that and focus more on making them fit and making them as much of a priority as I do my weight and cardio workouts...always room for improvement.

March and April sum up:

I did good...I did the things and logged the things...and while my weight went down and then up some, my inches on my waist have been slowly just going down, and I can really see that my belly button fat area is noticeably smaller...

I haven't been on here to do the journaling, but moving is a thing that is consuming much of what little spare time I once had...still doing the things!!!!