Surpriiiiise evaluation!

Training with J was tonight, a departure from the usual Monday night session. After last night's mess on the treadmill, I wasn't looking forward to it. Legs. It was bound to be.

"What would you say if I said we should have an evaluation tonight?" These were the first words J said to me tonight.

I must have looked stunned, because he backpedaled. "I mean, if that's okay. It's been 30 days exactly..." and he kept going until I interrupted.

"No, that's fine. I just... that's fine." I blinked. "I usually cram before these things, though. Like, sit-ups every day all week. But, um. Okay!"

I weighed-in, which was very anti-climactic. 226 on the scale today, a bit higher than last week's 225. This puts me down twelve pounds since I started two months ago, which J said is "Awesome!"

When I drop eight pounds the first month and only four the second, I don't feel particularly awesome, but he's the expert here. So we'll go with awesome.

Measurements were mixed. Upper-body measurements stayed roughly the same while I lost inches off the waist, hips, and thigh. No wonder I can fit into my pants again!

The performance part of the evaluation went much better. I maxed out my reps on the leg press and chest press at a considerably higher weight than I did last month. I nearly maxed my lat pulldowns at 15lbs higher than last month. I made gains in the sit-ups, exceeding my previous mark of 50 in one minute, and did likewise in push-ups when I made 41 in one minute.

From the knees, folks. It's how I roll.

My run was average, pulling .89mi in 12:00. Better than last month by .07mi and only slightly off my current mile pace.

Also, I was on the squeakiest machine in the building. Every step was accompanied by the creaking of the belt and a slight rattle as my bulk thumped down on it. It was hot, people. So considering that my zen was thrown off by the unintended rhythm of a noisy machine, not to mention my self-esteem, I suppose I did pretty well.

Overall, a decent night. I want better numbers on the scale, but I keep reminding myself that plateaus are normal and I'm still new to all of this. Fitness is a life-long journey. Two months is nothing.

And really, even if I stick to this comparatively-slow pace of four pounds lost per month, you know what that means? Next year at this time, I'll be down nearly fifty pounds.

I'd be a fool to complain about that.