Back with another update. My third week yielded relatively little in the way of weight loss, but so far I’ve done thirteen and a half pounds, and it’s pretty satisfactory. What’s really cool is watching things improve in the weight room and noticing my strength increases. I’ve never really valued my physical form in a specific way – certainly not in an enumerated way, and now I sort of have that. I won’t discuss those numbers, because they are suddenly deeply embarrassing! Before, when I didn’t know them or care about them, it was like, whatever, right? I can totally lift 100 pounds of something. No big deal.

Now, though, that’s shameful. Shameful! One hundred pounds of anything seems like, who cares? That’s less than half my weight. Ants around the world would be deeply disappointed in that.

It’s interesting to suddenly have an opinion of that.

Eating was both better and worse this week. Better because, overall, better choices were made. Vastly better, actually. Worse because I got really lazy with recording those improved choices. We’re less concerned now with the amount of calories I’m getting because Cody revealed that he was guessing about the numbers anyway. He just took a baseline that seemed right (and likely was) and operated off of that. It was more important that my ratios get closer to correct, and they’re vastly improved now. I’m a little high on protein now and fats are beginning to become an issue because I’ve stopped eating the salad dressing and almonds that were pushing me over.

Protein shakes! What?! How are you delicious – I demand explanation and satisfaction on this account immediately. Cody brought me some EAS Whey Protein Powder in a vaguely vanilla flavor. While it smells suspiciously like Play-Doh in its powder form, it actually blends quite nicely with a bit of milk and some frozen strawberries.

There are people in this world who have been saying one form or another of that sentence to me for years. One in particular for most of a decade. To that person – shut up. Also you were right, it turns out, so shut up more. More shutting up.

Additionally, my mood is vastly improved, which helps me focus on my workout. I just began the initial phase of rolling up and improving the Cardio half of my workouts using the patented (probably not) Couch to 5k method.

Cody has altered my workout to include more compound movements and even an exercise to improve my grip. Which blew my mind slightly, but it makes sense. I mean, the flexors and extensors (I know me some anatomy) in your arm are muscles all the same, but I don’t think of them as necessary to work out. That said, he made a very salient point on that matter – nearly all lifting involves gripping something, so your grip must improve. I’m excited about that aspect. Again, I also like watching the numbers go up.

And, to boot, my trainer now says that I’m fast approaching a time when I will match my landlord in my ability to bench press. Which, in a more awesome, darker world, would significantly improve my bargaining position.

I have these little babies for that task. It’s possible they are considerably less threatening.