Sometimes the Sweets Win

I was still dealing with some back discomfort over the week, but nothing like before.  I continued the yoga stretches into the weekend.  They definitely lessened the discomfort and helped with my mobility.  I was able to get in two workouts, two Zumba classes, and a couple of elliptical sessions.  I also did four of my afternoon walks.  All in all, I felt pretty good about my physical activity.

My diet, however, was another story.  It was all over the place.  I overindulged in some of my favorite foods; thick sliced pizza and ice cold Coca Cola.  Leading up to Fat Tuesday, I made the mistake of buying a half dozen box of apple paczki.  I didn't eat them all by myself, but I accounted for my share of them. Then, on Fat Tuesday, there was a small party which involved a large assortment of donuts.

Combined with last week’s inactivity, I assumed that my feasting would cause me to show a higher number when I weighed in.  Imagine my surprise to find that I’d lost 1 lb!  I’m chalking that loss up to having built up a faster metabolism.

I want to get back the experiment that I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, but my main focus is not straining my back again.  I've been wearing my weight belt to help support my lower back when I do squats and some of the standing exercises, like dumbbell raises.  I also reduced the poundage.  Aside from squats, I felt that performing dead-lifts would give me a good idea of how much I’d recovered.  I was able to do four sets of ten, 135 lbs each, without any discomfort.  The most discomfort in the session came from an unexpected source:  Shoulder shrugs.  I guess I didn't consider the stabilizing role the lower back plays in that exercise.

For the upcoming week, I plan on continuing to take things slowly.  I definitely plan on eating better!

Weight loss to date: 48.8 lbs.