Ch-ch-ch-changes

The war continues but small battles are being won.

My scale weight still hovers in the low 170's, which is 15 pounds above what I always considered my "goal" and "looking good" weight. However, in the last month of following the Training Peaks Virtual Coach training plan I've noticed some good things.

Visually, I can see that I have a waist again! Mrs. Zen has even noticed it. My ab muscles are almost showing through the adipose layer and it seems like the belly doesn't stick out as much. It also seems like my upper body musculature is bigger and more defined. This is a good thing - I've always wanted my upper body to be more muscular.

From a clothing point 0f view I was able to wear a couple of my "smaller" medium shirts without feeling like I was stuffed into a sausage casing. I've been wearing my "fat pants" for months but lately I've been noticing they are really loose. I may give the "normal" pants a try again and see how they fit.

From a numbers point of view, I seem to be working off the body fat. Within my own ability to use calipers on myself, I seem to have dropped about 3% in about a month. I'm still 3 or 4% off of my August '06 low. I've also gained about 1/2" on my bicep/upper arm circumference. I've also gained on chest and thigh measurements and in general all of my muscles feel more solid.

This all seems headed in the right direction. I'm just now moving out of the "base" phase of the training plan and into the "first build" phase. Heavy weights with low reps in the lifting workouts and starting to work the aerobic system on bike.

I'm excited with what I see.