Human Physiology

It has been an interesting weekend. We got our state refund after only two days (gotta love that electronic filing), and so opted to go out get a few things that we were lacking and that the sudden financial downturn of the economy (read: cutting of overtime) had prevented us from getting. One of those items was nothing more complicated than some new jeans, and here's where it gets interesting -- to me anyway.

When I was in high school, I weighed about 165, but my pants were a 32 waistline. This weekend, I tried on jeans and can easily wear a 30 waistline, but my weight is sitting around 185. Curious, thought I, that I can wear a smaller size than higher when I'm 20 pounds heavier. But there is a difference. In high school, the most I did was marching band and video games, but over the past six months (or so), I've been working out more vigorously with running and other exercises, meaning my muscles are probably more toned than they were then. Muscle mass is heavier than fat, and if I have been building that mass while losing fat, then this sort of weird mismatch is plausible.

Of course, I could have just been wearing pants that were too big for me, but I do remember having to go from 30 to 32 back then because I thought I was just growing. The 30's no longer fit right (and for all intents there were some 30's I tried on that were too tight, though the ones I ended up with fit just fine). Still, I tried to wrap my head around how I managed a smaller size since high school, and the whole muscle vs fat thing is all I've got at this point. 

I've lost about 25 pounds since I've started seriously working out, and I guess it's doing me some good. I haven't had any heartburn in a couple months (used to get it all the time), and the Engineer told me that my face has thinned out. In addition, other people we've known for some time have observed that I've lost some weight, so clearly something is working. 

What did I do to accomplish such a feat? I didn't do any kind of diet. I simply regulate when I eat, and I pay attention to when I feel full. I also run several times a week for at least thirty minutes. My goal when I started running was to try and hit the Army passing time for an eighteen year old. Haven't reached that point yet, but I'm almost ready to try upping the treadmill speed to passing for my age group. If I can do 7 miles per hour for 2 miles, I can pass an Army PT test for a 33 year old. 6 miles per hour is getting easier, and I think the next time I run, I'll give it a shot. If I do 7 miles per hour for my full thirty minutes, that will be three and a half miles. 

Not too shabby considering I got my treadmill only last April or May, and I only started being really diligent with it around August or September. Now, I don't have my six pack yet, but if indeed I am toning my muscles as I'm doing my strength workouts on the Wii Fit, then by the time the fat is trimmed off my belly, I just might have something to show for myself come the summertime. I might also need some new pants...