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I went on a diet again this summer. I never mentioned it here, and for that you are welcome. :) But it was a real honest-to-blog diet just the same. I even pulled out a copy of my trusty Weight Loss Dashboard for the occasion.

I was doing decently, too. For the first couple of weeks, at least. I managed to lose around 9 of the total 17 pounds I was shooting to lose in the first 2 ½ weeks. After that, though, things started to go south.

Problem one was that I started my diet too late in the season. By the time my diet really got into full swing this year, it was competing with family reunions, barbecues, my birthday, and the Iowa State Fair… all of which fairly require the consumption of mass quantities.

Problem two was different. About a week into my diet, I decided I also wanted to start gaining muscle. Saying I want to gain muscle is often like saying I want to grow wings, in that they usually both have the same success rate. So to make this go-round different, I set myself up a couple of challenges.

Challenge one is to complete the Hundred Pushup Challenge. I’m halfway through week 2 at the moment… I managed to eek out 67 pushups Wednesday night, albeit in several sets. But already I’m starting to notice a difference in my arms and chest, and that has me encouraged.

Challenge two is to have a strong abdominal section. I’ve tried this before, and always grow disheartened, because due to extreme weight loss in the past resulting in excess skin, it doesn’t really matter how much I work out my abs – they’re always going to look soft. But I’ve decided to get around this by considering this time more of a lifestyle change than an exercise regimen with a specific goal. To that end, I now do crunches and other ab exercises every morning before I shower. I’m two weeks in, and am starting to feel stronger (though I doubt it’s noticeable).

Challenge three is just to jog more often. I jogged a lot last summer, but I gave it up over the winter months, and didn’t start getting back into it again until recently. Happily, I’m now back up to right around where I was this time last year: I can run a 5K route in right around 30 minutes, or at just over 6 MPH. Now I just need to decide which I’d rather work on: greater speed, or greater distance. Both have a certain appeal. And regardless of which I choose, I want to run at least 7 or so miles every week. This week I’ve managed around 5.7 miles, so I’ve got at least another 2.5 mile jog to go.

And the result of all this muscle-building balderdash? My weight loss had slowed down dramatically (and sometimes reverses). Long-term, having muscle is good for weight loss, because muscle burns calories. However, short-term, muscle is heavier than fat, so as I’m building muscle I’m also gaining weight. So I’ve put away the weight loss dashboard for now: it would only be discouraging to watch my weight plateau while I work so hard at something. Instead, I’m just going to do my best to eat healthily, exercise regularly, and we’ll see what happens.