Fitness Game

As I’ve mentioned several times before, my wife and I have both made some serious efforts at getting our butts back into shape. In my case, it’s because I’ve recognized that losing weight and improving my fitness levels are the single biggest change I need to make to improve my Game. There are lots of other changes I need to make, but any single one of them will have a smaller effect than this single change. Even improving my financial status won’t have as much direct impact because my wife already has a good deal of respect for me there. Therefore, along with getting my business on a solid foundation, losing weight and getting in shape is my highest priority this year.

My wife, on the other hand, has joined in mostly because I’ve improved my Game well enough that she wants to make me happy by improving her own looks. Also, my improved Game is bringing back the old Hermione who really cared what other people thought of her, and let it motivate her in a good way.

We’re both also starting to see good results. In the past month, I’ve lost about 5 pounds (I dipped down to 220 even yesterday morning; it’s back up slightly today, but only slightly). More importantly, I’ve dropped an inch and a half around the waist (much more than the 5 pounds would suggest), and I’m seeing some strong improvement in my gym workouts. Today, for instance, every single exercise I did was up from last week (all numbers except pull-ups represent my final set):

Squats: 5×275 (up from 5×265 last week)
Deadlifts: 5×135 (up from 5×125)
Pull-ups: (three sets of: 4, 2.5, 2.5; kind of lame, but significantly up from 3, 2.5, and 1 last week and WAY up from 1,1 only a few weeks ago)
Bench Press: 3×190 (up from 3×165 last week, which was actually down from 3×185 the week before)

The numbers aren’t anything to brag about, I know. A few years ago, I was significantly higher on all counts (once upon a time my bench was up around 230, my squats were over 300, and I could do around 20-30 pull-ups in various sets in a workout). But I’ve been out of shape for a while, and you don’t get it back all in a day. Progress is the key, and my progress is solid and strong.

Hermione has been doing fairly well, also, although not quite as well. Her weight hasn’t dropped much, but her waistline has shrunk some – about the state I was in a few weeks ago, before the weight started coming off, too. That’s pretty normal when people first start hitting the gym, and the numbers one the scale are one reason people often give up early (the scale should be mostly ignored; it’s the waistline that matters anyway, and the relationship between the waistline and the scale is very fluid). More noticeably, she’s feeling a lot better from the dietary changes, her acne (a side effect of her PCOS) is clearing up a lot, and… she’s starting her period right now.

It’s not obvious why that’s a good thing in our case, so let me explain. She suffers from an endocrine disorder called PCOS that is mostly known for the effect it has on fertility and the reproductive system. One of the major symptoms is amenhorrea (lack of periods), with the obvious hit on fertility that that implies: no periods means no ovulation is happening, therefore, no fertility. The lack of ovulation also usually results in a decreased libido, as women’s sex drive is very closely tied to baby-making (both emotionally and physically).

This marks her first natural (not induced by any drugs) period in almost five years. Yes, we had to see a fertility specialist to conceive our son. For the record, the time frame when she was hocked up on fertility drugs was hands down our best sexual period in years (since the last time she was ovulating normally), leaving us with no doubt whatsoever that a major portion of her decreased libido really is a physical problem.

So, periods coming back is good for two reasons: one, it’s a sign that she’s getting into better shape (PCOS women often resume menstruating after losing weight; the disease is closely tied to insulin resistance), and it means her libido is very likely to increase as well.

The downside is that I’m extremely unlikely to get laid for 3-5 days. Had I known that, I might not have turned down sex last night (another post; maybe tomorrow). Still, it’s better in the long term that I did, so I’ll just tough it out.

All in all, definitely positive changes. As always, however, still lots of work needed.