My husband is awesome.

I've written a little bit about him before, but after the last couple of days I've decided that my wonderful, amazing, sweet, fantastic husband deserves a post of his own.  He makes me laugh without trying, makes me happy on my worst days, and is so incredibly supportive of me in whatever I want to do.  He makes me feel like I can do anything.  I got absurdly lucky with him and I honestly have no idea how.

This is us from (almost) 3 years ago!  Time has flown.

Matt's been my biggest supporter and motivator through this experiment that I started a little over a year ago.  I've not always been successful, but he's always been there pushing me to keep going when I stop, or to do better when I feel like I'm doing the best that I can.  I love that he's taken this on as well, because having him as a workout partner makes me 100% better.  I was running yesterday and had 1 minute and 30 seconds left to go which doesn't seem like much but it is. I didn't see the 1 at the beginning and I was already feeling like I wasn't going to make it the 30 seconds that I thought I had left.  I looked at him and just said "Please tell me I can do this."  He kept encouraging me through the last minute and I'm 100% sure that he's the only reason I actually finished my run.  It doesn't seem like much, but I would have been kicking myself for not finishing that extra minute.  There's so much satisfaction in saying that you were able to finish a difficult workout and I wouldn't have finished mine without Matt's encouragement.

Beyond that, I just want to give him MAJOR kudos because he has lost almost 30 pounds (and gained a whole bunch of muscle) since November.  We've been stuck in a rut a bit here lately, but he has worked SO HARD to get to this point and I am so, so incredibly proud of everything he's done.  His progress makes me want to work harder and it just adds to our motivation.  

Part of the reason we have been stuck in a rut is because we have (or mostly he has) been dealing with a lot of stress from a lot of different sources.  Even so, after accidentally getting locked out of our house yesterday after he had already had a ridiculously stressful day at work, he ran to the store to pick up some groceries while I hurried home to let him in the house.  I got home and opened the door and he walked in and handed me these:

I just stared at him blankly for a second and said, "But you're the one having a terrible time.  Why do I get flowers?"  He told me (like it was the most obvious thing in the world), "You're the one who's helping me through it."  It was a simple gesture, but it speaks volumes about the kind of man he is - one who, as I've said a million times before, I am so, so lucky to have married. :)

Why Women Should Do Strength Training

For as long as I can remember, I've preferred strength training to cardio.  When I was 10 years old in gym class and preparing for Pacer Tests or the mile run (these gym class periods were basically the worst of my life) if I could have been given the choice between spending an hour doing push-ups and crunches instead of running, I probably would have kissed the person who offered.  I've since gotten over my fear/loathing of running, but I still prefer strength training to cardio 99% of the time.  (The 1% accounts for the times that I've got something I need to think through.  Nothing clears your head better than a nice long run.)  This thinking puts me in a very small fraction of women.

When Matt and I go to the gym, I'm often the only woman (or one of two) in the weight room.  Some would attribute this to the fact that we get to the gym between 5 and 6 am, but when we were going later the ratio was the same.  The number of men in the room outnumber the women by a significant amount.  There seems to be this idea among women that we should do cardio and men are okay to do strength training.  One of my coworkers even told me that she only ever does cardio because she doesn't want to bulk up.  I think that many women have a lot of ideas about strength training, cardio, or working out in general that are wrong.  I've done research on this particular topic (and can speak from experience too!) and would like to make the case for why women should do strength training in conjunction with (not instead of!) cardio.

1.  Contrary to the fears of many women like my coworker, doing strength training will not cause you to bulk up.  Testosterone is one of the major players in building muscle mass and men have significantly more of it than women.  Without taking in large amounts of testosterone, strength training will not bulk you up.  It will give you definition, however, and curves in the places you want them.

2. Cardio is not the only way to lose weight.  For every pound of muscle you gain, you can burn an extra 30-50 calories per day - which adds up to losing 3 pounds of fat per year per pound of muscle you add without so much as changing your diet!  In addition, your metabolism spikes after strength training and can stay elevated for up to several days afterward.  (The effect is especially noticeable if you do cardio after your weight training workout!) Speaking from personal experience, your baseline metabolism increases as well.  I've noticed that where I used to be cold (and where all my current coworkers still are) I've been comfortable.  This is likely because my metabolism has increased and it has the pleasant side effect of keeping me warm.

3. This isn't unique to women, but the number of ways strength training is beneficial to health is kind of amazing.  It can help stave off Type 2 Diabetes, Heart Disease, and Osteoporosis.

4. It can boost self-esteem and self-confidence.  I can personally attest to this one - I track my weight lifting at the gym and watching the numbers increase since I started has been a huge confidence booster.  You can know that you're making progress even if you don't see it on the scale or in the mirror.  But my absolute favorite thing is feeling the difference when I flex my muscles.  It's such a good feeling to be able to notice the change.  I'm pretty sure I make Matt feel how strong my various muscle groups are at least daily.  He probably thinks I'm insane, but it makes me feel good about myself.

5. It can alleviate pain.  I've had back problems for the past several years that I have noticed less and less frequently since Matt and I started seriously working out.  I've strengthened the muscles in my back and core, and it has made all the difference in the world.  Working out your muscles can also increase joint stability and build stronger connective tissue.

There are probably a hundred more reasons, but I covered the big ones.  I can definitely understand the intimidation women feel when they walk into the weight lifting area of a gym because I still feel it most times I'm there.  I manage to work through it though, because I know that the end result is going to be worth it.  I have never gotten a strange stare or had anyone say anything to me.  I comment to Matt all the time that I feel like a weakling because there are so many times when I have to use the smallest weight available, but I've only ever gotten support from him and from the others in the weight room.  I only hope that what I've said encourages some woman somewhere to start looking into or trying weight lifting.  It can be kind of terrifying and intimidating at first, but when you move beyond that the benefits are countless.

On that note, I'm going to go take a nap.  The early wake-ups and gym trips are always worth it, but I'll still take as much sleep as I can get. :)