This post comes from my Original partner in crime Brian. Welcome back to the swing of things!

Skinny-fat: When someone is thin and looks great in clothes, but is all flabby underneath.

So I’ve come to a few realizations recently that are making me change my approach to losing weight.  I’ve lost a really good amount of weight since I started being mindful of what I eat and being active by running a bit (not nearly as much as I would like) and I feel quite a bit more comfortable about the size of the clothing I buy and how I look in them.  However, the important realization is that I know the truth; I am skinny fat.  I’ve still got the love handles and a bit of a gut that hide pretty well under the clothing but they are there reminding me that I am weaker than I’d like to be and not nearly as toned.  Obviously more often than not this is a personal image problem, but even just changing at the gym and the thought of “swimsuit” weather quickly approaching is enough to make me a bit embarrassed about it.

I’m sure there are a lot of people out there who focused solely on their cardio and diet when wanting to lose weight and were disappointed when they didn’t also achieve the physical appearance they were shooting for when they hit their target weight.  This is particularly frustrating because I know I’m not exactly my target weight yet and I’m (probably unnecessarily) worried that if I try to focus on my strength that I will bulk up rather than stay lean.  Obviously this isn’t what would happen unless I start doing strength every day and downing protein shakes on a regular basis.

So here’s the plan.  I’m going to do my very best to hit the gym at *least* three times a week but would prefer five.  The gym I go to has two rows of machines that are meant to target each muscle group if you go from end to end.  I plan to do this twice each time I work out following a 5k (or further) run.  I also plan to do the P90X ab ripper video on these gym days to strengthen my core and work toward that six pack.  Since I can’t seem to ever fully commit to the full rigorous P90X workout schedule I’m really hoping that this will provide me with the strength and definition that I’m looking for.