My Fitness Journey - 6 Month Update

I've been waiting to write this blog post until I had some actual stats, and I am happy to report that I have numbers to share over the past 6 months.

I did not have specific goals in mind when I started, but I mostly wanted to be more disciplined with fitness, exercise consistently, and gain about 10 lbs. 

Weight

5/27/2025 - 112 lbs

11/20/25 - 118 lbs

Ever since I've been an adult, starting in my early to mid-20's, I naturally trend very skinny. It's been hard for me to keep weight on, regardless of my diet. This is mostly genetics. Plus, I just don't have a huge appetite.

I have gotten to the lowest weight I've ever been as an adult in the months immediately following the birth of both of my children. Breast-feeding combined with increased sickness (due to day care) combined with being more busy with young kids. 

Looking back, I think I look the best when my weight is around 120 (which is a number I've only been able to hit when pregnant, lol). Personally, I don't think being super thin looks great, especially as I age and lose fat and gain wrinkles. 

I only get weighed at doctor's visits, and I've had quite a few of those this year so I have been able to see a steady weight gain of about 5-6 pounds. 

I think I've been successful with this for two reasons. First, strength training at the gym. Second, giving up caffeine. This was HUGE for me and probably the #1 thing I've done this year that has impacted my health in a dramatic way. I still drink coffee but only decaf now. I have not had any caffeine since July! My stomach issues were immediately resolved. I stopped getting headaches. I really think this improved my gut health and is the reason I am now able to eat more and actually keep the weight on. 

Strength Training 

No specific goals, but I was starting from scratch and seeing where it goes. I definitely do not want to look really muscular, but Brian says I have nothing to worry about because that will never happen, LOL! In all seriousness, now that I know for sure I am done having kids, I am inspired to get into the best shape of my life. 

I would say that I live a fairly active lifestyle, but after reading Outlive by Dr. Peter Attia earlier this year, I was inspired to make a shift in my workouts and focus on strength training for optimal health. In June, I joined a gym that's right by my house. I stopped doing the Peloton and stopped most cardio, although I do still walk a ton outside and also do the Stair Master at the gym for 10 minutes each visit. 

I have not seen any visible difference in how I look over the past 6 months, but I have very detailed stats from weight lifting (I take notes with each workout at the gym) and I am very impressed to see the progress on paper. Below is a list of about half of the machines I do. I started in May with the lowest weight on most.

Shoulder Press - May: 8 lbs  November: 20 lbs

Tricep Seated Dip - May: 30 lbs   November: 65 lbs

Chest Press:  May: 10 lbs   November: 30 lbs

Lat Pulldown: May: 45 lbs   November: 60 lbs

Leg Extension:  May: 30 lbs  November 65 lbs

Leg Curl:  May: 60 lbs  November:  100 lbs

Leg Press:  May: 60 lbs  November 180 lbs

Glute Master:  May: 28 lbs  November  68 lbs

I usually try to do 3 sets of 8-10 reps, but lately I've really been focused more on increasing the weight so that I can't get to 8 reps. I read somewhere that if you can do 8 reps of an exercise, it's time to increase the weight. Once I started with that approach, I noticed I was making more noticeable gains at a faster pace.

Even though I don't look any different, I really want to change this in 2026. I haven't set goals yet, but I am going to hit the diet part a lot harder (with protein, etc.) in addition to upping the strength training to really focus on looking toned and changing my body's physique. 

Working from home has allowed me time to go to the gym during the day, but it has surprisingly required more discipline from me this past year. If I compared working in the office to working from home, I would say that an office job required more planning. A work-from-home job has required more discipline. I think I've described it with physics before, but an object in motion stays in motion. An object at rest needs force to get it moving. 

The main area where I struggle is that I still feel intimated by the gym, particularly the free weight section where all the dudes are. Even six months in, I have not been able to shake the gym intimidation, which is weird because I consider myself a confident person. I think this is because I don't know exactly what I am doing and I don't have much of a plan. I've thought about a personal trainer, but ultimately I think YouTube will be my solution (it's free and won't bind me to a commitment schedule). There are so many fitness influencers with good content on YouTube to help with getting started in the gym, lifting, etc. I just need to get over this fear of mine and accept that I will probably look stupid at the gym. :)

I'll probably update again in January once I have goals and a more specific plan for 2026, then followed by another six month update.