health mode v1 - results

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Hi guys!
So I have reached the end of my first health period since the start of this blog.
As you might remember these were my goals when I started:

GOAL:
bellybutton = 72 cm
weight = 50 kg

By the beginning of last week I told you guys that I would focus on cardio and fat burning exercises but after a rough start 3 hours of sleep in 72 hours I could not manage to get up in the mornings and the rest of the week I've been dead tired.
I've also had a fair amount of wine and other drinks and foods not matching the diet I set for myself. So I was prepared for the worst when I headed to the gym to weigh myself.

.: week 5 - final data :.

Female (yup, still female)
Age: 26
Height: 158.5 cm
Weight:51 kg (+0.45 kg)
Estimated BMR: 1300 cal

Measure points are taken with my body relaxed.
Problem areas are my waist under my bellybutton and lower back.

body part
chest:
upper arms:
waist:
bellybutton:
buttocks:
thighs:
calfs:

one week ago
83 cm
26.2/26.2 cm
66.6 cm
71.8 cm
87.5 cm
49.5/49.5 cm
33.3/33.3 cm

now
85 cm (+2 cm)
26.3/26.5 cm (+0.1/+0.3 cm)
66.8 cm (+.2 cm)
71.5 cm (-0.3 cm yay!)
88 cm (+ 0.5 cm)
49.5/49.5 cm (+-0 cm)
33.3/33.3 cm (+-0 cm)

body part
weight:
chest:
upper arms:
waist:
bellybutton:
buttocks:
thighs:
calfs:

final results
-0.6 kg
+1 cm (probably due to 'that time of the month')
+0.3/+0.2 cm
-1.2 cm
-3 cm
-0.5 cm
-0.5/-0.5 cm
+0.3/+0.3 cm

Analyze of the results:
If we start off by looking at the previous week only and look at my weight. My weight and measurements might puzzle some of you...because I gained weight but still lost some around my bellybutton. I was puzzled too but then when I measured the rest of my body it became clear. As far as I know I haven't done any plastic surgery and still my chest grew by 2 cm...it's almost that time of the month, so my body is probably holding on to more water.

So if we look at the big picture instead. Even though my health period was interrupted by a two week vacation I managed to reach my primary goal which was transforming my waist from 74.8 cm down to 72 cm...I ended up on 71.5 cm which is great!
I reckon it's not only the change of diet and more cardio that did it but also some of the exercises I did which tightened up the muscles in the abdominal area and back.

So what about my weight? I started at 51.6 kg and ended up at 51 kg and even though my goal was 50 kg I'm not crying rivers. First of all, you can't fight begin a woman...I'm suspecting that my body is holding on to more water as it is that time of the month. Secondly, I trust the measuring tape more than the scales, I've been planning on writing about why scales are devious and I will soon. But I think the results have proven my point enough for now. I gained weight but still lost fat around my waist...so do I trust numbers on something I stand on once per week or do I trust what I see in the mirror?

Over all I'm very happy with my results, looking back on how many times I strayed from the path I laid out for myself which includes more alcohol than usual and one or a few pizzas. I've had some side effects from being healthy too. I've gained some muscle mass and I've gotten stronger...proof of this is that when I started I could do 25 push ups and now I can do 40. I would probably have lost more weight if I hadn't added more proteins to my diet and a little bit of weight lifting...but it would have been muscles and not fat and I don't want to lose my muscles :)
So not only can I see the change in the mirror, I'm also stronger and I feel that I don't get as winded as easily as before. I've also got a much better posture...which I think you can see from the images!

I hope that I've shown you guys that it doesn't really take that much to change your body and that you don't have to be a slave under your diet or exercises...the most important step is the change itself and how your mind is set.

This is what I look like now (got 2 new bites :/):


This is what i looked like four weeks ago:

For all the ladies

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When I'm health mode as I call it, periods of time when I have a specific goal and work hard to reach it...there is always one thing that bugs me and that is my menstrual cycle. I know that this is something very individual but for me I have a really hard time almost two weeks per month. During these two weeks I always sort of stray off track...because first of all I can't do one my favourite exercises which is swimming and it's hard to motivate yourself to go and take a run or a walk when you have a thumping headache. Secondly, the cravings! I don't like chocolates...but I do get really bad cravings for it just before my period and with all those hormones rushing around I have a r e a l l y hardtime stopping myself and sometimes i do fail.

I know that a piece of chocolate or two...or three...isn't that bad but I've noticed that for my morale it's is catastrophic and it has happened that I have given up on my goal.

And finally this I'm particulary interested in, I've noticed that my immune system seems to go down just before my period...I always seem to get a sore throat and the sniffles and that also puts me off a bit. Is there a connection between the two? Has anyone else experienced this?

If you have any tips and/or tricks not to let the hormones win? Please let me know!