well that is awesome!

Don't worry - it takes time. I think also you need to consider upping your cardio, if you haven't already. not just 3x a week - go up to 4 or 5.

Yaay! Keep going!

I wouldn't assume that you've not lost much fat just because you've only lost 6 lbs. The fact that you're much stronger and have lost inches suggests that you've added significant muscle mass while you've been losing fat. You really have to measure your body fat if you want to track fat loss, since weight alone can be misleading. 4 inches around your middle is great progress!

I've heard that men and women gain and lose fat differently - men tend to put fat on first and lose it last around their gut (that seems to be the cse for me), and for women that tends to happen around their hips and thighs. So, you may not see much change around your hips until you've thinned down everywhere else, which , unfortunately, can make things a bit more frustrating.

One other point - most weight lifters consider fat loss and strength gaining to be mutually exclusive to at least some degree, which tells me that it's hard to do both to a significant degree at the same time. If you really want to lose fat I'd be tempted to emphasize cardio a bit more, especially running if you can since that seems to be among the more effective at producing fat loss.

I'm very impressed at your committment and progress!!! I've not gone as far as to start BFL officially, but have been working out for a couple years now and was working with a trainer for several months who had me tracking my diet. That diet stuff was far and away the hardest thing for me to do, which is why I haven't done BFL so far. I admire anyone who's able to keep to any program that requires strict dietary behavior. If you've managed to do that then I'm sure you'll be able to reach your goals, both with BFL and in life in general.

Nice work, and best wishes on your upcoming wedding!!!




Dana