I have been thinking about these goals long before the New Year, actually. I've been "trying" to get to the gym/exercise for the past few months now, coming up with every excuse known to woman. I'm too tired....I have too much to do.....I don't have enough time....it's raining out...I have a headache....or, my personal favorite by the way, "I'll start tomorrow". Well guess what my faithful readers? "Tomorrow" never comes. I've been saying this for MONTHS. I want to work out, get fit, build muscle, get rid of some of this excess skin, run a 5k and hike this mountain, so why am I not going to the gym? When I get to the gym I feel overwhelmed. Am I doing to much cardio? Not enough? Should I do these exercises or those ones? Machines or free weights? 20 minutes, 30 minutes or 45 minutes? This body part or that body part?
I feel lost when I get to the gym and when you're lost you have no plan, no direction. I need direction, a schedule. Do this on this day for this long. I follow these kinds of directions like a good little cadet. I LOVE schedules and plans, I thrive on them. I know what needs to be done and when. Most of all, I know that a plan leads to success. Failing to plan = planning to fail. I know this for a fact because of my failing to plan, I have failed these past months trying to get to the gym and get going on a work out plan. The only person I have short-changed is MYSELF and dammit, that pisses me off. I can not be complacent about this. This is a lifestyle change, it has to be. The sleeve is only a tool. At the end of the day, weight loss is a very simple. You must eat healthy, you must have appropriate portion sizes AND you must exercise. That's it in a nutshell. The sleeve helps you with the portion control, but ultimately, it is up to you to make sure you are eating healthy and moving. Simple. In order for me to make my goals happen, I've decided to hire a personal trainer. I've realized this is the ONLY way I am going to be able to partake in running a 5k and hiking the beast mountain here. I need someone to whip my ass into shape.
I had to seriously think about this through. This is a huge monetary investment and requires dedication and commitment. Am I mentally ready to do this? Do I WANT it? You HAVE to want it, NEED it, like your lungs need air. I've done this before. In the past, I have hired a personal trainer and hit the gym hard. The first month is the hardest, like any new developing habit. I was sore and tired as my muscles were developing new connections and getting stronger, but it works. I want fitness to become a fun part of my life. I want to look forward to working out not dreading it.
I spent two weeks searching for a personal trainer. I had very specific needs....PT's who don't have muscle and are just "skinny" honestly do not inspire me one bit, nor do they instill confidence about having enough knowledge to sculpt a body like Michelangelo. I knew that I wanted a trainer who competes or has competed in bodybuilding/figure competitions, as I find these people to be inspiring to work with and they would have experience on how to break through plateaus and chisel my bod where I want. I did find a few, but there was only one who stood out.
Her name is Kerry. Not only does she have the rock hard bod to back herself up, but she is a wealth of knowledge and experience. Kerry is not only a personal trainer, fitness & figure competitor, but she is a sports nutrition advisor as well as a life fitness coach. Kerry has also been published in Oxygen and Fitness Rx magazines. Reading her client testimonials sealed the deal - I KNEW she was the right trainer for me. She is an all in one package. Literally. Seriously, don't you want this gal in your corner?! LOOK AT HER, SHE IS GORGEOUS!!!!! Just look at her abs, beautifully developed back and check out her guns!!!! She inspires me and I am looking forward to getting my ass kicked by her. I don't know if I will be able to get muscular development as big as hers, but I am for sure going to have muscles, dammit! I had my consultation with Kerry and I am really freaking excited, like "chomping at the bit" excited to get started with the personal training sessions next week. My consultation was two hours long and it covered diet and lifestyle analysis, body composition testing both bio electrical impedance and caliper, girth measurements, weight, heart rate and blood pressure readings as well as physique evaluation. We discussed my goals, wants, needs, limitations, sleevie, plastic surgery - everything. I've spent all last week working on upping my intake to around 1200 calories a day. It's not easy, not only in terms of mentally wrapping my mind around it, but physically as well. Sleevie is still pretty small. I can definitely eat more than when I first started out, but it is still not a lot of food, only about 3-4 oz in total. Also working against me, is the fact that I don't feel hunger, still, 7 months out. I could EASILY go an entire day and just not eat. Not that I'm complaining. I don't want my hunger to return because it was like a starving wolf - ALL THE TIME. I'm working on it though. I'm going to have to get a watch with an alarm on it that I can set for every 3-4 hours to eat 5 times a day.
After my consultation with Kerry I decided on 16 weeks of training consisting of three private lessons (at her private facility) per week plus full nutrition monitoring. Kerry has designed my nutrition plan - what to eat, when to eat, how much to eat. The main goal right now is to get my caloric intake increased as I won't be able to build muscle if I'm not feeding it. I will be recording my meals and weight and emailing them to Kerry on a weekly basis so my nutrition can be closely monitored. After my 16 weeks of training I will scale my personal training sessions down but I haven't decided what I will be scaling down to. It will depend on where I am at that time and what I feel still needs to be done. I don't know if I will need continued nutritional support at that time, but we'll see how things are when I get there. I'm happy that I am finally moving in the right direction - TOWARDS my goals. Ch-ch-ch-changes a'brewing......What are your New Year's resolutions?
I haven't lost a whole lot of weight recently, but from December 15th to January 13th I have lost 7 pounds putting me in the 170's, now weighing in at 179 pounds. My clothes are getting bigger and bigger, I am sure I am losing inches. I desperately need to buy new scrubs for work, again. The jeans I bought around christmas are fitting looser (!!!!) AND the Lululemon sweater my husband bought me for christmas, is, yes, starting to get loose. Can you believe it?!?!?!?!
Kerry and I discussed what I wanted to weigh. We decided that if we had to put a number on what I want to weigh, 135 pounds is quite healthy and realistic. I'm happy with that number.....and only 44 pounds away from my goal, 7 months out. So close. I have almost lost 100 pounds folks. In 18 pounds I will have lost 100 pounds......holy crap!!!!! I am wearing clothes that I wore when I met my husband in 2004 and weighed 160 pounds. It is really unreal trying to wrap my head around all these changes my body is going through that seemed to have crept up on me. Weight loss seems to be more noticeable these days. Because of my work rotation, I don't see some of my co-workers for two weeks and people have been commenting that I have been losing weight. I can really see it now. My work scrubs are getting so loose. I don't have an ass anymore and I have to keep hiking up my pants. One of these days my drawers are gonna drop to the floor!!!!
Haven't seen any posts from you in a couple months... how are you doing fellow sleever!?
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