It's Rewarding

June 29, 2011.

I went to the gym today. I didn't want to go, but I was supposed to go yesterday and I didn't really want to go then either. I like going after I've been there and come home and seen the results, but it is truly difficult to get my butt off the couch and make the trip out to the gym. Last night cleaning and organizing the office was even more appealing than the gym, but then again I get a high from organizing and throwing things out that I just don't find at the Wellness Centre.

The gym though is rewarding. I noticed today while doing the leg press that I have upped my weights from 50lbs on the first day to 100lbs today which is a huge increase in only 2.5 weeks. That is a big difference, but I celebrate the tiny milestones as well such as today deciding to drop my fly curl weight to 4lbs and finally succeeding at completing not only my 1 set of 15 reps, but 2 sets of 15 reps. You have no idea how happy that made me.

Looks like I'm on track to lose 10lbs in my first 4 weeks as well. We'll see what happens. I'm definitely looking forward to a new workout program on Tuesday though.

Sunday mornings

Sunday mornings are brutal. I hate waking up to the alarm on the weekend because even though I work I consider it to be my day off where I stay up late the night before, sleep in until 9am, and make pancakes for me and my husband. I loved that tradition. It worked for me.

My new Sunday tradition goes a little more like this:
1) wake up to alarm at 7:30am and fall back asleep while Chris takes his time in the washroom
2) ignore Chris when he asks me more than once if I plan to still go to the gym this morning
3) get out of bed by 8am mostly because my bladder refuses to let me go back to sleep
4) grumble that Wii fit on Sunday is pointless because I do nothing and eat more on Saturdays
5) eat a bowl of cereal and quickly dress as now I'm running out of time to workout before work
6) spend 1 hour working out at the gym and checking out Chris as he lifts heavy things
7) rush home all sweaty and shower, redress, and pack a lunch in 10-15 minutes
8) head to work tired yet energized, but most definitely happy

I love spending time with my husband (even if we're not side by side, but doing the same thing). I love accomplishing more than I did the day before. I love the feeling of surviving another day at the gym knowing I put most (if not all) of my effort into it and leaving feeling like I didn't just workout (minus the sweatiness). And, I love being taken care of and watched out for because Chris knows I hate the gym so much he becomes super supportive.


Gym status: I hate fly curls, but today I love the gym.

Weekly Weigh-in 2

June 25, 2011.

I went to the gym twice this week instead of three times as planned. Life got in the way and I lost some of my motivation. This was no surprise to me, but I'm a little disappointed in myself.

I learned that I can still go out for dinner or to the movies and splurge on what I eat as long as I'm working out because my weight did not change on those days, but if I hadn't gone out I would have lost weight this week instead of gained it.

Next week will be better. I will go to the gym on Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday. I might even throw in Saturday since I have three 12 hour shifts at work in an office.

This week's weigh-in: up .5 kg or 1lb since last Saturday. Still down overall.

What's Happening to Me?

June 22, 2011.

I'm not sure what came over me today, but as I was driving home from work in Bowmanville it occured to me that I had gym clothes with me and enough spare time to stop in at the gym for a quick workout. This never would have dawned on before as I seldom get free time and would much rather use it to catch up on the week's worth of People's Court episodes I am currently behind in on the PVR.

I went to the gym. I upped my cardio. I upped my weights. I upped some of my reps so I'm doing two sets of 15 on everything but the fly curl. I didn't leave feeling sick or shakey or tired. I didn't even need a nap afterwards. I was very sweaty though and got a little freaked out when my heart rate surpased 180 beats per minute on the elliptical (but it didn't feel that fast).

Today I think I kinda liked the gym. Still not loving it, but am certainly starting to see the appeal.

Sad news...I've gained almost what I've lost as of this morning. Let's hope it's muscle and that the weight comes back down by weekly weigh in time.

First Day On My Own

June 19, 2011.

Today I did not want to get up and go to the gym. I'm glad I did though after much coaxing from Chris.

I did my daily weigh in on Wii fit and was not happy to see I gained back almost half of what I lost in one night. This just reminded me why I hate watching a scale and get no reward from seeing the numbers drop because it is frustrating to see my graph make a fairly straight line. Chris talked me down a bit and explained why this might have happened and reassured me that tomorrow it will go down after I go to the gym today. Guess I do have to get my butt off the couch and put it to work as sleepy as I am. He also reminded me that I am doing some weight training so I am building muscle and will therefore see less weight come off each week as I'm replacing fat with muscle (whereas he did cardio only for the first 50 lbs). Now I know why Jodi wanted me to focus only on my BMI.

Chris and I went to the gym today which was nice because I am now working out for close to an hour and he had a short day today so we wrapped up about the same time. He was also a great assistant for me when I needed an extra set of hands.

I made progress today at the gym so I left feeling rewarded. Plus Jodi told me to drink G2 Gatorade while working out and this prevented my shakiness and quesiness today so I left feeling great. Here's where I'm at with my program (I upped some reps today and will up some weights on Tues):

Cardio 10 min at level 8 for 95 RPM on the elliptical

Leg press 2 sets of 15 toes forward, 2 sets of 15 toes out with 70 lbs
Hip abductor 2/15 inner thighs 65 lbs, 2/15 outer thighs ?more? lbs
Hamstring curl 2/15 55 lbs

Lateral pull down 1/15 55 lbs
Pull towards body (contract shoulders together)? 1/15 27.5 lbs
Chest press 1/15 6 lbs
Fly curl 1/15 6 lbs

While standing on the round side of the BOSU ball:
Bicep curl 2/15 10 lb freeweight in each hand
Tricep press (behind head) 2/15 10 lbs holding one weight with both hands
Shoulder press 2/15 7.5 lb freeweight in each hand

On a mat:
Push through crunches (upper abs) 2/20
Knee up cruches (lower abs) 1/20
Side to side touch crunches (side abs) 1/20 (which is actually 40 touches - 20 each side)
Back extensions (on tummy lift shoulders and feet off ground) 1/20

Stretch out

Close to loving the gym, but not quite there yet.

Weekly Weigh-in

June 18, 2011.

For those that care about the numbers I will track my weight loss once a week on here. After only two days at the gym and a diet consisting of less than 2000 calories a day I am down...

1.4 kg or 3 lbs

Oh the pain, the pain...

June 16, 2011.

So day one of the gym left me feeling super sick, shakey, and sleepy, but after a 3 hour nap I recovered. Wednesday I was mildly sore where my arms connect to my chest, but this morning I was really sore.

Went for my second session with Jodi and she upped my repetitions and weights for most machines. I did 10 minutes of cardio prior to our session (a much better plan than doing it after). Other than the fly curls which I had to give up on after a few tries I did pretty good, was a little light-headed, but was not feeling sick and shakey. Came home and napped for 1.5 hours. Looking forward to feeling energized after the gym in the near future instead of tired.

Six hours later - I hurt sooooo much. I do not want to lift up my arms. Driving, getting dressed, and trying to sleep requires too much effort and a lot of uncomfortableness. Now I know why I can't do push ups. I never use my muscles that are infront of my armpits. I don't even know what these muscles are called, but I am looking forward to my massage on Monday.

Feeling better about going to the gym - not dreading it.

Training Day

June 14, 2011.

Day one of training with Jodi. Wondering what I've gotten myself into, remembering how much I hate the gym, and psyching myself out, but realizing I can't give up before I've started as I already paid $100 for six 30 minute sessions plus my $400 gym membership (paid in January by the way).

5 minute warm up on the elliptical at level 8 with 95 RPM. Heart rate quickly approached 144. Not as easy to talk, but not feeling bad either, forehead sweaty (yuck).

30 minute session with Jodi to learn the weight machines and a few exercises. Working on legs and arms on the machines, feeling a bit like a wussy girl with my 6 lb weight on the fly curl, reps of 15 aren't that bad, but arms definitely shake on the last 5 of each set.

BOSU ball sucks, but in a good way I think (or at least hope). I can't stand on the thing and keep my balance very well, but I am learning to contract my core muscles and look across the gym at my reflection. Oh wait...now you want me to lift free weights while I stand here...yeah right. Somehow I make it work, but my feet hurt and all I can think about is standing on the stupid half ball so I barely notice that I'm lifting weights with my now very tired arm muscles.

Woohoo! A mat! You want me to lie down...I can do that. Crunchies...no problem. Lower abs hurt and take a lot of effort, the other three variations were not that bad. Back extension was also easier than I thought.

Session done!!! Onto cardio on my own time. Feel like I'm going to puke. Everything is shakey. Drive home instead with much effort. Lay on couch to stop room from spinning. This really sucks. Wake up 3 hours later and still feeling sick and shakey. Did I mention I hate the gym? Ate some watermelon, drank some water, waited for Chris to come home and rescue me. Told me my sugar must be really low, asked why I didn't eat when I came home, made me drink chocolate milk. Feel better. Need to eat a banana before next workout and drink chocolate milk after.

Day after...muscles sore where arms meet chest and just above inner elbow. Otherwise good. Dreading tomorrow.

Diet...I Think Not

I know that diet and exercise go hand in hand when you are trying to lose weight. As that is not my main goal (I just want to be able to do more) diet is not a big concern to me and therefore is a bit of a frustrating point for my husband who is trying to be supportive.

I calculated it out (or rather had Chris do it for me) that without changing my diet I eat around 1800 calories a day during the week. I eat way more on the weekend when I'm bored and alone in an office. I thought Chris was crazy to eat only 1500 calories a day and I have no intention of starving myself or making myself miserable because I can't have chocolate therefore these are the only changes I will be making to my diet at this point in time:

1) Do not drink Coke during the week (I've wanted to change this bad habit that I picked up when I moved in with Chris anyway).
2) Do not substitute a 1000 calorie bag of chocolate for lunch on the weekend.
3) Continue to eat 1500 to 2000 calories a day and don't stress if I go over on a night out.
4) Only take 2000 calories of food to work on the weekend (and bring lots of fruit or veggies).
5) Aim for one dessert only a day - doesn't matter if I eat it at 10pm (I have, however substituted a 100 calorie ice cream treat for the 500 calorie bowl of ice cream I would usually eat).

That's it! I'll likely post a typical day of food for myself at a later point so you can see what my 1500-2000 calories look like.

Assessment

June 9, 2011.

I had my assessment today with Chris' and now my awesome trainer Jodi V. I've never been one to care much about numbers and weights, but I was dreading this appointment. As confident as I am I still have my moments where the idea of getting weighed and having my skinfolds measured by a pretty and athletic girl even makes me cringe.

It turned out to not be bad at all thanks to Jodi's awesomeness. She chatted with me the whole time about everything unrelated to the gym, showed me her measurements at the end, did not make any comments about the numbers, just stated that in two months time if I put in the effort I should see the following changes:
- lower measurements for my waist, arms, and thighs
- a goal of a 5% drop in body fat
- and the potential to have to shop for more clothes (which is more of a motivator for me than seeing my weight drop)
She also stated that I have really tight skin which is apparently a rare thing for girls, but a good thing to have when you are losing weight or when you get pregnant (less stretch marks).

Day one of the gym - not loving it, but not hating it either, super excited for training day

Why Now?

I've always gone to the gym sporadically since I graduated college. Sometimes with great successes, other times more for fun (taking classes with friends). So why now? And, why blog about it?

I have friends that are trying to lose weight and a husband who successfully did lose a weight (lots of it) and I've often wondered how much effort everyone really put into this when they report back that nothing has happened or lots has. I want to keep track for myself, but also thought this would pre-empt any "how did you do it, what is your secret?" questions I will get when I'm successful.

How am I confident that I will be successful? I've never put the effort in before so I never announced I was attempting to reach a goal. Now I'm putting in effort so it feels safe to set goals.

Let's make one thing clear...I hate the gym! Not just a dislike of the gym, but a full on hate of the gym. I don't mind putting in effort and completing hard work, but hard work at the gym leads to many things I really do not like:
- sweating
- feeling like you are going to throw up
- sore muscles
- squeaky machines
- scheduling time to go, workout, shower, and change
- waiting for equipment
- feeling like you can't do something

This blog will be my journey where I learn to love the gym because I honestly want to be someone like my husband who comes home happy after a hard workout and gets sad when I can't make it to the gym. I want the gym to become easier, for me to be able to do more, and for me to want to run through the school playground instead of walk...we'll see how it goes.