In December of 2012 shortly before the new year I joined the local gym. I was not at my heaviest weight, but I was sluggish, and at the time sick with a horrible sinus infection. I started out on the elliptical and could barely make it through 20 minutes. I then started dabbling in strength training. My friend Tera started months before me and she had confidence in the gym with the weights and around the other people in the gym. I saw he confidence and knew that I wanted that for myself. I wanted to have a place that could be my refuge from the world, and a place that I could feel confident in.
In January 2013 I was well on my to that confidence. I had a yearly physical and after only a month of strength training and cardiovascular exercise I was down almost 20 lbs. and my labwork was so good I thought they mixed my blood up with someone else's blood. Really...It was the best it had been in nearly 15 years. My blood sugar was normal, triglycerides normal, and cholesterol completely normal. I knew I was on to something.
In February Tera convinced me to start a 12 week training program by Jamie Eason called Live Fit. This program started out with 8 weeks of cardio and major muscle building. I was now spending at least 2-2 1/2 hours in the gym every night and loving every minute of it. I had received a new fitness gadget at Christmas time called the Jawbone Up Band and I was now tracking my eating, sleeping, and workouts. I could feel my body starting to transform around me. My confidence was improving. Tera also encouraged me to join the Repz Challenge. This was an 8-week weight loss challenge with other women in the gym. Very similar to the Biggest Loser Program. Tera and I were the co-captains of our team. We would post encouraging thoughts, advice, quotes to Facebook daily for each other and our teammates.
By March I was down another 20lbs and feeling so much better. I started to feel bones I forgot I had. I discovered muscles I never knew I had. And I was discovering myself in the process. It is a wonderful feeling to push your body and find out just how far you can go. I spent many nights tossing and turning trying to get ocmfortable due to the soreness my workouts were producing. I learned how to box and flip tractor tires too. This is one of my favorite quotes...
In April 2013 we started week 9 and 10 of this training program and I thought there was no way we could do it. Strength training + plyometrics (For those of you who do not know what this is...A fancy way of saying jumping rope, burpees, mountain climbers, tuck jumps etc in between reps of weights) and my new favorite 30 second sprints at level 8 on the treadmill. Pure torture! I also attended my first body building competition. Not as a competitor, but as a spectator. I was amazed at the way someone can make their body look. I have to admit that I often thought of these types of people as ignorant muscle heads stoked up on steriods and protein powder. These are actually very knowledgeable people. They know their bodies, they spent countless hours in the gym working very hard, and they know anatomy and nutrition probably better than any doctor.
We survived week 9 and 10. I love sprints! Well I love them when I am done. In fact I often just sink to my hands and knees and thank God that I lived through another 30 of these. After an hour of recovery I feel great.
Starting April 20th we moved to week 11. It was leg day!!!! Leg workouts are great, but very intense. We are now doing the same weight lifting exercises, but longer sets of reps. Basically still building muscle, but working the muscle in a different way by causing more stress to them with the longer sets of reps.
That brings me to the current day April 21st. I am proud to say that I have lost 54.5lbs to date. I move through the gym with confidence because I know I look better, feel better, and I can navigate around the different machines easily. This can be intimidating for women in a gym full of men sometimes. I've made new friends too. I am finishing in second place tonight in the Repz Challenge having lost 25.5lbs in 8 weeks. I'm getting stronger physically and emotionally and I am looking forward to what is yet to come. I know I still have at least 40lbs to lose and some tough life decisions to make, but I am moving forward in a healthy way. Much healthier than I was even four months ago. I am also on my way to completing my bachelors degree which has been a struggle of late due to my new found passion of time at the gym.
So today I leave you with the start of my journey...and the current part of my journey. I will post weekly on my progress and share my thoughts and feelings throughout the journey. I hope to inspire at least one person to join the quest for physical and mental health. My new motto is now this...
I will beat her!!!!
This is a curret picture of me.
