Making Some Progress

So I had two back-to-back personal training sessions.  Today I can barely type.  Everything hurts.

During my session yesterday I came to the realization that I was having a bit of trouble making it through the workouts without getting down on myself.  I thought, "Man, I'm just so tired of sucking at all this." I talked to my trainer about it and told her how frustrating it was to feel so weak day after day.  I acknowledge that I'm only 9 sessions in... but that's 9 hours of feeling like a wimp.  Steph confidently told me I had been improving and she could see it.  She also pointed out that I'm not paying her to make easy work outs for me. True, true.  When we finished up the workout, she told me she would go back and look up what I did during my first workout with her and we would do it again. She guaranteed me it would be easy.

So when I met with her today (after running a mile on the treadmill - which I hadn't been able to do without A LOT of complaining and contemplating quitting just a few weeks ago) Steph told me we were going to do bits and pieces of my first two work outs... with a little tweaking to make sure I would still get a good workout today.

First up were planks with jumping jacks (plank position on hands and toes, then jump legs apart and together).   First session I had to do 10... and I barely made it through.  Today, I did 30. I was panting a bit, but I did them without stopping.  Yes! The second set of these today I had to add "up downs" where I go from being on two hands, down to my elbows, and back up again, in between each jack.

Second, sitting on the mat I leaned back about halfway (probably less than that at the end), knees bent, feet off the ground.  She tossed a medicine ball at me, I caught it, tapped it on the ground to the right then the left, and then tossed it back to her.  Three weeks ago I couldn't hold my feet up and we did 10 with a lighter ball; today I managed to keep my feet up and we used a heavier ball.  I admit I had to take a break or two though.

The session went on and on, the exercises became more and more difficult and less and less like my first session, but I got the point,  I've made some strides; gained some strength and endurance. Most importantly, I have had a mental shift from "there's NO WAY I can finish this and I don't want to try," to "I'll give it a go, not sure I'll make it through all the reps without stopping, but I can push through it."

It's nice to know these sessions are working. I'm getting stronger and learning an important lesson about what I am capable of doing.  Meanwhile, I can hardly move!

***I just took a photo of my sneakers since they are my training partners and are "with me every step of the way," but my camera battery died while trying to upload it.***

Remember that Weight Loss Goal?

So I got pretty distracted from my weight loss goal during September.  There was always something else to think about, focus on, and keep me out of the gym.  I honestly don't even know if I made it into the gym one time during the month.  Bah.

However, once we arrived in California, I was pumped to get back on track and continue where I left off. I had read a few friends' Facebook posts about great Zumba classes so I decided that was the gym I would join.  I'm proud to announce I am a new member of 24-Hour Fitness. I also decided that I had proved to myself (and the blogging world) that I can NOT do this on my own and decided to throw caution to the budget wind and hire a personal trainer.  When I was signing up I was pretty much putty in their hands and followed their suggestions.  I have a trainer hired for 3 days per week for 8 weeks.  It's go time.

Holy cow, I have NEVER worked out so hard in my entire life.  I used to think that I knew how to work out. I did not.  Steph has me doing box jumps, jump ropes, frog jumps, and wall jumps.  She has me doing regular planks, high-low planks, and (for the love of pete) walking planks.  She has me hating burpies, burpies, burpies, and more burpies. I've bear walked around the gym, sprinted then push-up-ed, boxed and kick-boxed, lunged throughout the cardio machines, ran on a treadmill, walked backwards on the treadmill, and even PULLED the stinkin' treadmill with my hands.

I used to be able to run a quick errand at Target after working out... not anymore, my friends.  I had to go buy new shirts to workout in because cotton tanks just don't cut it anymore.  I am a sweaty gross mess.  Pushing myself so hard and finding out what I am actually capable of is pretty awesome but I disgust myself with my own stench.

Tomorrow is my first measurement day since signing up two weeks ago.  I added one extra training session this past Saturday, so I have completed a total of 8 sessions with Steph.  I'm feeling stronger in just two weeks but am doubtful about the actual weight loss.  It usually takes a month or so to see the results show up on the scale so I have pretty low expectations.  I'm getting a lot of motivation from seeing a bit less pudge and a little more muscle, and have my sights set on FINALLY getting back to wedding weight!

'Til tomorrow....