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I've been wanting to do a weekly blog post for some time now. I decided that since I have been on this fitness journey for a while now, that I would write weekly posts on some aspect of fitness. Now when I say "fitness" I don't mean starving yourself to be a size 2 or trying the latest greatest diet fad. I mean changing your lifestyle to making healthy food choices a majority of the time and exercising your body. I have not reached my fitness goals yet, but I am working at it daily.
I think the best decision I have made when it comes to fitness is having a personal trainer. Someone who can help me figure out realistic fitness goals, hold me accountable to them and giving me the tools (exercise and food choices) to reach those goals.
Now I don't want you to think a personal trainer is going to be like your fairy godmother, who will wave her magic wand and poof, you're in shape. It took you more than a week to put on the weight, and it's going to take more than a week to get it off. You have to be patient, and not give up when you don't drop 13lbs in a week like they do on "biggest loser" That doesn't happen here in the real world. You may not lose any weight the first few weeks, but that doesn't mean your body isn't changing. You may find your clothes are fitting better instead. You may find yourself not getting winded after going up two flights of stairs. Things are changing, stick with it.
You also have to remember a personal trainer can't be with you 24/7 (unless you're very wealthy) to monitor what food you are putting into your body. You have to make the food choices, but if you write down what you eat every day in a journal, and bring it to your trainer, she can help guide you in the right direction. She may tell you that after seeing what you've eaten for a week, you may be eating way too many carbs and not enough protein, or vice versa. She may tell you that you have not been eating enough calories and your body is going into starvation mode and holding on to the weight, or maybe you're eating a few too many.
You still have to show up for your workouts, she can't be a puppet master and move your body for you. She is not there to be your friend during a workout. My personal trainer really is my friend in my everyday life, but when I'm there to workout, she's not my friend for that hour. Sometimes I don't like her during that hour. She doesn't pat me on the back and say "it's ok honey, that's good enough, you did your best, you can be done now." when I want to quit. Oh no, after 60 seconds of doing a wall squat and my legs are shaking and burning and I want to quit, she says "You got another 30 seconds to go, if you drop and quit, I'm going to add even more time!" "You can do this, focus!" Believe me, she will add more time. That is just what I need, someone to motivate me and push me further than I would push myself, not someone who will enable me to give up when I think it's too hard. I do get a "you did good, I'm proud of you." after I'm drenched in sweat and completely spent.
With the help of my trainer, Heather, I have lost 27 lbs, 12% body fat and 3 pants/dress sizes. How long did that take me? Well most of it I achieved in the last 6 months. The first year I trained with Heather, I worked out with her about twice a week, maybe once or twice a week on my own. I lost about 7 lbs and a pants size and dropped a bit in body fat. Now had I been making healthy food choices consistently I would have reached my goals last year. I would eat pretty good during the weekdays, and then on the weekends I would completely blow it and eat whatever I wanted. Now you're not going to reach your goals very quickly by only working out twice a week and not eating consistently. I also had to stop my training during the late spring and summer because of my kids' sports schedule. I tried to workout on my own at home, but I certainly did not push myself. I did maintain my loss during that time, so that was good.
In August, I decided to get more focused on my goals and be consistent in my training and eating. It has paid off. I was part of a "biggest loser" challenge with some other girls, and that helped motivate me as well. Our last weigh in was in February, and I'm sorry to say I was not the biggest loser. I lost by less than 1%. So close! I am hoping to reach my goal by summer. What exactly is my goal.....well it's not a number on the scale. It's a realistic size, and body fat percentage along with a few physical goals of being able to run a 5k and being able to do pull ups. That pull up goal may take a while, but I will achieve it! On Monday, Heather intensified my training and added some more to it.
Here is my training schedule as of now: don't be jealous :0P
Monday-1 hour of circuit training and 90 mins. of Muay Thai
Tuesday- couch to 5k program 30 min.
Wednesday- off
Thursday- 1 hour of circuit training
Friday- couch to 5k program 30 min. and 90 mins. of Muay Thai
Saturday-couch to 5k program 30 min. 1 hour of circuit training
Sunday-off
And because a blog post is always better with picutures, here's my before and after pictures from the last 6 months. Don't make fun of my workout look, or I may have to show you some of my Muay Thai moves. :0P
Looking at these photos motivate me to keep going, hopefully these posts will help motivate you to reach your goals as well.
I think the best decision I have made when it comes to fitness is having a personal trainer. Someone who can help me figure out realistic fitness goals, hold me accountable to them and giving me the tools (exercise and food choices) to reach those goals.
Now I don't want you to think a personal trainer is going to be like your fairy godmother, who will wave her magic wand and poof, you're in shape. It took you more than a week to put on the weight, and it's going to take more than a week to get it off. You have to be patient, and not give up when you don't drop 13lbs in a week like they do on "biggest loser" That doesn't happen here in the real world. You may not lose any weight the first few weeks, but that doesn't mean your body isn't changing. You may find your clothes are fitting better instead. You may find yourself not getting winded after going up two flights of stairs. Things are changing, stick with it.
You also have to remember a personal trainer can't be with you 24/7 (unless you're very wealthy) to monitor what food you are putting into your body. You have to make the food choices, but if you write down what you eat every day in a journal, and bring it to your trainer, she can help guide you in the right direction. She may tell you that after seeing what you've eaten for a week, you may be eating way too many carbs and not enough protein, or vice versa. She may tell you that you have not been eating enough calories and your body is going into starvation mode and holding on to the weight, or maybe you're eating a few too many.
You still have to show up for your workouts, she can't be a puppet master and move your body for you. She is not there to be your friend during a workout. My personal trainer really is my friend in my everyday life, but when I'm there to workout, she's not my friend for that hour. Sometimes I don't like her during that hour. She doesn't pat me on the back and say "it's ok honey, that's good enough, you did your best, you can be done now." when I want to quit. Oh no, after 60 seconds of doing a wall squat and my legs are shaking and burning and I want to quit, she says "You got another 30 seconds to go, if you drop and quit, I'm going to add even more time!" "You can do this, focus!" Believe me, she will add more time. That is just what I need, someone to motivate me and push me further than I would push myself, not someone who will enable me to give up when I think it's too hard. I do get a "you did good, I'm proud of you." after I'm drenched in sweat and completely spent.
With the help of my trainer, Heather, I have lost 27 lbs, 12% body fat and 3 pants/dress sizes. How long did that take me? Well most of it I achieved in the last 6 months. The first year I trained with Heather, I worked out with her about twice a week, maybe once or twice a week on my own. I lost about 7 lbs and a pants size and dropped a bit in body fat. Now had I been making healthy food choices consistently I would have reached my goals last year. I would eat pretty good during the weekdays, and then on the weekends I would completely blow it and eat whatever I wanted. Now you're not going to reach your goals very quickly by only working out twice a week and not eating consistently. I also had to stop my training during the late spring and summer because of my kids' sports schedule. I tried to workout on my own at home, but I certainly did not push myself. I did maintain my loss during that time, so that was good.
In August, I decided to get more focused on my goals and be consistent in my training and eating. It has paid off. I was part of a "biggest loser" challenge with some other girls, and that helped motivate me as well. Our last weigh in was in February, and I'm sorry to say I was not the biggest loser. I lost by less than 1%. So close! I am hoping to reach my goal by summer. What exactly is my goal.....well it's not a number on the scale. It's a realistic size, and body fat percentage along with a few physical goals of being able to run a 5k and being able to do pull ups. That pull up goal may take a while, but I will achieve it! On Monday, Heather intensified my training and added some more to it.
Here is my training schedule as of now: don't be jealous :0P
Monday-1 hour of circuit training and 90 mins. of Muay Thai
Tuesday- couch to 5k program 30 min.
Wednesday- off
Thursday- 1 hour of circuit training
Friday- couch to 5k program 30 min. and 90 mins. of Muay Thai
Saturday-couch to 5k program 30 min. 1 hour of circuit training
Sunday-off
And because a blog post is always better with picutures, here's my before and after pictures from the last 6 months. Don't make fun of my workout look, or I may have to show you some of my Muay Thai moves. :0P
Looking at these photos motivate me to keep going, hopefully these posts will help motivate you to reach your goals as well.
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