No More Plus Size … eventually

I’m totally embarassed…yeah I’m feeling like that picture to the left! Ok so maybe I’m not feeling like a monkey but whatever. lol

Ok so there’s been this guy that has been at the gym every night lately and he’s super cute. But he’s been with a girl so I assumed it was his girlfriend. The girl and I have smiled at each other a few times and tonight we ended up talking.

When I first got there she was waiting for HIM to get there and we started talking about how she started coming to the gym. Her brother, her B-R-O-T-H-E-R (notice that word? LOL I sure did!) bought her a membership and has been her workout buddy.

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Last night when I posted my Weight Watchers weigh in post I mentioned in the beginning that I was upset when I got to the meeting because of my son’s dad. It’s a long story and I don’t feel like writing it all out. But it boils down to the fact that because our son is getting a D- in math I’m a lousy parent and obviously not doing what I need to do (kind of funny that I’m the one that sits and does math homework with him every night but yet I’m NOT doing what I need to be doing).

Anyways he made me cry…a LOT. Once again he betlittled me and made me feel like a piece of sh*t (too bad I still ALLOW him to make me feel that way but it’s so hard to not feel like crap when you’re being told once again about how poor your parenting skills are).

It was no fun going to my WW meeting that upset. As soon as it was over my first reaction was to hit McDonald’s on the way (get this) to the gym. Fortunately I sped past and didn’t turn in. Then I was going to skip the gym but thankfully my best friend talked some sense into me and ‘made’ me go.

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I think sweat is gross but yet I like it…if I’m working out.

Did that make any sense?

I hate sweating unless I’m working out. If I’m working out and not sweating then I feel like I’m not getting a workout in. So the sweatier I get the more I like it

So, seems how I’m not talented enough to show the sweaty proof from the back & front of my shirt…this will have to do.

Normally I don’t wear a hat when I workout (and now I know why…my head was way too hot in that thing!). But if you look closely you can see a couple of the light colored pink areas – those are the ‘normal’ color of the hat. The rest is my heard earned SWEAT

Gross…I know! But hey I earned bragging rights to that sweat

I received the most amazing blessing ever. I was just given a 4 month membership to the gym I used to go to – Snap Fitness. I had just started Weight Watchers this past Thursday and I was trying to figure out a way to budget in going back to the gym but it just wasn’t working. So, imagine how amazed I was when I found out about getting the membership for the next 4 months!

I knew that fitness wise I was basically starting over from scratch. I went and walked the local track this past Friday and it was NOT pretty. After 3 laps around I had to stop. I was miserable. My back hurt, my shins hurt, my calves hurt and my hips hurt. I was so out of breath and was having a hard time catching my breath. It was definitely a little hard to ‘accept’ that because I couldn’t stop thinking about how just a few short months ago I was running on the treadmill, walking 3 miles, doing 3 miles on the elliptical…it was just hard to realize how bad things had gotten again.

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It’s so easy to ignore this blog when I’m not completely 100% on board the healthy lifestyle/exercise train…and I haven’t been since Memorial Day Weekend which has been almost 1 full month now.

I feel crappy. I’m tired. I think about food 24/7 again. I eat one meal only to think about when and what the next one will be. I eat crap – fried foods, chips, junk, etc – again all the time. I crave sugar. I’m moody (that has to do with more than just my diet…I have some health issues right now causing my hormones to be all out of whack) and once again I’m finding the only thing that makes me happy is when I’m eating. I pig out in secret – when no one’s around to question or call me out on it.

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This time of year tends to be a bittersweet time of year for me. You see my son has been spending a lot of time (last summer it was 6 straight weeks!) the last few years with his dad during the summer. So while I’m always sad to see him go I also look forward to the break (I used to feel like a bad mom for saying I needed a break or looked forward to a break but not anymore…parenting, especially single parenting is H-A-R-D! While I wouldn’t trade it for the world, these breaks are something I need so that I can ‘regroup’ and take some much needed ME time).

This time around I’m really looking forward to the break because I’m going to start some seriously intense gym time! I’ve set a goal of going 5 days a week…that’s more than I’ve done so far. I’m looking forward to having the ‘free’ time to go to the gym as frequently and at what ever time I want. I have no doubt that going 5 days a week won’t be a problem because I still love the gym and working out there.

While I will miss my son this summer I need this ‘break’ more than ever right now. I have got to get back on track with making me and my health a priority! I’ve let it slip lately and it’s time to be ‘selfish’ again and focus on me!

My son leaves for his dad’s this evening so I’ll be hitting the gym later tonight and am going to log some serious mileage on the elliptical and treadmill tonight!

P.S. That pic above is from May 7th after a seriously intense workout (I LOVE all the sweat!!!! lol) at the gym.

This is a guest post by Lisa Thomson who writes for Plus Size Survival.  It is part two in a five part blog tour.

I can’t afford to eat healthy.  I don’t have time to go to the gym. My family needs me. I need to get my sleep.  I can’t afford a gym and even if I could, I’m too big and out-of-shape to go. It doesn’t matter if I lose weight…I’ll still have to wear the same clothes because I don’t have money for new ones. I’ve failed before and I’ll fail again.

How many times have you said one of those phrases to yourself?  If you’re like me, chances are great that one or more of those phrases has been echoing in your mind for a long time.  And the sad truth of the matter is this:  Those excuses are just excuses. While there may be some underlying truth in each of them, most of them are things you can change.

In this series What’s Your Excuse?  Common Excuses That Keep Your From Losing Weight, I am going to focus on 5 of the most common excuses I hear that keep people from losing weight.  I’ll share the things I’ve learned that have turned those excuses around and have helped me shed over 35 pounds.

Common Excuse #2:  I can’t afford a gym.

Although it’s true that gym memberships can be expensive, you don’t have to join a gym to lose weight.  There are plenty of things you can do that don’t cost a lot of money!

Workout Videos – Workout videos can be purchased online or at a local retailer, borrowed from the library, streamed on Netflix, or borrowed from friends.  I’ve even been able to snag some great ones at garage sales.

Here are a few of my favorite workout DVDs that I have found for under $10.

• Jillian Michaels – 30 Day Shred
• Leslie Sansone – Walk Away the Pounds
• Any of the Biggest Loser Workout DVDs

Couch to 5 K Running Program – This program is designed to turn even the laziest of couch potatoes (or overweight non-exercisers like me) into a runner!  It’s a 2 month program that will take you from being a non-jogger to consistently jogging 3 miles (or 5k) in only 2 months.  I adore this program and got my whole family on board.  It was fun to watch all of us get stronger, run faster, and start to enjoy the process.

Take the Hundred Push-Up Challenge! Push-ups are a great full body exercise that work your shoulders, triceps, abs and torso.  This program is designed to get you all the way to 100 consecutive push-ups!

Make your own weights! You can use soup cans, water bottles, milk jugs filled with water, or anything else you can find around your house.

Use the Stairs! No, I don’t mean take the stairs instead of the elevator, I mean walk or jog up and down your stairs 3 times in a row (or 5 times).  Better yet, head out to your local high school stadium and take advantage of those steps.

Grab a friend or family member and take a walk! Don’t take a leisurely stroll, get those arms pumping and get that heart rate up.  This can be a great time to bond with someone you care about while taking care of yourself too!

You can totally do this!  Make exercise a priority in your life.  You’ll feel better and look better!

If you missed Common Excuse #1, check it out here.

It’s official I have turned into a gym rat. I think about working out 24/7. I hate sweating but at the same time I love it…figure that one out! I love how I feel after a hard core workout session. I even love (gulp) lifting weights!

Here’s me showing a couple awesome peeps how to use one of the machines:

Here’s Me Being An Attention Whore & Bragging About All This Sweat…because I worked my a** off & earned the right to brag And yes that is a towel on my head…don’t ask cause I don’t have a good answer as to why it’s there other than my hair was dripping with sweat & I couldn’t stand it in my eyes any longer! lol

I never knew I’d end up loving the gym/working out so much!

I had an 11am appointment today at the gym with one of the certified personal trainers. He showed me how to properly use all the weight machines (I’ve really got to get past the mindset that lifting weights makes you all bulky like body builders and he addressed that concern for me but I’ve still got it stuck in my head that I’m going to bulk up like Heman or something) and set me up with a workout goal for the next week or two of how much weight I should be lifting on each machine as well as how many reps he wants me doing on each machine.

I kind of had mixed emotions about him. Don’t get me wrong he was very knowledgeable when it came to the machines, how to do them properly, what each machine worked, etc but I just didn’t feel like I had a connection with him. I guess that’s how I can best describe it. He was super friendly and nice but I just didn’t “feel” it.

But then at the end of our session when I was talking to him about my shins hurting so bad he went and got another trainer Kelli and oh my gosh let me just say she ROCKS. She’s freaking AMAZING. There’s not other way to put it. The woman knows her stuff and I instantly connected with her. She spent probably a good 30 minutes with me addressing my shin and calve issues, showed me stretches to do to help the shin splints and then when I got done doing my 5k on the treadmill she went and did some more stretches with me. The other thing I really loved about her was that she’s an avid runner herself and said she would love to help me reach my goal of running a 5k one of these days!

The one thing I didn’t like, even though in my head I totally know she’s right, was that she was a little concerned with how bad my shins were hurting and me doing the 5k on the treadmill all the time. She said she totally gets me wanting to do it every time I use the treadmill but right now I need to slow down and heal the shin splints first before continuing on with the long distances like that or else I’m going to end doing more damage and not being able to do anything.

So I’m pretty sure that in the future I will be using her as a personal trainer! But for now she told me the days she works and to just catch her when she’s there!

There’s just something about the idea of doing a shorter time and shorter distance on the treadmill that freaks me out. I guess it makes me feel like I’m taking a step backwords or something but everything she explained to me made total sense. I am in a lot of pain right now – I’m propped up in the chair with my laptop so I can ice my shins because they hurt so bad – and I do not want to do more damage and end up not being able to do anything at all. So I’m going to do what she recommended I do and work on lifting weights for the next couple weeks.

So all in all I’m totally pleased with the outcome of today. I’m definitely even more happy now with my decision to join the gym and know how valuable of an investment the monthly fee really is going to be!

Yeah for certified personal trainers! Woo hoo

…joined the gym.

I know I probably should have waited until my 7 days free trial was up before making the decision but it’s just too good of a deal to pass up.

The trainer I talked to on the phone yesterday was awesome – very knowledgeable, helpful, full of energy, positive and I just really hit it off with her. I have a free consultation with her on Friday at 11am with her and I’m really hoping that her fees are reasonable – the lady at the gym today told me what she thought the trainer fees were and if that’s correct they are totally doable!.

And the facility is top notch – of course it’s only like 4 months old. Excellent equipment, nice and clean, lots of resources (classes, etc) available too.

I took the treadmill for a spin today. It was awesome! I did the 5k (3.1 miles) workout on there and pushed myself harder than I do when I walk at home. I tried to maintain a pace of 3.2 miles per hour (had to go slower a few times so I could catch my breath). A couple times I did 3.6 and 3.7 miles per hour. But most impressive was the couple times (30 seconds each) I ran at 4.0 miles per hour. By the time it was all said and done (warm up and cool down included) I clocked 3.27 miles in 60 some minutes (I forgot the exact time & I wish I could  remember because I’m going to start writing this info down so I can keep track of how I’m doing).

I wasn’t too sure about adding the expense every month of a gym membership but then I got to thinking about it and this isn’t an expense…it’s an investment. An investment in continuing to take back control of my life and get rid of this weight and unhealthiness once and for all