A personal training & food journal. Read about our weight loss progress at Train With Ron in Chicago, our nutritional habits and the life changes we're making to get in shape and stay healthy!
June 7thThe DJ Contest at TWR kicked off last week and there has been a lot of creativity flowing through the gym. Everyone competing handed in their 30minute mix and the CDs get played head to head each hour during our workouts. At the end of the hour, we vote and the loser is eliminated. No second chance, no recount … just cold elimination. Brrrr ~
The TWR DJ Contest Wall Bracket
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May 20thFebruary 16th was our last update and I feel I’ve let too much time go by. I’ve been busy, sure, but more than anything I’ve felt my progress slipping and my motivation draining. We’ve been going at this since November of ’09 and I have yet to reach my ultimate goal. My thoughts were that the last thing I want this blog to become is a place where I whine and moan. I want to inspire and motivate. So I didn’t write my feelings down thinking it won’t help anyone if I spread the negativity I felt. Truth is, that those types of struggles are the reality of so many people that maybe I was wrong not write during that time.
I wasn’t being vocal about my struggles with anyone and let it fester. I allowed myself to be convinced by my negative thoughts. I guess it was falling back on old habits. Bottom line, I’ve created the situation I am in and so I have complete control to get myself out of it. There is nothing wrong with getting stuck and asking for help. I shouldn’t take that as a sign of being incapable or inadequate. I realize how difficult it is to accept that as fact when you’re frustrated, depressed or just plain angry about a situation but I think you have to actually say the words to yourself over and over again so that you can accept it. You have to return to thinking positively. That’s easy to do when you’re feeling good and everything’s going well, but positivity is most effective when you are feeling down. I hope I can get back to being a little bit of that for you. (more…)
November 11thI think word got out that I’m back to feeling myself again. This week we put that rumor to the test. It has been the first week this past month that I’ve felt more positive. I’m glad, it’s really discouraging to have to talk myself into getting up in the morning and into the gym. It can happen so I’m glad I know I can push through it and get to the other side. Of course it hasn’t hurt that the weather’s been really nice. In the 60s and 70s, so running up to the gym is still not something to dread. I shouldn’t say that, but I just KNOW Chicago winters and … well let’s just say I’ll do my best.
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June 15thTwelve weeks ago I began doing the Pure Steel workouts with Matt on Tuesday nights. Tonight that program culminated in an attempt – two actually – at bench pressing 220 pounds, which would have been a personal record.
Would have been.
My warm up lifts were all strong, even the 205 felt great, but when I got 220 in my hands, I was too slow bringing it down… I got it up about half way, then hit the brick wall. On my second attempt, I eliminated the error of bringing the weight down too slow, but still hit the brick wall halfway up.
The good news: I did get 215 last week and have definitely gained (or regained) quite a bit of strength over these last 12 weeks. My physique has definitely improved, I have even lost a few pounds (6) while regaining this muscle and strength. After another round of Pure Steel, I should be able to bench my weight – which I hope will come down a few more pounds in the coming weeks. Additionally, I’ve been running the mile to and from TWR on lifting nights (I wouldn’t dare do that on the other nights – the cross training takes a lot out of me).
Today I got a great compliment on how I look from someone I don’t see too often – my boss. That felt awesome! I’m playing another show out this week and then no more shows for a month, which will give us time to gear up with new tunes and new attitude, and enable me to get into even better shape for summer shows! I hope to get some of my TWR friends to some of our shows this summer – we always have a blast… I’m not a marketing guru though, so I’ll have to put a bit more effort into that in the future.
Hope to see you at the gym soon!
March 21stOK, I’ll come right out with it, I weighed in earlier today but got unchanged numbers from earlier this week. I rubbed my eyes, turned up the light dimmer, leaned over and took a second look and yes, the numbers were the same. Which if I considered my official weigh in would be 1 pound lost this week. Does this make me a little bummed out? Yeah, it does, but I know that during this part of the month (oh that joyful time for women) I experience some weight increase so I’ll wait a couple of days to do another weigh in. I cannot let it get me down because I know my body weight can fluctuate, especially when it comes to measuring just a couple of pounds of difference. I’ll do an official weigh in in a couple of days instead and that should yield a far more fair number.
All in all though, it was a pretty good week. The weather here in Chicago was beautiful during the whole week, in the 60s, so I (and Brady) got more outside time and sun. Oh sun, how we’ve missed you! Saturday, not so great, we got a snow storm so it was a nice day to stay indoors and relax the muscles. Which I needed. My legs felt really heavy during yesterday’s workout. Not sore really, just heavy. Worked hard through it and got it done. I worked out side by side with a friend from TWR and we pushed each other continually. Our Personal Trainer was Matt Saturday and he made the workout really fun. What great motivation! I love it!
I also got in some snowboarding on the Wii this week. I’m kind of hooked actually 
. My convincing reasoning is that it helps with my balance, which it does, and that it also help the soreness in my legs when I have some. And yes, it is the most fun! So there… Add a few hours of that, yes a few hours, I told you I was hooked. Plus the extra 10-12 miles of walking/running, both back and from the gym and walking Brady everyday. I am fighting for every ounce lost! Hey, I didn’t put all of this weight on in just a couple of months and I won’t take it all off that fast either. I understand that, I’m just anxious.
As a woman, this time during the month is the toughest during this whole process. Not only the water weight and bloating I feel but a lot of emotional stuff comes up too. I start to feel a little down about my progress if it’s not where I imagine it to be. I have to work a little extra to get back the positive. Some old demons are still lurking in the background waiting to pounce on my weakness. It drains my energy and offers a plethora of sorenesses.
I look very much forward to getting a nice day of rest today and getting back into the gym tomorrow morning to get a good workout.
More updates coming in a couple of days.
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