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!
May 9thEveryone has those days when nothing seems to click and everything seems to get under your skin. Well, a day or so I can handle, but a few of those days happened to line up for me this week. That got frustrating, starting on, ahem .. day three. I’ll chalk it up to mostly work related stress but there are some other things I could throw in the pot too. Overall, I think I did a pretty good job keeping positive all while lacking patience for myself. Going to the gym in the mornings did help. I knew I could go there and focus 100% mentally on what I was doing physically rather than stressing out about something arbitrary. I don’t like having to work on staying calm and exerting energy on that task.
I could have used some of that energy this week, it was my first week going 6 mornings in a row and my body is certainly feeling it. There is not one point of pain, just an overall soreness. Saturday though, my shoulders and arms were in pain after the last workout of the week. Either my body was waiting for the last day or it was feeling the many many reps of upper body exercises I had just completed. Dan and I worked out with DB Saturday and he had a great session planned. It was a day of 50 reps of upper & lower body exercises mixed in with short runs. The reps consisted of rowing, chest presses, various sit up moves, burpees, step ups with weights, leg presses and a few others. We’d do 50 reps each of 2 of the moves and then run 4 x walls (approx 40 yards/wall). All together there were 5 rounds and I went through it twice for a total of 10 rounds. So yes, soreness set in Saturday afternoon. It was also an excellent workout. I was telling Dan how I felt it was such an even combination of weights, resistance and cardio that with small breaks I could’ve kept going for another hour. It may have been done slower but I felt that I had the energy for it.
I’m feeling better today, rested up for next week. 6 days again and I hope to push 110% starting tomorrow morning.
April 17thFeeling pretty sore after my first week back. Just worked out 3 times this week and my muscles are sore! It feels good though because I know I am getting back into the routine. I know that the 2nd part of my weight loss journey has begun and I am on my way to getting back in shape. To reach my goal and enter maintenance phase. So I’ll take the soreness this week and do a lot of stretching and walking with Brady. The weather is really beautiful in Chicago now so more outside time.
It was also great seeing my friends this week and supporting each other through the workouts. It makes all the difference! I love it that they are such a positive group of people that have the same goal in mind, workout hard. We chat and laugh, of course, but our main goal is to workout as hard as we can and help each other achieve that and offer support. Ron, DB and Matt top that off with guidance, motivation and regimen. Boy did I miss them! In my last post I talked about the activities we did in Hawaii and I really didn’t think that we were being too lazy or anything but it just goes to show you, after getting back to TWR, what a real workout is. Nothing compares.
I’m thinking of doing the unlimited workout package for the next 2 months. TWR is running a special and it’s a great deal. I think I could do a lot of good with that and just pound it out hard for the next 2 months. I was thinking about doing just the 4 times a week like I did before we left for vacation but a couple of my friends are doing the unlimited and getting some awesome results. I am all about seeing results. Dan and I talked about doing it but haven’t decided yet, he’ll read this and find out, I have decided. As with my other decisions, somehow they all occur while I’m writing this blog. Maybe because I feel more accountable or I just get in the mood while writing this? I don’t know but it helps me and that’s the most important.
Can’t wait for summer! More updates to come ….
March 14thI learned a few things this week and one of those is that I am sorely in need of some new workout shoes. But, we’ll come back to that later. I want to update you on my progress this week.
My last entry was on Wednesday and I’ve had 2 workouts since then. Thursday was rockin’, I was feeling good and able to push myself. Saturday my calves were really sore. They tightened up Friday afternoon and I spent most of Friday afternoon massaging them and stretching them. They were a little better by Saturday’s workout but still sore. My personal trainer Saturday was DB and he showed me a few ways to ease the pain and he also adjusted my workout so that it would help loosen my calves up. The rest of my body was in good shape, I felt. Upper body went well and in general I felt good throughout the entire workout and felt that I had good energy the whole time.
Again I have to emphasize that going into each workout, as well as this whole process, with a positive attitude makes the night and day difference that lets me push myself to my max. I could spin this into a whole other topic but having all of this extra weight on me for the past few years has really put a toll on my emotional self. I don’t even think I noticed how bad it was until I began to change it. As of late I’ve been feeling like a caterpillar turning into a butterfly who’s just cracked its shell. I know I have such a ways to go in this process but I am certainly very happy that my emotional self has caught up with me and will now help me take it to the finish with a great attitude. If your brain works similar to how mine did, and you are constantly being negative to yourself about yourself, you can turn it around. You have the power to say anything you want to yourself. Choose to be positive and encouraging rather than self deprecating. It’s really as simple as that to start and by overcoming the hurdle of discouraging yourself, you will begin to do great things because you KNOW you deserve it!
After my workout Saturday I was feeling good, happy that I made it through my 4th workout of the week and accomplished that part of my goal. I still had enough energy in me to play a little Shaun White Snowboarding followed by a little Wii Fit Yoga. Both of those help me with my balance which I struggled with a little bit yesterday. I think that it was because of not enough sleep though because usually, I’m not that bad. I was leaning all over the place.
Now the nutrition: My diet this week consisted of a small portion of oatmeal, fruits or egg whites with tea for breakfast, for lunch I had either a salad or some plain chicken broth. Fruit and nuts sprinkled throughout the day for snacks, plenty of water and then steamed veggies and chicken, a salad or light whole wheat pasta for dinner. I only had a couple of cravings and I thought about what I would stand to lose if I indulged it and it quickly went away. If only everything were this easy. I also got busy with something else to take my mind off of it.
I lost 2.5lbs this week which is 1 lb more than my average weekly weight loss for the past 5 months. I’ll take that! I would like it to have been a little more but I’m happy about it and I do not want it to be out of control. (I think we have a long way to go before it gets ‘out of control’ 
) I will just have to see how I can push myself harder next week.
I have today off and it feels so good to relax the muscles!
Going back to the state of my sad little workout shoes, I have to just go out and get another pair. Now, I will say something pretty shocking here and that is…. I do not like to shop for shoes…. I know!!! What kind of woman am I? Well, the type that doesn’t like to buy a shoe to match each and every one of her emotions. (If you sense a little aggravation there then you are very perceptive.) Regardless, I have to go and buy some new ones and I think the sooner the better. The ones I’ve been wearing now are more for running only. I don’t know how they decide that but that’s what it says on the shoe and I need some more cushioning, support and balance. And I want them to be cute. Hey, I’m still a girl! So I’ll walk in, take a look around the ‘wall o’ shoes’ and let the battle of sensible vs. cute and supportive vs. sexy begin.
I think we all know who wins this game, right? Look for pictures this week to find out how I did with the shoes and my March Madness!!
March 10thMy 7am workout went great! I didn’t have too much trouble getting up at 6am, walked Brady and instead of driving up to the gym as usual I ran/walked the mile up. It became the first part of my warm up. I think I’ll do that next week too.
I worked out with Ron and we did a lot of 30on 30off stuff. 30on 30off basically means you do an activity, like rowing, running, weights or anything else and you do it hard for 30 seconds and then take a 30 second rest period. Ron is so fun to workout with and really motivates me. Monday Dan and I worked out with Matt and he had us doing a combination of 1 weight activity and 1 cardio activity alternating between the 2 for 10 minutes. Then a couple minutes of rest and then another combination for 10 minutes. That was a really great workout too. Oh yeah and no stairs today! My backside thanks you TWR
I had a fun and strong workout. The morning group is a blast! Then I walked home had some fruit and a cup of tea for breakfast and now it’s off to the trenches (i.e. work).We’ll be back in the gym Thursday night for (my) round 3. Stay tuned …
February 18thFinally I have a progress picture to share! Taken in our lovely hallway (where it’s not 20 degrees) 
Pictures Notes: I am really critical of myself and I put that aside to post this progress picture.I love my progress, don’t get me wrong. I haven’t felt better in years and I knowthat I am doing the right things. I just have hated taking pictures of myself these last few years and it’s really difficult for me to post it up for all to see. Especially the before picture below. Ugh! If that doesn’t motivate me to keep going to the gym and working out with the guys, I don’t know what would!
The picture on the left was taken in April 2009. We started working out at Train With Ron in October of 2009.
Birthdays & Valentines Day Notes: February is like the ‘perfect storm’ for us. It has been forever for me, but being with Dan it just upped it a couple of notches. Let me explain. Here are all of the birthdays I have going on in February; my older brother Gabor’s, 2 of my cousins’, Dan’s, our friend’s daughter Brooke’s. 3 friends and my own birthday. Add to that Valentines day and all I’m seeing is swirling & twirling cupcakes in my head. It’s hard not to with all of the celebrations. Oh and thanks February for the short month to squeeze all of this into!
The key is to be strong and think of the damage that could be done with going over board.
With that being said, Dan and I did celebrate my birthday with a nice sushi meal at Japonais. I love sushi! I added a couple of glasses of champagne and we split a dessert. That was the splurge. It made working out a bit more difficult the following evening but the motivation to erase any small amount of damage I may have done with my birthday meal was certainly my drive.
DB frequently talks to us about how changes in our diet can effect our workout and energy levels. This is so true. Smaller changes are harder to notice but it’s crazy how my body cannot handle the foods I used to eat a few months ago. Just having a slice of pizza or a soda will send my body into shock and I can even feel ill.
Closing notes: Dan and I are going to Hawaii at the beginning of April and we are looking to really shed some extra pounds over the next month and half. Not that I haven’t so far but if I can push myself even more at the gym, I will. It’s great to feel that now when I do pull ups on the bar I can actually do 6 in a row properly rather than the sloppy one I used to when I started.
Talk to you soon!
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