No, I didn't fall off the edge...

I'm still hanging in there.  I did have a one pound gain last week, but my measuring tape is still looking very good.  We had a great workout last week running and stopping at different spots on the track to do push ups, crunches and step ups.

I never thought I would be letting a 22 year old girl tell me what to do, but this trainer is just so good that you want to please her.  If I hadn't gotten this gal I would not have known what a jewel a good trainer really is.  Her name is Chelsea and she gets to know her clients and she knows if they are serious about their health and workouts, or if they are just going through the motions.  She doesn't like to hear someone say "I can't" if they just don't want to do something, or if they just think it's going to hurt.  She can read folks really well, and knows that if I stop during an exercise, it's because I really need to stop.  I think her level of confidence is key.  There are some trainers that think that they have to push you beyond your limits to make you realize how out of shape you are and how much you need them.  Not Chelsea, the club did fitness and medical evaluations on us all and she studied them and made a custom plan for each of her teams.  If one team wants to swim she works that into their routine.  If you have some that are scared of bees, she doesn't suggest doing an outside workout.

But even with all this being said, having a great trainer is very important, but working out is not easy.  This has been a gradual process and each workout is hard and sometimes I make myself do it when I don't really want to, I mean after all it is only an hour.  But guess what, I feel so good later in the day, that it really is worth it.  My recovery time has gone from having to lay down when I get home, to actually "shaking it off" and hopping up to do something else.  Bottom line is I have so much more energy, it's almost unbelievable. 

Well, I won't bore you with how great I feel, cause I don't want anyone to be thinking that I think I'm all that because that really isn't the case.  I just feel good.  I'll be 58 in April and other than an occasional aspirin or acid reducer I take no meds. My cholesterol is excellent and my blood pressure is probably perfect.  Stay healthy, guys.  Who knows how long you might have to be around?  It might be like that old saying "If I'd known I would live this long, I'd have taken better care of myself".

Well, the weight loss teams are having a dinner tonight provided by Southern Foods at Home.  We will have to listen to a spiel, but it's free food and a fun get together with like minded folks.  I'll let you know how it is.

Until then, behave and get movin!

Half Way Point

Just a quick post to let you know that today is week seven of our fifteen week program.  Hubby and I have each lost 12 pounds and 12 inches.  I am still stunned that our trainer can challenge us each session.  Today, she put us on the super incline treadmill. It's actually a terrain trainer and the incline is intense.

I am telling you this bad boy will kick your....well, you know what I mean.  So we did a circuit on this machine, then the stationary bike and the stair climber,

We were supposed to be doing seven minutes on each, but I could only handle five minutes on this monster, even after reducing the speed.  It's intense, but it really does the job.  My legs are getting much stronger than they were.

After these machines, we did a walk-run for two laps and came back to do a circuit of step, punching and a neat thing called a TRX suspension strap.  You can do lots of exercises with this piece of equipment.  I chose to do a kind of pull up, with my body at an angle, pulling my weight up.  Hard, but doable.

My exercise was similar to this, except I kept both feet on the ground in front of me and pulled up.  Two more laps around the track followed this. Then we finished up with 80 crunches. Yep, I did 80 crunches.  We ended the session with a lovely stretching sequence.

We were feeling good, so after class I did six more laps of walk/run and then shot hoops on the basketball court for about 15 minutes.  When I started shooting with the hubby, I couldn't make a basket from the foul line.  Now I shoot from there regularly. Years of playing H.O.R.S.E. on the court across from the house as kids finally paid off.

Well, that's my report for this week.  Hope everyone is have a great week and is motivated to get moving.  Take care and remember to listen to your body.  If it says "stop, I'm feeling bad", listen to it.

Have a great weekend!

Quick post

Just a quick post. Weigh in was today, dropped another pound. Total of 10 since we started the weight loss challenge on Feb 1st. Today we jumped rope, punched the bag, did a couple of laps and plenty of core work. Add that to the usual cardio that we start out with and it equals a great workout!

Getting ready to go get a pedicure as a little reward.

Hope everyone is having a great week.  I'll be back soon with more interesting bits and bobs.  Talk soon.

...and I'm paying someone to do this?

Yep, I'm actually paying someone to guide me (read, torture) through some of the hardest exercises I've ever done.  Today we did lateral squats, all the way around the track.  Oh, did I mention we had a flat rubber band on our legs at the time? 

Honestly, I'd say we did between 100 and 200 of these traveling squats.  Stretch and squat, stretch and squat. This was after our usual 15 minute warm up on the elliptical.  Then we went to the top of the stairs of the building, three flights with landing between each set of steps.  Had to "run"  the steps, then do exercises on the landings.  When we got to the bottom, then we had to go back up the stairs two at a time.  I have to admit I flaked out on several of the exercises, but I did alternate ones.  Instead of doing knee push ups on the concrete floor, I opted to do wall push ups, which are still pretty intense.  I was ok doing jumping jacks on that landing, but doing the burpees/squat thrusts was impossible, so I did more wall push ups.  On the way back up, I did take two of the flights two steps at a time, using the handrail.  One of the flights I just walked up.  I thought several times that I might upchuck, but I didn't.  You know what?  I'm glad I did this. Maybe it's because I took a green tea extract supplement, but I feel great and still very energetic.

Hubby and I went to Ruby Tuesday's and had a celebratory meal.  Finishing this workout was worth the extra calories that I intentionally consumed.  Not only was the celebration because we finished the workout, but for me it was because I lost another pound.

So that's nine pounds in four weeks and I've got ten more weeks to go.  I'm pumped.  I'll probably be sore tomorrow, but it's all part of the big picture.

Ummm, and how was your day??