I officially know what Sore to the Core means after training with Emilee last week. Emilee is amazing, it seems like she can look at you and immediately pinpoint your trouble areas and then tailors a workout to hit it. Last week I worked out twice with Emilee and twice on my own and I was SPENT. Emilee is so knowledgable about training and nutrition the workouts fly by and I leave sore, armed with a new nutrition tip, and a overall good feeling. There are times I really feel I cannot complete what she is asking but I keep at it and Emilee is always positive about what I just did. I didn’t have the best weekend, I got off track a bit, but today is a new day and new week. I workout with Emilee tonight, have the 3rd weigh in tomorrow..I guess you could say it is my “last chance workout!” Until tomorrow.
December – Ba Humbug
The holiday season is a tough one to maneuver when you’re trying to watch what you eat. My saving grace has been the xbike classes and working out with Kate.
Her latest trick is to have me do everything for a full minute. No more of this 12 or 14 rep stuff.
And a minute can seem to last a really long time when you’re
doing crunches on the slant board. But for the most part I like the routine. It goes by very fast (other than the slant board and planks). We did a lot of arm and back work on Monday. Those are my favorite exercises to do.
Lots of gratification — I’ve just about doubled the weight I can lift compared to when I started two months ago. That feels so good. I love the fact that I am so much stronger than when I started. And I’m blown away at my stamina overall. I can run longer and faster on the treadmill. 5 miles an hour isn’t such a big deal anymore. I wouldn’t have imagined that a month ago. My exercise routine is pretty solid.
Love working out with Kate and I’m a total junkie
for the xbike classes. But that xbike will always be a love/hate relationship. It hasn’t gotten any easier, but I know I get a terrific cardio workout. And I feel great when it’s over. I can handle an hour of torture!
I’ve just got to get a better handle on the food intake. Kate gave me some great suggestions.
Just have to follow them. I’m going out to dinner tonight and I’m a little nervous about it.
My portion control isn’t the best. But I get weighed in tomorrow, so I’ll be watching it tonight.
Plan on skiing this weekend. I imagine my legs will be in pretty good shape, what with all the lunges I do each week.
More later…………
Posted in Uncategorized Leave a comment
Yikes – Another Weigh In
Boy do weigh ins produce anxiety. Especially after the month I’ve had. Nothing like stepping on a scale during the holiday season. Frankly I probably prefer gum surgery. But then….the anxiety drops. The results were better than I thought they’d be. Kate really gives me terrific
guidance on managing expectations. And how to read the results properly. Here’s the deal -
I didn’t lose any weight, but I dropped another 1 percent in body fat! I was delighted with that.
I’m going to listen to Kate more closely in the future. We “laymen” are so focused on the pounds, when in fact the true result lie in body mass. I can buy into that. My weight does tend to fluctuate. But there’s no question my clothes fit much better. And of course I’ve done a bit of retail therapy. Have gone down a size. The key is to keep it there.
The leve of intensity during the workouts is crucial. I simply do a much more vigorous workout now. With Kate for sure,
but more importantly when I’m left to my own devices I’m pushing myself much harder.
I know I need to stay focused over the next month. I’m not going to deprive myself of some holiday treats. But I will step up my workout routines. Today I plan on buying a cross country ski set. I use to cross country when I lived in Montana. That’s one heck of a workout. Since we are going to be in the mountains a lot over the holidays I want to make sure I’m getting my workouts in…one way or the other!
Posted in Uncategorized Leave a comment
Setback
Last Week I had a weigh in – some disappointing news. I didn’t even lose an entire pound…and I actually gained .75 of an inch around my waste. It’s very discouraging when you feel like you are working hard, and you get no results.
During my next workout Emilee said I needed to start writing down my food again, and that we were going to take a good look at what I was eating. As we get older our body changes the way it breaks things down. It’s going to take more than just exercise to reach my goal of 20lb weight loss.
Posted in Uncategorized Leave a comment
Nutition: The Awakening
I feel like something clicked inside my head . I sat with Emilee for an hour, going over my food log and really trying to find where my problem is. I have come to really enjoy working out, so the challenges of actual exercise was not the obstacle…it is definitely food!
According to my discussion with Emilee, I discovered I looked at food as a battle- struggling between what I couldn’t have anymore, and feeling guilty if I ate anything that wasn’t “purely” good for me. She said if I kept looking at food this way it would be a battle I would never win. She said if I stay on this path, what happens is you eat what you “should” eat, and then you eat what you “want” to eat…essentially eating twice as much. Now this approach to food is not the same for everyone, everyone is different…some people can do the “super strict” food cuts…I discovered I can not. I will fall off the wagon each time, and find myself biting into a juicy cheeseburger and fries! So what I have to do is find what works for me and take responsibility for me.
Emilee gave me this great quote that essentially said you have to take responsibility for yourself. You gained the weight and only you can take it off. It’s not the trainer, or your spouse/partner’s responsibilty to get the weight off you, or make your eating choices for you. It’s not your children’s schedule, or work that decide if you get to work out , or what you are going to eat. At the end of the day, at every point where a decision needs to happen concerning your ability to excercise and what you are going to eat…you have the final say!
During our conversation I could feel the weight of guilt being lifted off me. We figured out what my calorie breakdown is by meal, and overall for the day…and it was up to me to take responsibility for it…if I decided to eat 4 snicker bars as my food for the day and it’s under my caloric allowance that is my decision – it’s highly NOT recommended – but I have to take responsibility for making that choice. Can I have a splash of creamer in my coffee ( because I can’t do straight black coffee) yes, but I have to take responsibility and account for the 25 calories in that creamer, and at the end of the day make sure I don’t go over my calories for the day.
It’s been a week now, but I like this, and I am discovering I can eat way more of the good stuff than if I eat the bad. And there are a lot of good recipes out there that are good for you, and taste great!
Thank you Emilee for helping me see nutrition in a different light, this has made a huge impact on me!
24
The girl is in love with the number 24…and on top of that she is an excellent counter!
If there are two words to describe Emilee Jones from a trainee perspective it would be…24 and LUNGES. We do every exercise 24 times, and if it’s not an ab exercise, it is some exercise with lunges incorporated into it somehow. She had me doing these reverse lunges followed by pulsing lunges and and an overhead shoulder press. I swear she had lit a match and jammed it into each one of my thighs…BURN, UGH quads on FIRE – but I did it, and cursed a little under my breathe. She followed with some abs to give my legs a momentary break…by adding a small inflated disc shaped object right under my lower back, she turned simple crunches into torture. During my second set, I couldn’t do more than two without stopping. It felt like she was punching me in the gut. When I was done with those…it was back to lunges. My legs were tired, but when I was done I felt great. She said something to me when I was warming up, that will stick with me forever…especially when working out and it seems hard and or impossible…She said “don’t under estimate your super powers”. I love that line, 3 months ago I can admit I was scared to push myself for fear of failing. Now I accept whatever the trainer challenges me with, and if I don’t get it right the first time, or if it’s so painful I have to stop and regroup so be it. I just do it again!
Back to Work
I am now back from the Thanksgiving Holiday chaos fest…but I’m happy to report I managed to get in 3 workouts that week. Which is pretty good considering I had my mother, father, sister, nephew, niece, brother -in-law, and Mother-in-law all staying at my house Saturday to Saturday. I also cooked Thanksgiving dinner, and took my mother to the ER, because she came down with Pneumonia while visiting me – oh the holidays! I never thought I’d say this but thank God for my workouts. I think my workouts where my only moments of sanity that whole week.
Now begins a new week, and a new trainer – Emilee Jones. I have to admit I was scared at first. I have taken her X-bike and Cardio Quickie classes, and they are no joke – she is all business. You are there to do work and she gets fired up and loud during her classes…but to train with her is a totally new experience. You can tell she loves what she does, she wants to truly help you reach your goals and she gets the most she can out of you during a workout. It amazed me that with minimal weights, I was still getting an awesome (hard) workout. Emilee had me on the ground with my knees bent and feet up against the wall, she placed a ball between my legs and had me squeeze (think Suzanne Summer Thigh Master!) for what seemed like 100 times. All I can say is my inner thighs are still soar 4 days later. It does feel good to be back into my regular routine…it’s surprising how much a holiday disrupts your workouts, and your motivation.
Emilee & I talked a bit about nutrition because it’s a struggle with me EVERYDAY! With having all those people in my house it was a challenge to eat well. We decided to meet next week to talk about it in more depth. I train again with her this week - I hope I survive.
Why it’s Different
I may or may not have mentioned before that I have gained and lost the same 25-30 pounds at least 3 times in the last 7 years. I have in the past struggled with keeping the weight off, I get lazy, quit working out start to eat bad again etc. I told a friend of mine that it is different this time. I started to think of why it is different. I have come up with a few answers. First, the other times I lost the weight I did some sort of crash diet and insane exercise program that even Ms. Olympia could not keep up on. Next, I am losing the weight WAY slower. I feel like I have adopted a lifestyle not a starvation diet. Lastly, I really think the Matrix trainers have been a HUGE factor. I don’t mean because I am commited to meeting them therefore I workout. I mean they are instrumental in changing how I have taken my health into my hands. The working out is for my health and lifestyle to live longer and be stronger. Kudos to Matrix for having such amazing trainers!
Posted in Uncategorized Leave a comment
Survived Thanksgiving (I think)
The holidays are always a challenge. Too much food, too many parties. And then you throw travel into the mix. It’s challenging at best. And this year I decided to go to London to spend time with family. Had a wonderful time. But I truly tried to be mindful of what I was eating most of the time. Luckily I’ve developed some good exercise habits which helped offset some of my calorie intake. I made a concerted effort to walk everywhere. That made a huge difference. I’ll bet I walked 8-9 miles each day.
In addition to getting terrific exercise it’s a great way to really sightsee.
I hit the ground running once I got back to Denver. Luckily since I had jet lag I was up bright and early Monday and Tuesday so I hit the gym pretty hard. Today I had a session with Kate. Every time I see her she comes up with different ways to challenge me. God knows I’m never bored with my workout sessions. Today’s was great…hard, but great. Kate really knows how to mix it up. And I think it all helps with jet lag too. I found I didn’t miss a beat even with a 7 hour time difference…
in London or Denver. Tomorrow another lovely Xbike class at 6am. I do feel motivated since I kinda fell off the diet bandwagon on Thanksgiving. Just have to work that much harder to keep the results I’ve gotten thus far. I can really tell a difference. All this hard work is paying off. I plan on buying a couple of new outfits for the holiday parties…that’s always a great reward.
Posted in Uncategorized Leave a comment
How Many Squats Can a Person Do?
I’m always amazed at how each workout is so unique. Kate never repeats herself. That keeps
me guessing…and definitely not bored. This morning we pretty much did a salute to squats.
All different kinds of squats. On boards, on bosu balls, against the wall, lunges…you name it. I know I really going to feel it tomorrow. I keep reminding myself how much better I look in jeans these days! It’s all so worth it. After doing all that leg work we moved onto arms, shoulders and back. To be honest that seems kinda easy compared to leg work. But Kate managed to load on more weight than I’ve had in the past…she just won’t cut me any slack. As tough as it is while I’m doing all these exercises the feeling I have once I’ve finished is pretty much a tremendous sense of accomplishment. I’m going to do the xbike class in the morning…can’t wait to see how I feel. Then a workout with Kate tomorrow night. Trying to get as much in as possible before the holidays. I’m planning on a lot of skiing over the holidays so I really want to be in strong shape for those bumps. I love feeling this strong. Can’t remember when I’ve been in this good a shape. Just got to keep up these newly acquired habits. Next week I think I’ll check out a body sculpting class. I never thought I could change my body’s shape as much as I have. Keeps me coming back for more.