Using a Personal Trainer pays off!

So, if any of you are waivering on if to find a personal trainer- I say "go for it". You will not be dissapointed. My husband did just that back in September and the results are amazing. You get pushed to fatigue and it feels great. Yes, I do feel like I want to die or throw up, which I have by the way- thrown up- not die.

The workouts are hard, but you feel better about yourself and you feel as if you have accomplished something beyond your potential. You push yourself beyond your comfort zone and it feels good.

Our trainer uses no expensive machines. She brings an exercise ball, medicine ball and some strength bands and that is it. We use our own body weight to lose weight- it's true! We do pushups, pullups, lots of core exercises, bench dips, shoulder presses, bicep, tricep curls, core exercises, ab exercises- did I mention core exercises, and lots of wall sits (ouch!). It is all good.

Here is my progress from the last 3 months.

Upper Arm- 11 3/4(sep), 11 1/2(Oct), 11 1/2(Nov)
Chest- 43 (sep), 42 (oct), 40 3/4 (nov)
Waist- 37 1/4 (sep), 36 1/2 (oct), 34 1/2 (nov)******3 inches********
Abd- 41 1/2 (sep), 39 1/4 (oct), 36 1/2 (nov)******5 inches********
Hips- 40 3/4 (sep), 40 3/4 (oct), 40 1/4 (nov)
Thigh- 23 1/2 (sep), 23 1/2 (oct), 23 1/4 (nov)
Calf- 16 (sep), 15 1/2 (oct), 15 1/4 (nov)
weight- 182.8(sep), 184(oct), 174.8 (nov)

I am very pleased with my results. I am working hard to lose another 10 lbs by Christmas.

Sickness continues............

My trainer came by today and I had to tell her the bad news of not being able to work out. My husband told me that he had canceled with her, but I think he just forgot. I told her that we would start again on Monday as I am still sick and in no shape to exercise. She understood and went on her way.

It seems like whenever I start an exercise program I get really sick in the beginning and have to quit because of my illness. This time though I won't give up. Once I am feeling better I will get back on track.

Back in January of 2004- I hired a personal trainer who basically just told us to exercise and got us on a diet plan that worked for her. Once again I got sick and it turned in to pneumonia-plus I had a severe sinus infection and I was sick from January to May. I wasn't allowed outside as the air would bring on my coughing, so I stayed indoors and couldn't do much. We didn't continue with her as she went on to compete in body building and needed all her time to train, so here I am 6 years later trying to get in shape once again. This time is different- because I can see how following a healthy lifestyle brings good benefits.

Here is to healthy eating, healthy habits and a healthy lifestyle!

Sick

Today was supposed to be training day #7, but I have contacted the back to school flu that the kids bring home every year. My husband has told me over and over again to take my vitamins more faithfully. As you can read here- I haven't been that faithfull, so here I am sick and not able to exercise. The first two days of the illness I was in bed- everytime I got up I was dizzy and nauseated. The first day I had a very bad sore throat and I drank lots and lots of water to flush out my system- it seemed to help as the next day my sore throat was gone, but now I have congestion in my nose and that lasted two days and now I am coughing violently. Infact my back and chest are so sore from coughing. Yes, I am humbled now to know that vitamins and minerals are good for us. My husband takes large quantities of Vitamin D and hasn't had a major cold in years. There must be truth to that.

So, training Day#7 didn't happen.

Training day #6

Well I survived the first two weeks. I will go in two week increments until I reach my goal. My first goal is to weigh 179 lbs. Look what all that junk eating and lack of exercising does to oneself. Anyway it is time to press on and just look towards the future and to push myself to be better.

The workout today wasn't as bad as I thought it would be as yesterday was my birthday and we traveled to the states to go to the temple and do some shopping. I ate pretty good and didn't binge. I didn't even snack at Costco, so that is a bonus right there.

Had a good warm up with lunges, jumping jacks, burpee's- then on to wall sit, push-ups, pull-ups, bench dips, plank, ab work, band exercises - I am sure I am missing some, but she pushes us for about 60 minutes till we can't do anything else. We have a nice cool down stretch then off to begin our day. I usually then go and make a protein smoothie with blueberries.

Here is to healthy eating, healthy friends and to a healthy lifestyle!

Training day #5

Wow! I feel great- my trainer is amazing and she knows how to push your body so you actually gain from the intensity. Once again- I did burpees, lunges, ab work, bench dips, push-ups, pull-ups, wall sit, plank, band exercises for biceps, triceps, shoulders and back.

It was a good day today. I had a nice work-out yesterday on my off day- I did hill training for 20 minutes.


My waist is getting slimmer and my legs are getting stronger. I think you might even see some calf muscles in there somewhere.

Training day #4

Never and I say never- take a cheat meal and turn it into a whole day. What does that do? Well for starters once you start snacking you can't stop- it is like a smoker not smoking for a while and then having just one smoke and the next thing he knows is that the pack is gone. Note to self- "no future binging"- it doesn't do any good- it just makes it so you have to work that much harder.

On that note- my workout this morning was hard and I had no energy- my trainer asked me "if I cheated", which means meal wise- I told the truth and she just shook her head and then continued to work me hard. After just the warm up I was about to pass out, so what I learned from this experience- is don't punish your body just because you are weak.

I survived the fourth day of training. I did burpee's, bench dips, plank, lunges, pull-ups, push-ups, ab work, and exercise with the bands. It is amazing how you can work your body so hard that you can't give anymore- and it is using your own body weight. Amazing!

Training Day #3

Well I survived another hour with Kate. This is a typical session that consists of warm up, cardio, strength training, balance, core training, push ups, burpee's(which I don't like), wall sit, calf raises, bench dips. It's hard, but feels good. On a scale to 1-10 I was at a 9 with almost wanting to throw-up. It is all good.

I will now go and plan out my meal plan. It's going to be a great day!