It started when I found a Groupon in June for this place up the street from my work called: "Fitness and Motion" - I took a chance & started the first week of July. I completed the time outlined in the deal, about 4 weeks, and felt amazing.... so I continued through all of August by myself with at-home vids (love me some Jillian) and occasional running here & there. I did pretty well...losing about 5-6lbs over that 2 month period.
Then my trip to visit my sis in AR came & when I got back...I kinda fell off the fitness wagon...and knew I needed to get back into a routine.
I gained a couple lbs through September, but mostly felt so lazy - my energy had declined since I wasn't doing much physical activity. Then at the end of the month I saw a posting by the owner of F&M, Danny, asking for 20 people to sign up for a weight-loss challenge: "Lose 20lbs in SIX weeks!!"
I thought, "YESSS, now there's the motivation I need to get back on track!!".....and so I signed up.
And I got HOOKED - full on addiction to my daily workouts.
I absolutely LOVE the group HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) classes they offer, which I do on M/W/F, and 2 cardio classes: Legs/Glutes (Tues) and Abs (Thurs). The group of people that attend each day is so amazing...such great energy and a level of accountability too. It's so nice to have a motivating place with a core group & be able to share your struggles, achievements, and sore body parts!!
And the best part:
30 MINUTES!!
Yep, that's it....30 minutes a day + lunch break = perfection!
And I lost weight, yay! With a combo of exercising, eating healthy & logging my food through MyFitnessPal (and keeping my calories between 1200-1400/day, depending on level of that day's activity). In all, over the 6 weeks....I didn't lose 20, as I honestly think my body type just won't allow that....but I DID lose a total of 11lbs, and dropped my body fat percentage from 27.9 to 24.1 (and in July, my body fat % was as high as 29.1!!! crazy).
Since that 6-wk challenge, which ended mid-November (I'm sooo behind & writing this in January, but post-dating to Nov!), I've just been focused on maintaining...gaining more muscle - but allowing myself things I really enjoy in life (like wine & dark chocolate nibbles!), but all in moderation. I found that for me, TOO much restriction on myself over the long term would just be mentally exhausting - and frankly, I'd be unhappy & kiiiinda bitchy. No one (especially my husband & daughter) wants that.
EVERYTHING IN MODERATION... you only have one life in this physical state, so best to enjoy it while it lasts right??
But seriously - it feels so good to just be active on a daily basis. Sometimes I have to force myself to actually take a 'rest' day...and then feel super anxious to get back into it again. Especially since I'm now in my 30's, it's not as easy as in my teens/20's/pre-pregnancy...when I could eat whatever & rarely workout...and look okay.
I feel great...have more confidence and just being strong & having endurance is SUCH a wonderful feeling... I have found that I can now run a full 3 miles in 30 minutes, without stopping to walk!! When I spent 4 months training for the 1/2 marathon last year, I could NEVER run for that long without stopping....it was maybe 10 minutes max, then I'd HAVE to walk. So the overall muscle and stronger core definitely make a huge difference in my ability to KEEP GOING.
I also like to think I'm setting a good example for Kapri too... I want her to grow up watching me, and one day when she starts to 'exercise', she'll actually enjoy it. Because I never did - until now.
Huge THANKS to Danny, Aurélie & Rochelle - the awesome coaches/trainers at Fitness & Motion... it's been so incredible working on my lifestyle transformation with all of you and I owe you many many thanks for all you've done!! Your help and awesome daily workouts have gotten me so far, couldn't have done it without you all!
Then my trip to visit my sis in AR came & when I got back...I kinda fell off the fitness wagon...and knew I needed to get back into a routine.
I gained a couple lbs through September, but mostly felt so lazy - my energy had declined since I wasn't doing much physical activity. Then at the end of the month I saw a posting by the owner of F&M, Danny, asking for 20 people to sign up for a weight-loss challenge: "Lose 20lbs in SIX weeks!!"
I thought, "YESSS, now there's the motivation I need to get back on track!!".....and so I signed up.
And I got HOOKED - full on addiction to my daily workouts.
I absolutely LOVE the group HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) classes they offer, which I do on M/W/F, and 2 cardio classes: Legs/Glutes (Tues) and Abs (Thurs). The group of people that attend each day is so amazing...such great energy and a level of accountability too. It's so nice to have a motivating place with a core group & be able to share your struggles, achievements, and sore body parts!!
And the best part:
30 MINUTES!!
Yep, that's it....30 minutes a day + lunch break = perfection!
And I lost weight, yay! With a combo of exercising, eating healthy & logging my food through MyFitnessPal (and keeping my calories between 1200-1400/day, depending on level of that day's activity). In all, over the 6 weeks....I didn't lose 20, as I honestly think my body type just won't allow that....but I DID lose a total of 11lbs, and dropped my body fat percentage from 27.9 to 24.1 (and in July, my body fat % was as high as 29.1!!! crazy).
Since that 6-wk challenge, which ended mid-November (I'm sooo behind & writing this in January, but post-dating to Nov!), I've just been focused on maintaining...gaining more muscle - but allowing myself things I really enjoy in life (like wine & dark chocolate nibbles!), but all in moderation. I found that for me, TOO much restriction on myself over the long term would just be mentally exhausting - and frankly, I'd be unhappy & kiiiinda bitchy. No one (especially my husband & daughter) wants that.
EVERYTHING IN MODERATION... you only have one life in this physical state, so best to enjoy it while it lasts right??
But seriously - it feels so good to just be active on a daily basis. Sometimes I have to force myself to actually take a 'rest' day...and then feel super anxious to get back into it again. Especially since I'm now in my 30's, it's not as easy as in my teens/20's/pre-pregnancy...when I could eat whatever & rarely workout...and look okay.
I feel great...have more confidence and just being strong & having endurance is SUCH a wonderful feeling... I have found that I can now run a full 3 miles in 30 minutes, without stopping to walk!! When I spent 4 months training for the 1/2 marathon last year, I could NEVER run for that long without stopping....it was maybe 10 minutes max, then I'd HAVE to walk. So the overall muscle and stronger core definitely make a huge difference in my ability to KEEP GOING.
I also like to think I'm setting a good example for Kapri too... I want her to grow up watching me, and one day when she starts to 'exercise', she'll actually enjoy it. Because I never did - until now.
Huge THANKS to Danny, Aurélie & Rochelle - the awesome coaches/trainers at Fitness & Motion... it's been so incredible working on my lifestyle transformation with all of you and I owe you many many thanks for all you've done!! Your help and awesome daily workouts have gotten me so far, couldn't have done it without you all!
0 comments:
Post a Comment
Would love to hear what you think!! {sorry for the 'word verification' box, I just really hate SPAM comments}