What?? Another post?

Hello again! I'm not sure where all my energy is coming from this week. Maybe it's due to the fact that I was home 4 out of 5 school days because of "incliment weather." Honestly, I've been home so much this week that I've really started tapping into things that I've let fall by the wayside.

I was looking through my old posts and some of them really made me laugh at myself. I'm pretty sure I thought I was waaaaayyyyyy funnier than I was/am! Oh well, some of my old posts make me giggle!

I do have to admit that I need to work hard to get back to being that girl, with that foucs, that drive, and that determination! Below are links to a few of my favorite posts.

I think my absolute favorite thing I ever did was a pullup..... I know it seems crazy, but I've gotten lazy and lost the ability to do a pullup completely on my own. This post has a short, choppy video of that first pullup. OH..... sorry it's sideways. Janelle and I could not figure out how to rotate that darn video from her phone to my computer!

I also really like this post. After I lost 100 pounds, Janelle and I decided that we should do some fancy pictures. I like this post because I was so happy! I did lose about 35 pounds more after that, but that first 100 pounds was awesome. Truth.... I (AGAIN) need to get off those 35 pounds.....

And this post. This is the post that started the whole thing.....

I think I need to me more focused on this blog. I really think it kept me accountable! Hey! Find me on Facebook!

Pushups

In my search for a new running program, I came across a website called hundredpushups.com. I started reading through it and decided that I might like to try it!

I started this program this week too. It might be a lofty goal for myself to do my regular workouts, run 3 days a week, and to do this push up program 3 times a week. 

I think it looks fun and it will only be for 6 weeks. It is not time consuming either. I already did my initial test to find out how many good/real push ups I can do. The number was 11. On the chart that puts me at Rank 2. Each week I will follow the Rank 2 column. After the 6th week, I will pick a day to try to complete 100 consecutive push ups. That will be the final test for me, and if I don't get to 100, I will try to do it again. 

I'm already planning what else I can do from this site. They have a kinds of different 100 tasks. They have dips, squats, sit ups, and a few other things. I really think this site is worth checking out. 

I mean, what do I have to lose with this program? Honestly, nothing.....maybe a few pounds. I know it will make me stronger. 

So this week, I've had to complete: (from column 2, 6-10 push ups)

week 1: pick the appropriate column depending on your initial test results

DAY 1 REST 60 SECONDS BETWEEN EACH SET (LONGER IF REQUIRED)
	up to 5 push ups	6 - 10 push ups	11 - 20 push ups
SET 1	2	6	10
SET 2	3	6	12
SET 3	2	4	7
SET 4	2	4	7
SET 5	max (at least 3)	max (at least 5)	max (at least 9)
COMPLETED THIS WORKOUT? GO LOG IT AT PUSH UPS LOGGER!
DAY 2 REST 90 SECONDS BETWEEN EACH SET (LONGER IF REQUIRED)
SET 1	3	6	10
SET 2	4	8	12
SET 3	2	6	8
SET 4	3	6	8
SET 5	max (at least 4)	max (at least 7)	max (at least 12)
COMPLETED THIS WORKOUT? GO LOG IT AT PUSH UPS LOGGER!
DAY 3 REST 120 SECONDS BETWEEN EACH SET (LONGER IF REQUIRED)
SET 1	4	8	11
SET 2	5	10	15
SET 3	4	7	9
SET 4	4	7	9
SET 5	max (at least 5)	max (at least 10)	max (at least 13)
COMPLETED THIS WORKOUT? GO LOG IT AT PUSH UPS LOGGER!

*** Copied from hundredpushups.com 

Update time

So, here's the low down on July. I was working out like a maniac, but finding too many reasons to "cheat" on my meal plan. So what does that mean as far as weight loss? No weight lost. That's what it mean.

I'm still at the same place I was at the end of July. 133 pounds gone, forever.

I'm kind of at a crossroads right now. I know that I'm not at my healthiest weight and  my healthiest body fat percentage. I know I still have some weight to lose and it's not even that much. Maybe like 20 pounds, but I'm happy with the progress I have made. I mean, I lost 133 pounds and that seemed easy compared to staying motivated to lose this last 20. Why is this last 20 pounds so hard?

I do want to get that last little bit off, but I'm struggling. I know summer has something to do with it, but I can't use that as an excuse. I'm also worrying that I'm letting other people down if I don't lose these last few pounds.

I would feel freaking awesome to get down to my healthiest weight and fat percentage. I would probably smile from ear to ear for a month. I mean, going from morbidly obese to lean....that would effing rock. I'm almost there too.....so where has my motivation gone?

I know this turned into some random babbling, but I just had to get some of this off my chest.

I'm still here....

I'm still around! I promise! I've just been enjoying my summer! A lot of weddings, birthdays, and fun activites going on! (And a lot of temptation)

I've been a little too relaxed, I think. I'm still on meal plans and working out 6 days a week. I think I've been finding too many excuses to "celebrate" and have too much to eat.

I've been jogging at the end of every workout. I jog for about 15 minutes and that gets me to about a mile or mile and a half, depending on how fast I'm moving.

My 30th birthday is coming up in September. I'm asking my friends and family for cash donations, because I want to get my personal trainer certificate. I want be a personal trainer for extra motivation and some extra cash! I think I will continue to be successful if I even have one person that I'm working out with a few times a week. I need to stay motivated!

I'm still tossing around the idea of making a Facebook page for my blog. I think I would be much better at updating! I have tons of funny little things I see and notice while I'm working out and I could update my status really fast!

I actually have some time tonight and I'm going to try to catch up on some blog reading! Wish me luck!

Random thoughts while eating....

I was sitting at my table today, eating a ton of fresh fruit, and thinking about how delicious fresh fruit tastes. I was eating fruit that I would not ordinarily eat. I was eating blueberries and raspberries. I like things flavored with blueberry and raspberry, but I just don't typically eat them alone. Anyway, it got me to thinking. 


A few years ago, you would have never caught me sitting at my table eating fresh fruit as part of my meal. I've always loved fruit, but I used to never think to eat it as part of a meal. I started thinking about my changes I've made because of meal plans, food choices I've made over the past few years, and how those choices have changed to more healthy options. 


My meal plans were and are designed so that I can eat what I want. I just have to make sure my food follows guidelines; such as calorie content, protein, and fat. As long as I'm in those bounds I can eat what I want. I've never been told that I have to eat certain foods for certain meals. If so, I would have quit this before it even started. 


When I started these meal plans almost two and half years ago I still ate some high fat foods; I just ate them in moderation. I ate certain proportions and I ate at certain times. As my plans have changed and different things have been added into my meal plans, I've made different choices. Basically, I've cut out some of the bad foods on my own and I have made better choices. No one told me that I had to eat fruit and vegetables to lose weight. I followed a calorie limit and I did the rest on my own. 


For example: I used to eat a lot of Lean Cuisine frozen pizzas because they were in my calorie, protein, and fat limits, but that was all I could have for an entire meal. Now, I like to eat meals, so I don't eat the frozen pizza. I make low cal, high protein options for my food. That way I can eat fruit, veggies, and maybe another side with all my meals. I love it so much better this way. 


I've met and spoken with people who try to lose weight and they cut out everything they love. They try to eat all fruit, veggies, low fat everything, and then they end up unhappy and quit. They go right back to their old ways. 


I try to let them know that in the beginning it's not so much what you eat, but how much you eat. If you have a significant amount of weight to lose you can just cut back on the serving size or how many servings you eat at one time. Don't eat the whole pizza! Eat 2 slices and save the rest for another 3 meals! That one pizza can go a long way! 


As you lose more and more weight you will naturally want to try different things and make better food choices. I believe that to be true, because it happened to me. I never thought I would enjoy eating grilled chicken, hummus, and fresh veggies more than I enjoy eating a big greasy, deep fried meal, but one day I realized it had happened. No one told me to even make the change. 


So, really my random thought led me to this overall thought: Make small changes. Don't make a huge, sweeping change at one time. Start small. Once you are comfortable with one change and you know you can handle and maintain it, make another change. Before you know it, you've lost 125+ pounds and you're craving fruit instead of greasy food. 


These days I blow off anyone who tells me that counting calories doesn't work. Those people are stupid in my book, because I've counted and counted calories. I've lost a ton of weight. I try to tell people that I'm proof that calorie counting works. I'm proof that working out works. I'm proof that people can make a change and stick to it. 

So close....

Maybe this happens with some of you as well....

Lately I feel like I'm falling off the wagon. I'm not really falling off the wagon, but I'm struggling to stick to my plan and workouts and what-not. I'm doing everything that I have to do, but I have to work much harder to make myself do it.

I'm trying to find reasons to skip the gym, I'm trying to find reasons to eat a restaurants more often, I'm trying to find reasons to not plan my meals and not count my calories. I'm still doing everything I have to do, but I'm totally having mental arguments with myself.

I think it's because I'm getting close to my target weight. I think I'm getting so close to the end that my twisted mind is tryin to sabotoge me!

That might sound totall crazy, but it's true. I want to get to my goal, my target, and maintain after that. I know the end is just around the corner, but it's like my mind is afraid of having another change and a little more freedom in food choice.

I tell my students all the time that when they feel themselves becoming succcessful that they sabotoge themselves. I talk to them about ways to stop doing that and to be successful and be confident in successful. I need to take some of my own adice right now!

Tag....I'm it.

So, I've been "tagged". Thank you to Margene for tagging me and giving me something to write a blog about. I don't usually get into these things and it's because they usually want you to divulge personal information about yourself. I really don't like to get too personal on my blog, uless it's about weight loss. I've tried really hard to keep the main focus of this blog about losing weight and other things to do with weight loss. But, when I read Margene's questions I realized they mostly revolved around losing weight, eating right, etc, etc.

However, I know I won't "tag" anyone. Number one, I don't have time. Number two, I've seen this a lot on the blogs that I read and I'm pretty sure I won't be able to come up with 11 questions for people to answer, 11 people to tag, or have the time to notify them! (I promise that I'm not really a jerk and anti-group fun, I just look like one in print!)

First the rules:

1. Post these rules. 

2. You must post 11 random things yourself. 

3. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post. 

4. Create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer. 

5. Go to their blog and tell them that you've tagged them. 

 

11 random things about me

1. I'm left handed. I'm very, very left handed and lately people have been telling me how odd it looks to watch me write or do anything with my hands.

 

2. I've been blogging for over a year now. I said some things about myself and personality in that post.

 

3.  Before Zach and Janelle, which I like to abbreviate as BZJ, I never really tried to lose weight. I would just tell everyone that I was "trying" to lose weight and it was hard. (People would leave me alone about my weight if they thought I was struggling and trying to lose weight. People are strange.)

 

4. I say  "take a tub" instead of "take a bath". I've said it my whole life and my family has as well. My friends make fun of me.

 

5. Purple is my favorite color and I have a purple couch and over sized chair. (I'm sure that's no shocker if you look at this blog on a regular basis)

 

6. I've been driving for well over a decade now and I'm still on my second car. I'm just too cheap and poor to get a new(er) one.

 

7. I truly love my jobs. I love teaching and helping people.

 

8. I don't like to be touched. I don't like PDA of any kind, from anyone. There are a few people I hug, but for the most part I don't hug. There are rules to hugging me and I have to tell people about them when I meet them or if they are a friend that wants to move into a "hugging friendship". (I'm sure I sound like a freak show now.)

 

9. I am a cancer survivor. Almost 7 years remission now. I was only 22 when diagnosed. It sucked.

 

10. My family and friends are the most important things in my life.

 

11. Most of my friends can read my thoughts based on the expression on my face.

 

 

11 Questions for You to Answer:

1. What would be the greatest piece of advice you would give someone at the beginning of their weight loss journey? ** Forget everything you thought you knew about weightloss! Trust your doctors, trainers, friends who workout, nutritionists, etc. Oh, and losing weight takes time. Don't freak when you don't lose weight as fast as you want to.
2. What is your biggest fear in life? **Painful death.
3. What or who has inspired you the most? **Wanting to be a better person and wanting to make people proud (and that includes people dead and alive).
4. If you had $1000. right now with no strings attached - what would you do with it?  ** I would like to say I would put it toward buying a new car, but I would really buy new clothes.
5. If you could do anything you wanted to one day what would it be? ** Go back in time and make some changes.
6. Do you have a BFF and if so - how long have you been friends? ** I have a lot of people I consider to be BFFs. One I've known for over 10 years and one of the others I've known since I was 2. Most of my closest friends have been around for many, many years.
7. What does friendship mean to you? ** For me it means being there for someone when they need you and a lot of other things. I could go on for days about friends and friendship.
8. What is your favorite healthy food(s)? ** Hummus and veggies. Yum.
9. What is your favorite exercise or activity? ** I lift weights, heavy weights, but lately I've been liking this pilates video for beginners.
10. How do you stay motivated? ** I look at old pictures and I weigh myself every 2 weeks. That always keeps me motivated.
11. Where do you want to be next year at this time? ** Skinny. Still blogging. Maintaining my weight.

Trying to stay positive.

Basically, I'm a little irritated with myself.

I said the other week that November is a rough month because of birthday's and Thanksgiving. My sister had a November birthday and my neice and nephews were all born in November. Busy, busy, busy. This year my sister also graduated from college. All of these events mean going out to eat, celebrating, eating, blah, blah, blah.

So, I've probably gone out to eat more this month than I have in the past year and a half. I've researched menus to find food that will fit into my meal plan, calories, protein, saturated fats, and I planned my whole eating schedule around what time we were going out to dinner. I even ordered food that I would never have ordered or eaten a year and half ago.

I ate freakin' salmon! I hate fish, but knew it was a good choice and it was really all that would fit into my meal plan. It wasn't even that bad either. I'm not sure if I will ever eat it again, but I tried it once! I didn't eat dessert, I didn't drink booze, and I didn't pick off other people's plates.

I also didn't lose any weight in the last two weeks. I'm pretty disappointed.

So, I'm trying to find the positive in the past two weeks. I didn't lose, but I didn't gain. I maintained. I also know that I made better food choices and I didn't pig out. I know that a year and a half ago I would have stuffed my face and ordered delicious deep fried foods. I know I would have ordered drinks and I know I would have ordered dessert.

I'm trying to remind myself just how far I really have come and how much my food choices and self control have changed. I guess I'm learning how to maintain my weight, but I'm not in a maintaining weight mode, I'm still in a losing weight mode.

I still have to make it through Thanksgiving this week. I know I'm not going to be perfect on Thursday. My family Thanksgiving is made up of foods that we only make once a year. We have decided to cut back on the desserts and we are cutting a lot of recipes in half as well. Everyone in my family wants to make better food choices that day. We all want to be able to taste and sample everything,  but we don't want to pig out. I know that my family as a whole wants to eat less and we all are making the effort to cook less!

Really, I keep telling myself that I've made it this far and I'm going to keep going. I don't like to be disappointed with myself, but there is nothing I can do at certain times of the year. I feel like I would be rude to skip family things because of food or going out to eat. I also think it is rude to just sit at a restaurant and not eat anything. I have done that in the past and my family has dealt with it. I have to make some choices that I'm not always happy with, but that's just life. Birthdays and holidays come up from time to time, but 4 birthdays, a graduation, and Thanksgiving all in one month is way to much for me.

Does shopping count as a second workout?

           Ok, my Spring Break is coming up and I’m pretty excited about it. Janelle, Ashley, and I all have the same Spring Break this year. Since I have a goal to be at 100 pounds lost by May 11 I figured I would step it up with the working out for the week. Janelle is all about it. She wants to do a regular workout and then do something like a boot camp style workout or a hike or a run etc, etc. I guess that’s ok, but I was more thinking of a regular workout followed by long days of shopping. I think it’s a good idea and Ashley does too. She even pointed out that once you start buying, you have to carry bags around and that will help burn more calories. I like the way Ashley thinks.

            Honestly, I know I’m going to do 2 workouts a day. I don’t know how they will be planned out, but it’s going to happen. I will also go shopping with the girls too. It’s becoming our little Spring Break tradition.

            Every week I get in 5 workouts, no matter what. So I’m thinking I will do 10 workouts over my break. I’ve already decided that I will just take a sleeping bag to the gym and I’ll just stay there for the week! Gas is pretty expensive right now and it might add up driving to the gym two times a day!

            It will be interesting to see how this all plays out. I’ve done two workouts a day before and I don’t remember it being that awful, but I’m a little worried what Zach might come up with for me to do. He’s been going to a lot of training clinics lately and coming up with all kinds of different, crazy crap for us to do. He refers to our workouts as “The Framers” (I think that’s it) because we’re building new frames.

            Wish me luck, it might be brutal.

Let's get motivated.

I’m always looking for different articles on weight loss and exercise. I specifically look for things that overweight and obese people can do to lose weight. I’ve noticed recently that most articles are in “how to” formats. There is nothing wrong with this, but I feel like they are missing the real first step; motivation.

            For example, a lot of articles are about simple changes you can make with your exercise of food choices. They all go in a step-by-step fashion. They tell you step-by-step what you need, how to do it, and how many times to do it. However, I need someone to tell me how to get motivated to even go through the steps!

    I was looking for articles about motivation, getting motivated, how to motivate, really anything that the word motivate in it. I found this article, How one man's shame sparked a 300-pound weight loss. This is a good article. It didn’t have all the magic answers about motivation that I was looking, but it did have a lot of good information about motivation. It was also an inspiring article about what this man went trough and how he lost weight. I wish being inspired led to motivation for me, but it doesn't.

         Embarrassment or fear of death usually does not sustain people's commitment to change. This is an excerpt from the article that stuck out to me. I read that line over and over again because I was trying to decide if it was an accurate statement. After a few minutes I realized it was true. People usually go back to bad habits after some kind of health scare. I know I have in the past.

To be held accountable, he told his friends about his weight-loss efforts. To stay motivated, Hoover made a bet with his brother to see who could lose more weight. To get support, he joined online dieting communities. His mindset changed as he walked more. This is eventually what the guy in the article did to help him lose weight. After reading this I realized that I eventually did the same thing. I started talking to my friends and family about wanting to lose weight, I’ve tried to get my family to do a Family Health Challenge, and I’ve started a blog! So, besides eating right and going to the gym I think I’m doing a pretty good job at making myself accountable for my efforts.

In terms of finding out how to get motivated I’m pretty sure now that there is no “how to” list. If there was I would have found it on the internet since everything is on the internet. 

Family Health Challenge

            Since I’ve been on this whole healthy lifestyle band wagon, I’ve wanted to get my family motivated too. I think the more weight I was losing, the more motivated they were getting, so I said to my mom one day that we should do our own Biggest Loser competition at the beginning of the year.

            I never liked the Biggest Loser competitions that would be hosted by my job. They wanted everyone to donate the money and weigh in once a week or so, usually with the P.E. teacher. I didn’t like that I had to weigh in with anyone. I didn’t want anyone that I worked with and saw on a daily basis to know what I weighed or how much I was losing! Also, not everyone has to lose weight. I wanted to see a competition that everyone could join. So, I didn’t want to design something that would track weight loss only.

            Of course, I had help from my family and Janelle. We had to make our own rules because not everyone in my family needed to lose weight, but we all had things we could do to be healthier. After a few months of thinking, planning, and a PowerPoint presentation I finally had it nailed down of what I wanted to do. And yes, I did make a PowerPoint and send it to my family to review. I love making PowerPoint presentations. It’s the easiest way for me to present information and it really turned out like a lesson I would teach in class. I later heard my mom talking to someone about it and she was like, “Oh yea, we’re doing a family health challenge. Sarah even made a PowerPoint and emailed it to all of us.” Then she giggled to herself.

Here is the break down of what we are doing:

1. Objective: To make healthier choices in your daily life
2. Time frame: 8 weeks. Sunday, January 2 to Sunday, February 27
3. Buy in: $10/person
4. How it’s done: Set 2 goals for yourself. One goal is a daily goal and the other is a weekly goal. You will earn points for meeting your goals. The daily goal is worth 1 point per day. The weekly goal is worth 5 points, but you have to meet your weekly goal in order to get the 5 points. With the points from both goals, there is a possibility of 12 total points per week.
5. Winning: The person who has earned the most points at the end of the 8 weeks wins the challenge and collects the buy in money from all other contestants.

Here are some sample goals. These are the goals of some people in my family and my goals.

Sample daily goals; 1 point per day:

1. Saturated fat – 20 grams or less per day
2. No fast food
3. Pack lunch every day
4. One energy drink per day
5. 16 ounces of coffee per day
6. 20 minutes of physical activity per day
7. 10 or less cigarettes per day

Sample weekly goals; 5 points for the whole week:

1. 90 minutes of activity per week
2. Have dinner at the table 5 times a week.
3. Eat dessert only once a week
4. 5 or less energy drinks for the week
5. 5 of less alcoholic drinks for the week
6. Go to the gym 4 times each week
7. Run 5 miles per week

       So, as you can see some of our goals are focused on different healthy living objectives. Again, not everyone in my family has weight to lose, but we all have other vices. We all drink too much coffee, some too many energy drinks, eat too much fast food, don’t exercise enough, etc, etc.

       Currently, we are more than half way through the challenge. Some people keep changing their goals because they have been too easy or too hard, but for the most part it’s been successful. We all keep track of our own points and tell each other each week how many we earned. I’ll have to let everyone know how it turns out when we finish.

        Once we knew what we wanted to do, it was easy to get started. Maybe other people will try it too. 

But I can't.

       Sometimes the hardest part of day is getting to the gym. Some days I have no motivation, and it takes everything in me to change my clothes, drive my car, and walk into the gym. Usually by the time I do all of that I’m feeling better and have no problem working out, but there are rare occasions when I still have no motivation even after I get there. On those days Janelle has told me that some of my excuses for not wanting to do certain exercises are some of the best she’s ever heard. After that we started thinking about things I’ve said and excuses that I use. Here is what we have come up with:

1. “My elbows are slippery today,” on why I couldn’t do planks.
2. “I don’t like how my toes feel in my socks and shoes today,” on not wanting to do anything at all.
3. “I think my back is broken,” on not wanting to do squats and lunges.
4. “I forgot my heart rate monitor,” on not wanting to do cardio.
5. “Don’t feel safe on this machine. I’m not doing it,” on hating this crazy ab machine that I refuse to use.
6. “This is too hard. This is the hardest thing ever,” on anything that I don’t want to do in hopes that Janelle will let me do something else.
7. “I’m still drunk,” on not wanting to do the workout the day after my birthday which was also a cheat day where I decided to drink a ton of booze.

Whenever I use one of these excuses, Janelle just laughs at me. Really, she just laughs and tells me that I exaggerate everything and I still have to everything even though I think my excuses are pretty good. The excuse about my toes is a real excuse. If my toes can’t wiggle and move, I can’t focus. Seriously, my whole well being stems from the comfort of my toes. In the winter I’m very unfocused. When I can wear flip flops and sandals, my focus is amazing. 

My new obsession.

            I’m not even ashamed to admit it, but I love Richard Simmons. I was actually writing something different and looking for pictures to go along with it, and a picture of Richard Simmons appeared. I immediately decided to switch topics.

            I really want a Sweatin’ to the Oldies dvd and until about a month ago, I didn’t think you could even find them anywhere. I was looking for a yoga dvd and I kept coming across new Richard Simmons dvds. I didn’t buy one because they were backordered for like 3 months. I knew I couldn’t wait that long, so I passed. I did call my mom and tell her about them. I think I have her convinced to buy one.

            I know I have my mom convinced. She said she wanted one and wanted to know if I would come over and do it with her. “Hell yea,” I told her. I want to rock out with Richard. He is freakin’ awesome. He is peppy, happy, motivational, energetic, helpful…basically, everything I’m not, and I can’t get enough of him.

            He was on Ellen the other week, and I was sad I couldn’t watch the whole interview. I was at the gym (go figure) and it was hard to hear what he was saying. I did stand there doing nothing for a good 5 minutes before Janelle brought me back to reality. After that I’m sure I told her about my love of Richard.

            I mean, really, what’s not to like? He wants to help people and shows them how easy it can really be to get moving. He’s been helping people for over 20 years and he really enjoys what he’s doing. I tell anyone who will listen about how awesome he is, and I’m sure most people are tired of hearing me talk about it.

The other night I was telling my friends mom that we were going to start “Sweatin’ to the Oldies” and she said that she would be there every time! She then said that she still has her old Richard Simmons vhs tapes. It also sparked the same ol’ conversation of me telling everyone who would listen about how awesome Richard really is. This time, everyone listening totally agreed with me too!

I’ll leave you with a few photos of Richard. How could  you not love him?

Going to the gym and being a stop on the tour.

“Hello…no, I’m at the gym…..ok….can I call you later?” I feel like that conversation has replaced another conversation I used to have a lot, “hello….no, I’m at the bar…ok…can I call you later?” Obviously the gym is no bar, but it’s not a bad replacement, and I get to go with Janelle and Ashley so I have people to talk while I’m there. Also, I think you should know that I do go 5 or 6 days a week, every week, no fail. I’m only telling you that so you’ll feel in awe of my dedication. :) 

Honestly, going to the gym is not that bad. Some days it can be difficult to find the motivation to get there, but knowing that I’m going there to meet up with other people makes it easier. Also, knowing that I get to “people watch” when I get there is motivational as well.

There have been some odd encounters at the gym though. When I first started going with Janelle, we were doing some crazy ab workout. We were on some crazy thing like 8 sets of hyper oblique uppy downy something or other. You would think I would know what we were doing since I do this stuff all the time, but I still have juvenile names and descriptions for most exercises and machines. 

Anyway, this lady wearing khaki walking shorts, iron on flower t-shirt, and fanny pack walks over to me and tells me that I’ve been using this particular piece of equipment for a long time. I think she was working undercover as a gym cop or something, and making sure no one used the equipment for too long. Oh yea, she was also drinking a can of Pepsi from a straw. I don’t really know what I said back to her, but I probably told her that I would be done soon if she needed to use it. I remember her asking what I was even doing, and then she took a long drink from her straw. I do remember pointing to Janelle who was across the gym and telling her that I was working out with a friend and I was doing a workout that was designed for her, but wouldn’t hurt for me to do it too. This part I do remember, because she looked in the direction of Janelle and then said to me, “Oh, you can’t do the same workout as her! Look at her; she can do so much more than you can! You shouldn’t be doing that much. You’re going to get hurt! You’re trying too hard!” Now, I almost flew into a rage, but kept it together and told her that I would be just fine, but what I really wanted to say was, “Listen here lady; you’re dressed like you’re going bird watching and drinking an effing Pepsi from a straw, at the gym! I’m not taking advice from anyone who drinks pop at the gym. You could have at least brought a diet Pepsi.” A few minutes later she told me that I had inspired her to do 4 sets of everything instead of 3 sets, and I’ve never seen her since that day. Maybe she’s been bird watching.

Another memorable moment at the gym was with Janelle when we were doing a shoulder workout. We were in a tiny corner of the gym and the place was nearly deserted. We were almost done with our workout and doing lateral raises where we held weights in our hands and held our arms out for 30 seconds at a time. As we were starting, we heard one of the employees coming by with a potential member. The employee came over to where we were standing and told the potential member that the little area, “is used for ab exercises and there is great equipment here to use.” Then the employee and potential member looked at Janelle and I, and we were just standing there, each of looking like a lower case t, holding perfectly still, staring at the clock, and having a pleasant conversation. The employee had this totally confused look on her face, and then said, “well, or it can be used for whatever it is these girls are doing.” When they were out of earshot, we both almost died laughing.

More recently, I thought I heard a gym employee talking about me to potential members. These girls were kind of heavy and they were they kind of girls that wear pajama pants, tight tank tops with clever sayings, and crocs to the gym; the kind of girls that I can’t stop staring at, because I’m trying to figure out if they looked in a mirror before they left the house. Anyway, these girls keep looking at me so I’m assuming that they know that I keep watching them. Then I noticed that the employee keeps gesturing toward me. I decided to figure out what they were all doing, so I turned down my iPod and pretended to work out near them. That’s when I realized what was going on, and they were talking about me! I heard the employee say, “And that girl over there has lost 100 pounds in less than a year from working out here!” I nearly fell on the floor. I thought, “Whoa lady, I’ve lost a lot of weight, but not quite 100 pounds!” I knew then that I had officially become a stop on the gym tour and a selling point for new members. Maybe they should give me a free membership because I’m apparently bringing them new business.

I really haven’t had many encounters that were bad, but a lot of people want to give you advice or tell you that you’re doing something wrong. Usually, I just smile and nod at those people and thank them for the advice. Of course I curse under my breath when they walk away, but I have come to the conclusion that everyone thinks they are a personal trainer and everyone thinks they are a nutritionist. Sometimes I will let people know that I’m happy to hear their thoughts and concerns, but that I’ve found something that works for me, and that’s what I’m sticking to. I tell them if what they say works for them, then wonderful. The same thing is not going to work for everyone. Why do you think we have all of those crazy diets?