I'm a bit overdue for an update, eh? Forgive me, I was on vacation and fully enjoyed relaxing with some of my oldest and best friends in (partly) sunny Florida.
I was REALLY happy because I was able to sqeeeeeze into my friend Megan's bathing suit for the trip. Granted, it was a little snug, but honestly, not too bad. I was very proud to wear a suit that is just a bit big for a girl that I think looks great. Yay!
Spending quality time with friends made me realize how lucky I am to have friends in my life that love me and care about my best interests. You may have noticed that I haven't mentioned my weight loss buddy, M for awhile. Well, that's because our friendship ended. I thought I would be really upset, but honestly, I feel really good about the negative influence being out of my life. It's very difficult to say good-bye to a friend, especially one that was a part of a big life change, but I have to do what's best for me.
Rob is nothing but professional about the "friendship break-up." We've been training on our own, now, and he says my workouts have never been better. Looks like working out solo agrees with me!
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Street Cred at the Gym
I’ve been going to Chicago Fitness Center for awhile now. I’m actually there all the time since it’s where Rob trains me and I have my gym membership. Yet, oddly enough, I don’t have any gym friends. I mean, no one really talks to me. I’m not sure if that’s normal, but it doesn’t bother me in the slightest. I go in. I work out. I go home. I’m either swinging kettlebells with Rob or hitting the treadmill or elliptical on my own and I always use my iPod so it’s not like I’m begging for people to come strike up conversation with me.
Basically, I like to think I remain pretty anonymous at the gym.
Think again.
I was in the locker room yesterday and this perky gal started chatting me up talking about how nice it is outside and how she’d rather be anywhere than at the gym. I laughed and told her that if I hadn’t already paid my trainer for the week I’d be doing something outside, too. Then she said, “You train with Rob, right?” I said, “Yep, I sure do!” She then told me that her friends in the yoga class at the gym were talking about me and how great I look, etc. She asked if I’d lost all the weight by working out with Rob and doing kettlebells. I told her indeed, I did, and that she should check it out.
It was cool to be recognized by people I don’t know and don’t talk to or for my weight loss achievements. And who knows? Maybe I met an actual gym friend!
Basically, I like to think I remain pretty anonymous at the gym.
Think again.
I was in the locker room yesterday and this perky gal started chatting me up talking about how nice it is outside and how she’d rather be anywhere than at the gym. I laughed and told her that if I hadn’t already paid my trainer for the week I’d be doing something outside, too. Then she said, “You train with Rob, right?” I said, “Yep, I sure do!” She then told me that her friends in the yoga class at the gym were talking about me and how great I look, etc. She asked if I’d lost all the weight by working out with Rob and doing kettlebells. I told her indeed, I did, and that she should check it out.
It was cool to be recognized by people I don’t know and don’t talk to or for my weight loss achievements. And who knows? Maybe I met an actual gym friend!
Saturday, March 27, 2010
A Pretty Big Deal
This blog post is going to be short and sweet.
On Wednesday I needed to pick up a new pair of jeans because the jeans my older sister gave me at Thanksgiving are way too big now. And all the ladies know that baggy jeans is just a sloppy look. Denim needs to fit your derriere. And my denim was doing my backside no favors, so I scooted over to the land of cheap clothing: Kohl's.
I don't understand the designer denim trend. Why pay $200 for jeans when Levis do something magical to pretty much every person's butt? I hit the Levis section at Kohl's and grabbed a few sizes to see where I'd land.
I landed a FULL five sizes smaller than I wore when I started my diet. And keep in mind this is the same brand of jeans!!!
I'm so happy. Big day, big moment!
On Wednesday I needed to pick up a new pair of jeans because the jeans my older sister gave me at Thanksgiving are way too big now. And all the ladies know that baggy jeans is just a sloppy look. Denim needs to fit your derriere. And my denim was doing my backside no favors, so I scooted over to the land of cheap clothing: Kohl's.
I don't understand the designer denim trend. Why pay $200 for jeans when Levis do something magical to pretty much every person's butt? I hit the Levis section at Kohl's and grabbed a few sizes to see where I'd land.
I landed a FULL five sizes smaller than I wore when I started my diet. And keep in mind this is the same brand of jeans!!!
I'm so happy. Big day, big moment!
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
No Fun Furnace
I’ve gotten some flack from my parents about not updating this blog frequently enough, so I’m going to do my best to write more. But the truth of the matter is that there hasn’t been an overwhelmingly huge amount of blog-worthy stuff happening right now.
Other than the introduction of The Furnace, that is.
Lately at training, Rob has been KILLING me. Not actually killing me, of course, but he’s been making me do a lot of what I consider to be unsavory workouts. Unsavory because they’re really damn hard. And I sweat a lot while I’m doing them. Looking like Patrick Ewing in the 4th quarter is the sign of a killer workout.
I’ve talked about the 5 minute kettlebell drills in detail in previous blog entries. Yes, Rob still makes me do those, but he also makes me do what I call suicides, which are starting with one exercise, getting a short break and then starting that exercise again and adding another drill, then resting and then start from the beginning and adding yet another drill. Confused? Me too. Here’s an example:
Swings
Break
Swings, clean to press
Break
Swings, clean to press, clean to squat
Rinse and repeat three more times.
It sounds easy, but trust me, it is anything but.
To add insult to injury, Rob introduced the furnace to me on Monday. It’s basically a deconstructed get-up with all the elements done separately with a bunch of swings in between. The drills are 45 seconds ON EACH SIDE and the breaks are 15 seconds. Since there are 4 elements to the get-up and you have to do 45 seconds of each element on each side, we’re talking a solid minimum of 17 minutes of intense, calorie burning workout happening at the tail end of my training sessions. NOT EASY. And not fun. I was shooting Rob all of these “You crazy!” looks when he was explaining the drill to me, but you know what? I got through it. Granted, my shoulder started to give out towards the bitter end, so I dropped the kettlebell and finished up one part of the furnace without a bell, but I’m not going to feel guilty about it. I’m damn proud of myself for doing something I never thought I could do.
Other than the introduction of The Furnace, that is.
Lately at training, Rob has been KILLING me. Not actually killing me, of course, but he’s been making me do a lot of what I consider to be unsavory workouts. Unsavory because they’re really damn hard. And I sweat a lot while I’m doing them. Looking like Patrick Ewing in the 4th quarter is the sign of a killer workout.
I’ve talked about the 5 minute kettlebell drills in detail in previous blog entries. Yes, Rob still makes me do those, but he also makes me do what I call suicides, which are starting with one exercise, getting a short break and then starting that exercise again and adding another drill, then resting and then start from the beginning and adding yet another drill. Confused? Me too. Here’s an example:
Swings
Break
Swings, clean to press
Break
Swings, clean to press, clean to squat
Rinse and repeat three more times.
It sounds easy, but trust me, it is anything but.
To add insult to injury, Rob introduced the furnace to me on Monday. It’s basically a deconstructed get-up with all the elements done separately with a bunch of swings in between. The drills are 45 seconds ON EACH SIDE and the breaks are 15 seconds. Since there are 4 elements to the get-up and you have to do 45 seconds of each element on each side, we’re talking a solid minimum of 17 minutes of intense, calorie burning workout happening at the tail end of my training sessions. NOT EASY. And not fun. I was shooting Rob all of these “You crazy!” looks when he was explaining the drill to me, but you know what? I got through it. Granted, my shoulder started to give out towards the bitter end, so I dropped the kettlebell and finished up one part of the furnace without a bell, but I’m not going to feel guilty about it. I’m damn proud of myself for doing something I never thought I could do.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Strong.
This whole weight loss thing is hard. It’s not easy to constantly watch every single bite of food and drink that goes into your body. It’s not easy to work out all the time. Basically, it’s a complete life change and you have to have some mental toughness to get through it.
Which makes me think I’m a lot stronger than I ever thought I was before I started losing weight.
When I’m training there are times where I legitimately think there is no way I can a workout segment Rob tells me to do. Like get-ups with a 26 lb kettlebell. Or two five minute sets of uninterrupted kettlebell drills on my own with said 26 lb bell. Granted I have to mentally psych myself up for these types of things, but I do them. And I’m not dead when I’m through doing them either. In fact, if anything, I’m more pumped because I just completed something I never thought I could achieve.
I went to work out with my sister Molly at her gym a few weeks ago and we were working out on some kind of new elliptical machine. This thing is no joke… full strides and lots of resistance. It was hard, but I did my workout. Molly, who is not someone who says things she doesn’t mean, told me that she’s impressed that I don’t give up when working out gets hard. It’s a big change in me since I used to crumble whenever something got slightly challenging.
Not only am I mentally in the zone, but I’ve found my body can take a licking and keep on ticking. As a member of the I’m Uncoordinated club, I bang myself with kettlebells all the time causing huge bruises. I’ve got a weird shoulder thing that still bugs me a bit if I’m not focused on my form. And of course, I have my bad knee due to having ripped two ligaments and most of the cartilage removed back in college. But you know what? None of this stops me from getting to the gym and doing whatever Robs tells me to do.
At the end of the day I’m a much stronger person both physically and mentally. I dig it.
Which makes me think I’m a lot stronger than I ever thought I was before I started losing weight.
When I’m training there are times where I legitimately think there is no way I can a workout segment Rob tells me to do. Like get-ups with a 26 lb kettlebell. Or two five minute sets of uninterrupted kettlebell drills on my own with said 26 lb bell. Granted I have to mentally psych myself up for these types of things, but I do them. And I’m not dead when I’m through doing them either. In fact, if anything, I’m more pumped because I just completed something I never thought I could achieve.
I went to work out with my sister Molly at her gym a few weeks ago and we were working out on some kind of new elliptical machine. This thing is no joke… full strides and lots of resistance. It was hard, but I did my workout. Molly, who is not someone who says things she doesn’t mean, told me that she’s impressed that I don’t give up when working out gets hard. It’s a big change in me since I used to crumble whenever something got slightly challenging.
Not only am I mentally in the zone, but I’ve found my body can take a licking and keep on ticking. As a member of the I’m Uncoordinated club, I bang myself with kettlebells all the time causing huge bruises. I’ve got a weird shoulder thing that still bugs me a bit if I’m not focused on my form. And of course, I have my bad knee due to having ripped two ligaments and most of the cartilage removed back in college. But you know what? None of this stops me from getting to the gym and doing whatever Robs tells me to do.
At the end of the day I’m a much stronger person both physically and mentally. I dig it.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Getting Everyone on Board!
When you lose weight it kind of takes over your life. Not only is it a big time commitment because you’re at the gym all the time, making healthy meals in your downtime or backing out of plans that include calorie-heavy activities like trips to bars and going for pizza with friends, but it’s all you can think about. I know I obsess about my diet and workout plan constantly. Right now, my life is all about this change.
It’s only natural that the one thing that rules your life is a major topic of conversation amongst friends, family and colleagues. I was on the phone with one of my brokers named Mike a few weeks ago and he asked what was new with me after we had discussed business. I told Mike I’d been on a huge diet and exercise kick and had lost 60 lbs. He was totally floored, especially since he’s hot to lose about 20 lbs. When he asked what I was doing to lose all the weight I honestly told him it was diet and exercise. He wanted to know what I was eating, so I forwarded him the diet plan Rob gave me when we started working out together. I was skeptical Mike would follow the plan. Hell, I’ve known this guy for years and I know all about relationship with whiskey and pizza. But I sent along the diet anyway and wished him the best.
Today I got a call from Mike (business related) and when we’d sorted things out on the insurance end I asked him how the diet was going. He’s already lost 10 lbs and feels great! I’m so happy for him. He’s really excited and can’t wait to drop the rest of the weight. Go Mike!!
My friend Stephanie has also been looking for some at-home things she can do for her arms and abs. I was like, “Girl. I gotcha covered,” so I bought her 10 lbs hand weights for her birthday this month. I gave her a tutorial on how to use them so she can do some of the things I do at the gym on her own at home. She’s really pumped to start pumping the iron. Go Stephanie!!
I think it’s awesome that my life change is helping change other people’s lives, too. Really… I should be on Tyra or Oprah or something. :)
It’s only natural that the one thing that rules your life is a major topic of conversation amongst friends, family and colleagues. I was on the phone with one of my brokers named Mike a few weeks ago and he asked what was new with me after we had discussed business. I told Mike I’d been on a huge diet and exercise kick and had lost 60 lbs. He was totally floored, especially since he’s hot to lose about 20 lbs. When he asked what I was doing to lose all the weight I honestly told him it was diet and exercise. He wanted to know what I was eating, so I forwarded him the diet plan Rob gave me when we started working out together. I was skeptical Mike would follow the plan. Hell, I’ve known this guy for years and I know all about relationship with whiskey and pizza. But I sent along the diet anyway and wished him the best.
Today I got a call from Mike (business related) and when we’d sorted things out on the insurance end I asked him how the diet was going. He’s already lost 10 lbs and feels great! I’m so happy for him. He’s really excited and can’t wait to drop the rest of the weight. Go Mike!!
My friend Stephanie has also been looking for some at-home things she can do for her arms and abs. I was like, “Girl. I gotcha covered,” so I bought her 10 lbs hand weights for her birthday this month. I gave her a tutorial on how to use them so she can do some of the things I do at the gym on her own at home. She’s really pumped to start pumping the iron. Go Stephanie!!
I think it’s awesome that my life change is helping change other people’s lives, too. Really… I should be on Tyra or Oprah or something. :)
Friday, February 12, 2010
The inevitable slow down.
There comes a time in every dieter’s life where they hit a plateau. I think I’m hitting mine now. After a monstrous weight loss (60 lbs!) since October, I’m slowing down a bit. I think my body is catching up to me and is fighting the rapid lose of fat. Now, I’m still dropping pounds, in fact, a recent bout with bronchitis and strep throat helped bump me up to the 60 lb mark since I was pretty much on a diet of tomato soup, dry toast and hot tea, but I’m not losing weight as quickly as I was in prior months. It’s frustrating!
It’s frustrating because not only have I been extremely focused on my diet and exercise plan since the new year (I gave myself a bit of leeway in December) but because everyone is expecting great things from me. I have Rob kicking my ass at the gym. I have my parents so proud of me for getting in shape and trying to lead a healthy life. I have my friends excited to see me in cute clothes and trimming up. I have my co-workers who have been supportive by not pressuring me into going out for fatty lunches and eating the goodies people bring into the office. I have a dream team of folks rooting for me to succeed.
I know I’m going to get over this hump. I just need to stay completely on task with the diet and pick up the exercise even more.
Rob does an informal kettlebell class on Saturday afternoons where he’ll teach people how to swing and do getups and allow folks to work out with his bells. He suggested I stop by and work out during these informal classes and I’m going to do it. Rob says that kettlebells are a perfect workout because they combine a strength AND cardiovascular workout. Not to mention, they’re a highly efficient way to work out, to boot. Right now I need all the cardio and strength training I can get! I think if I up my kettlebell workouts to three times a week I should start seeing more results.
While the numbers on the scale haven’t been dropping as fast as I’d like right now, I think I’m still whittling away. My clothes keep getting looser, so perhaps there is something to be said about muscle weighing more than fat. I’m thinking that my weight may be shifting so I’m not seeing the results on the scale as much as how my clothes fit. Funny story: All the new clothes I bought, i.e. a suit to wear to work meetings, are WAY too big now. I almost lost my pants at a recent meeting in Ohio. I’m not kidding. But it’s a small price to pay to the weight loss gods, eh?
It’s frustrating because not only have I been extremely focused on my diet and exercise plan since the new year (I gave myself a bit of leeway in December) but because everyone is expecting great things from me. I have Rob kicking my ass at the gym. I have my parents so proud of me for getting in shape and trying to lead a healthy life. I have my friends excited to see me in cute clothes and trimming up. I have my co-workers who have been supportive by not pressuring me into going out for fatty lunches and eating the goodies people bring into the office. I have a dream team of folks rooting for me to succeed.
I know I’m going to get over this hump. I just need to stay completely on task with the diet and pick up the exercise even more.
Rob does an informal kettlebell class on Saturday afternoons where he’ll teach people how to swing and do getups and allow folks to work out with his bells. He suggested I stop by and work out during these informal classes and I’m going to do it. Rob says that kettlebells are a perfect workout because they combine a strength AND cardiovascular workout. Not to mention, they’re a highly efficient way to work out, to boot. Right now I need all the cardio and strength training I can get! I think if I up my kettlebell workouts to three times a week I should start seeing more results.
While the numbers on the scale haven’t been dropping as fast as I’d like right now, I think I’m still whittling away. My clothes keep getting looser, so perhaps there is something to be said about muscle weighing more than fat. I’m thinking that my weight may be shifting so I’m not seeing the results on the scale as much as how my clothes fit. Funny story: All the new clothes I bought, i.e. a suit to wear to work meetings, are WAY too big now. I almost lost my pants at a recent meeting in Ohio. I’m not kidding. But it’s a small price to pay to the weight loss gods, eh?
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