In the spring of 2012, I was becoming winded just walking up a flight of stairs. It disturbed me as I used to exercise regularly and was fairly fit, although certainly not trim. Several years prior I ran about 3 times per week and swam laps 3-5 times per week. I hit a rough patch in life and stopped taking care of myself.
Around the same time, I had several other catalysts that made me decide to change my lifestyle for good. One of them was running into a friend who had lost almost 200 pounds simply with diet and exercise. I hardly recognized her. Not only did she look great, but she was very physically strong. She inspired me and I joined the gym where she had been a member for a year. Another catalyst was a comment made by a man I was seeing; he told me I could do anything I put my mind to doing. I realized that he was right.
I have always known what is needed to be healthy and fit and always made excuses. When I met with my friend, who is a personal trainer, shortly after I had joined the gym, she called me out on some of my eating habits and told me that I was just making excuses. I embraced the idea of self accountability and found that it really was something I was ready to do.
I surrounded myself with like minded and positive people and tried to learn as much as I could about fitness and weight training. I have barely scratched the surface, but feel more and more confident every day, every week, every month as I strive to look and feel the way I want to.
When I started looking around on this site, I found a lot of pictures of quite slender and athletic people who were already ready for competition and who clearly are more experienced and knowledgeable. It was intimidating and I was reluctant to post pics of me. But then I acknowledged that it is what it is! Everyone starts somewhere. I am proud of my accomplishments thus far and am ready for "phase II". At least that's what I'm calling it! I look at that horrendous before picture and cringe, but it makes me feel all the better when I look at how far I've come in just 9 months. I embrace who I was and know that I don't want to be her ever again! In 9 months I have lost roughly 30 pounds, 12.4% body fat, 20 inches, am down three pant sizes and have decreased my resting heart rate about 10 BPM. I sleep better, think better and am more emotionally stable than I've been ever been!
I have a sweet training deal with my personal trainer and we are a great fit. We train on a 4 day split and do cardio and abs on the other two days. She admittedly had slacked off and is now happily back on track with MY help. It's a great feeling to have such good give and take. I have confidence that we will both accomplish our fitness goals in 2013.
Thanks for reading this if you have gotten this far! Come back in June and see where I am!
Working out gives me a focus I have lacked for some time. It helps me plan my day, my week, my month. I enjoy seeing what my body can do and feeling accomplished that I'm making it happen for myself. I love meeting people who inspire me and also those whom I can inspire. I enjoy looking in the mirror and knowing that whatever I see there is because of hard work and determination. And on the days I don't like what I see, it motivates me more to make happen whatever I want to happen.