Eight weeks ago I made the decision to put my health first. Sounds noble right? Well if I’m being totally honest, I’d clarify the reason WHY I made this decision. On Christmas Eve my family, my love and I will be headed to a Caribbean paradise in the Turks and Caicos for 10 days to celebrate the holidays and ring in 2012. Think beach, pool, scuba, swim-up bars, beach side bars, dance parties and overall merriment. Most of these activities would recommend sporting a bathing suit and the last thing I want to spend my vacation doing is wondering how I would comfortably wear one in broad daylight without a tummy-hiding sarong to accompany the ensemble.
SO in order to get the transformation going I re-upped a long overdue membership with my gym. And thankfully, they ponied up 10 personal training classes to help jumpstart my “tone and tighten” goal. Near the end of October I met my trainer and he immediately put me on the scale and grabbed at my fat with those awful body fold pincher thingys (I think the last time I saw one of those was in my kindergarten years when a nutritionist attacked a more portly classmate and used him as an example of what happens when you do not eat your fruits and veggies – I wonder how much therapy that poor boy went through after that public display of humiliation?) to determine just how far we had to go in order to whip me into the swimsuit-worthy shape I have plastered in my mind. Along with body fat assessment, I got my measurements taken and stepped on the scale. Ok. At least it would give me something to compare to at the end of the torture…er…training.
My first workout hurt for five days after. Correction. I couldn’t walk for five days. My calves and hamstrings were so tight I couldn’t straiten my legs. Literally, I found myself shuffling my feet around the office to get around. Not a good look. However, after a few weeks of consistent exercise the pain went from debilitating to assurance that I worked hard.
In addition to regular meetings with my trainer (we’d spend Mondays on upper body, Wednesdays lower body and Friday high intense cardio) I would spend three days a week on moderate intensity cardio. One rest day.
After about a week of getting acclimated to the intense schedule (I must admit that before this trainer-intervention my workouts consisted of a lame attempt on the eliptical for 30 minutes every other week) my trainer wanted to start working on my nutrition. I’d been tracking everything I’d been eating for about a week prior to our first meeting so he could get an accurate assessment of what I was consuming on a regular basis. After sifting through my menus he looked up and asked me “Where are your fruits and vegetables?” I guess I didn’t learn anything from the nutritionist during my kindergarten days.
So it started with baby steps. Two fruits and two veggies every day. But after every couple of weeks, my trainer would tweak my diet here and there. No red meat. No alcohol. Chocolate in extreme moderation (torture). Carbs in the a.m. only. Lots of protein. And more protein. Did I mention protein?
After about two weeks into my new lifestyle I started noticing how much better my skin started looking (yes I am that girl who still gets breakouts for what I thought was no apparent reason). Love that good diet = fabulous skin. After three weeks, I was losing the plumpness in my face and holy cow, I actually have cheekbones! These little changes were the motivators to keep me on track when all I wanted to do was down a Cricket Burger and frings.
It was at about a month in that I really began to see some fun changes. Bathing suit shopping wasn’t awful and my pants no longer fit. Even better was the sign of the gun show…muscles! Although small, very much there and I was lifting heavier weights and doing longer sets. Woo hoo! One thing that really excites me about this whole process is that I was getting stronger! I felt tough. 🙂
Last week I had a minor freak out. I was being sent to Dallas for work for a week. One week without my trainer. One week on a hectic producer schedule where junk food is plentiful and veggies are not. Terrified that I’d ruin six weeks of discipline I contemplated not going. But this was also my test. My trainer isn’t going to be around forever and if I don’t want to chuck all this hard work post-vaca, I’m going to have to learn how to maintain this lifestyle no matter what the circumstances everyday life brings.
SO here I am. In Dallas. At a hotel. With a fickle work schedule. Without a refrigerator. Without my gym. But I’ve kept up my workouts, the hotel has a tiny fitness with a treadmill. And since Dallas is a retail/restaurant mecca, there are a plethora of Whole Foods and other healthy options for me to nosh on. Tomorrow I can return to the safety of my gym, my grocery, my routine, but I’m happy to report that I didn’t let the discipline fall by the wayside while out of my comfort zone.
I have to admit, I’ve been pretty obsessive about this project. It’s always on my mind and that pool side bikini image is in front of me every time I make a choice about what to eat and how far to push myself during my workouts. I don’t want to obsess forever. I do want to maintain a healthy lifestyle. I’m sleeping better, purchasing less skin-care products (and cover-up) and just feel better about myself -I don’t want to lose it when the vacation is over. I think that’ll be one of my projects for 2012. Find the balance in living better without going overboard.
I’ve got one full week left of training before the big trip. My trainer has planned “hell week” complete with two-a-days at the gym. Looking forward to a final ass kicking before 10 days of fun in the sun. And yes, there will be pina coladas. Lots of them.
xoxo
xoxo Rheanon 