A dedication to my weight loss/better health journey. Yes, many have done it in the past, but losing weight is HARD!! I am certainly no expert on the subject but willing to share my experiences and what I'm learning.
June 29, 2009 - Mom was sick today and so it was just Steve and I. What that really meant was that my rest between sets was greatly reduced as he didn't have to show her what to do when I usually take a breather.
He is starting me on more combo type exercises. Meaning, we usually would do a push type exercise then a pull and back and forth. Now we're heading more into a push set followed by one or two more push exercises. The workouts certainly haven't gotten easier but I'm finding that I can do certain things that used to really seem impossible. Step ups on the bench and pushups are becoming less of a burden and I'm finding I don't dread it.
I wear my Wicked tshirt sometimes to work out in that says "Defying Gravity" on the back. Not so much today. He had me do a new bench exercise that I honestly didn't think I could do. Found out I could, but pushed myself too hard on the last set as my foot caught the side of the bench and I had a quick encounter with the floor. It did leave a few bruises on my legs but was more of an embarrassment than anything.
I think my self doubt and negative talk is taking a toll as my weight hasn't seemed to budge since the last weigh in.
No training sessions for this post. Just a strange observation.
My husband and I went up to Jackson Hole and Yellowstone for the weekend to celebrate our 14th wedding anniversary. I even shocked myself about how bent out of shape I got when I found out the fitness center at the hotel we were staying at was closed down. Fortunately they had a pool. And get this, before we left, I grilled a bunch of chicken and froze it and cut up enormous amounts of veggies and fruit so that I didn't have to eat high fat/high sodium fast food. I had to throw out some the last day as they didn't have a fridge or microwave at the hotel either (Note to self: Never stay at the Grand Targhee Resort ever again: stinky moldy smell, hardly any amenities and poor service!) But Jackson and Yellowstone was as awesome as can be!
June 22nd and 24th, 2009 - I can sum up these sessions with one word - limitations. I know that Steve is a trained professional and I'm putting my trust in him that he has my health and safety in mind. Lately, he has been asking me to try exercises that would certainly show improvement in my strength and agility. But a few times, I doubt my abilities of whether I can do it and a few times just could not pull it off. I don't know why but I get scared and and tell myself I can't do it. In talking with Steve, he says he knows I can but that I'm telling myself I can't. It's so frustrating that he has more confidence in my abilities than I do and I get down on myself when I wimp out or just can't push it any further.
The exercises? Jumping up on a bench. I was so afraid of catching my toes on the edge and falling. I've seen women bigger than I doing it on the Biggest Loser. But it scared me! We resorted to a jump on a machine that was no more than 4 inches high. Or taking the walking pushups futher with a split jump in between the pushup and the walk. This I could do, but not the distance he had first set.
I know my strength and abilities have improved enormously. I'm just frustrated...
June 17, 2009 - Major ab day! My newest trick, sit ups while tossing a weighted ball back and forth to Steve. Twice, yes twice, I missed the catch somehow and the ball landed directly on my stomach. It knocked the wind right out of me but I couldn't stop laughing. Oh me, oh my, did my abs hurt the day after.
Another new trick, NOT having to suck in my stomach when I put my pants on. Us FAT girls have to do it every time. You pull up your pants and suck in as far as you can while trying to get the zipper to the top. Not an easy feat sometimes. Well, out of habit, I was still doing that. Funny thing lately was that after I zip them up quite effortlessly, I pulled the button hole over to button them up and couldn't find the button. Can you imagine my surprise to find that I had overlapped the button about 2 inches from the buttonhole?! Oh yeah, they are getting loose!
I wasn't noticing either until recently that I was no longer pulling my pants or shorts down over my belly that I was working out in. They always felt so short and I was so self conscious that they looked so bad. Either they were getting longer or they had less surface to have to cover - I'm going with the second.
June 15, 2009 - The fat is melting off! It's been 5 weeks since we've been working with Steve and I'm down 12 pounds and nearly 6 inches overall.
The measurements: Caliper Bi - 18.3 Caliper Tri - 25.5 Caliper Sub - 28.8 Caliper Iliac - 24.4 Body Fat % - 36.9 Neck - 13.25 Chest - 45.25 Upper Arm - 12.75 Forearm - 10.12 Waist - 38.38 Hip - 48 Thigh - 23.7 Calf - 15.5 Weight - 210
Biggest accomplishment: 1 inch off my thighs and although my measurements didn't move as much as the last time, I was still down again about .8% body fat.
June 8 & 10, 2009 - OK, hmmm. This is new. Looks easy enough, right? Umm, yahhh, not so much. Especially with shoes on (more flat surface to balance) and with weights in your hands doing bicep curls or squats. Even harder? Bend your knees and it throws off your center of balance. And done in between workouts that are getting consistantly harder. Nuf said...
June 3, 2009 - I believe this contraption was formerly made as a torture device. And if you really want to work up to a fill-up-even-your-shoes type of sweat, come meet your maker. I had no idea I could sweat so much and did this after an intense arm work day. I loathe you stair machine....
June 1, 2009 - OK, anxiety was up again. I could definitely feel my clothes starting to get loose and of course, have my own scale saying I was down. But I had a few setbacks. My husband, mom and I take turns making dinner and my husband got pizza one night. I was soooo MAD! That's like putting booze in front of an alcoholic! I ate the food on my plan that evening while watching them dig in. It was agonizing!! The next day, I wasn't able to resist the leftovers. I only ate 2 pieces but was kicking myself after.
NOTE TO FRIENDS AND FAMILY: Please, please, please, if you care even a little about me, please don't tempt me! Of course, I would wish that there was only healthy food available at family gatherings, get togethers with friends or eating out and never have the temptation. An unrealistic wish, I know, and I won't tell you how to eat. My will power is growing but there are those times when I feel like throwing it all out the window. The less it's available, the better. I don't have cravings anymore but if I see someone eating something I used to love, it just about kills me! Like pizza (fat), chinese food (sodium), and ice cream (sugar). I don't keep any of it in the house (except Scott's stash which as long as I don't know it's there, it's not a problem!) Anyway, please help me stay on track!
But regardless of my moment of weakness, these were some good numbers!
The measurements: Caliper Bi - 19.9 Caliper Tri - 27.4 Caliper Sub - 30.6 Caliper Iliac - 25.4 Body Fat % - 37.7 Neck - 13.25 Chest - 45.25 Upper Arm - 13 Forearm - 10.25 Waist - 38.7 Hip - 48.5 Thigh - 24.7 Calf - 15.7 Weight - 216
Biggest accomplishment: Well they were all down a lot but almost 2 inches off my chest and 1 1/2 inches off my hips - woo hoo! Overall, I was down about 5 inches in about 3 weeks.
As far as the workouts, I really am enjoying them. Steve is excellent at mixing up what we do so it never gets boring or monotonous. Challenging.....?! Absolutely!! And he's starting me into circuits.
May 20th, 27th and 29th - I'm writing these first posts nearly a month after these sessions so remembering back exactly what we worked on and how I was feeling was kind of a blur. Looking at the list of things we did, there were a few that felt like I was auditioning for the circus:
Ball squats using a ball behind us in a seated position. Not too bad until Steve pushed my toes up and made me hold the position for what seemed like forever! And the last set, throwing a weighted ball back and forth while holding. Ouch! A few days after, I sneezed really hard and my hand immediately went to my abs in pain!
A chest press that came from the high wire. Using two cables that extended about a foot taller than me, pulled out and balanced on in a push up position - and then doing pushups! I guess I wasn't the only one who thought this was hard when my mom asked if my face was supposed to be turning purple.
And another NOT favorite: step ups on a bench about 18 inches high. You know, step up with one foot, bring up the other and raise the knee, step down and step back with the other foot, over and over and over and over...
Ok, good two more days under my belt and I've been able to do most everything Steve has thrown my way. Then Steve announces next Monday is measurement day. Oh for the love, already?!
Monday, May 18, 2009 - Up to this point, for cardio, my mom and I would just go down to the park and walk for 1/2 hour to an hour. Mom likes to walk and I was having a hard time keeping up with her pace. I did it anyway! But, at this point, my mom and I's weight training are starting to change. Her limitations begin much sooner than mine and so he seems to be working the same muscle groups for both of us but either I will do an entirely different movement or the same but with heavier weights and/or reps.
Walking lunges w/#10-15 weights, standing rows w/#80-95 weights, push ups alternating a leg up, bicep curl w/#10 weights, and shoulder press on knees w/#10 weights
Fairly easy, right?! Oh no, that's not all. My new nemisis - walking pushups. They must have derived from the underworld! Basically 10 pound weights held in push up position (no knees!). Then do a push up, walk the weights out with your arms and then step up with your feet and then another pushup. I don't know if it was because it was the last set of the day and I was exhausted or that I am so out of shape but that was torture! And Steve wanted me to walk across the width of the gym. So frustrating that I could only do about 3 or 4 before I had to rest and then start again.
Weds, May 13, 2009 - Okay, okay, it was absolutely nothing like this. We told him that we didn't feel any soreness from the previous session. He asked if I did want to be feeling it and I hesitantly answered yes. I think Steve was happy to hear that he could step it up a notch. Maybe it was the mischievious smirk on his face and the "Oh, Yeah" that gave it away.
Seated lat pulls, standing cable row, lunges with #10 weight, regular pushups, abs on the ball, and the roman chair, knees up - I HATE that thing! My upper body strength is still so weak and my weight still so heavy that I sink down as I go and have to readjust.
And yes, I was sore that time!
Oh, and the measurements, (this is really putting myself out there but I hope in time I can come back and see my progress and we all have to start somewhere, right?): Caliper Bi - 21.7 Caliper Tri - 29.8 Caliper Sub - 31 Caliper Iliac - 27.9 Body Fat % - 38.5 Neck - 13.25 Chest - 47 Upper Arm - 13.12 Forearm - 10.5 Waist - 38.89 Hip - 49.9 Thigh - 25.25 Calf - 16.23 Weight - 222 (this is down even from the week before when I wasn't working out!)
You know, this part has been much easier than I thought. First of all, any nutrition plan that makes me record what I eat and how much exercise I'm getting in can shove it! Who wants to micro manage their life like that?! We train with Steve two days of the week with weight training, he tells us what to do for the other weight training day and leaves the cardio days up to us. Nothing to record and no guess work. Love it!
Steve gave us a very simple food plan. We eat pretty much the same things every day but it certainly takes the mystery out planning our meals and groceries. And it all makes so much sense. We eat about 1500 calories a day. I would say most days I can't even get in all this food but there are other days when temptation got the best of me or I was really hungry that I went over. Whole foods, lean meats and eliminate the fat, sugar and a big one though usually ignored, salt. You wouldn't believe how much sodium there is in prepackaged preserved foods!! And the huge culprit to retaining water and weight. Seriously, check your packages, you will be amazed! And I was never a soda drinker but even those diet drinks are loaded with sodium.
Breakfast: 3 egg whites and one whole egg (I never have been able to eat all of that!) and 1/2 C lowfat yogurt (we eat Activia which is fat free and 70 calories)
Morning Snack: Fruit (equivalent of 6 medium strawberries) and 1 oz almonds (about 21)
Lunch: 3 oz lean meat, 3/4 C brown rice, 1 C veggies
Afternoon Snack: 1/2 C fruit, 4 oz cottage cheese or a lowfat string cheese
Dinner: 4 oz lean meat, 1 C brown rice, 1 C veggies
Evening Snack: 2 rice cakes
Thank goodness for summer. We grill chicken, salmon, and lean cuts of beef for our meat and make our own marinades with as little sodium as possible. And we bought a rice cooker and always have that on hand. Sometimes we will substitute whole wheat bread (that mom makes, yum!) or whole grain pasta.
Monday, May 11th, 2009 - Oh crap, what the heck do I wear? Nothing fits, it's starting to warm up and I hate the gym due to all the beautiful people there staring at the beached whale flopping around like a fish out of water. I find an old Lowe's t-shirt and the loosest pair of warmups; that I had to keep pulling down past my huge belly so they don't look like floods.
Not sure exactly where the gym is that we are meeting Steve at and got there a bit late. (I'm always late, if you all don't already know that!) My anxiety was through the roof but I was surprisingly pleased! The biggest thing, the gym was nearly empty! Hoooorayyy!! I really don't think most fit people (unless a former FAT person) understand the terror felt working out around a lot of people. You are weak, clumbsy, self-conscious and fat. Ironically, I made an appointment with Steve a few years back when he trained at 24 Hour Fitness. When I walked into that gym and not only saw a ton of people but really fit ones, I went to the office and cancelled it and walked out. (Now Steve, how come you didn't call me back? Hmmmm, ...just kidding)
Not this time, not only was the gym empty but Steve was there and ready to go. I've come to realize that you really need to have a trainer you relate with well. Fortunately, I already knew him and his personality. And he knew me and the potential of my abilities. 10 years ago, we both worked in a garden center where all day was spent lugging around 10-15 gallon trees, 50 pound fertilizer and soil bags and loading up lawn mowers, BBQ's and retaining wall block for customers. I think at one time, I was put in a supervisor position over Steve but I never asked anyone to do anything I wouldn't do. (ha, now it's Steve's turn to pay me back for bossing him around!) When my mom and I made our appointment, we both expressed that we didn't want to start off too hard, and he listened.
Except, it was too easy. I'm going to add this just to show where we started:
Standing Bicep curls w/#10 weights, Seated shoulder press w/#8 weights, Leg extension w/#35 weight, and Tricep Rope w/#40 weights
June 18, 2009 - Today is the beginning of my ramblings. This blog is meant mostly a way to motivate myself towards becoming a more healthy, thinner and confident me which will then result in a better wife, mother, sister, daughter, friend, leader and teacher. But I also can say what I want, put on it whatever I want and even be boldly candid. Since I started my stamp blog, it's been slowly whittled down to what is acceptable among a home business and stamp blogs. I have to be careful what I say as, YES, I'm quite opinionated and have to bite my tongue - A LOT!! It's all good since it is a business but sometimes I just need a place where I can be ME! If I want to write and write or not post for awhile, put on music, videos and tons of photos, I'm not worrying if it's deferring traffic.
I've decided the song "Real Gone" from Cars is currently my theme song. (Yes, my life is relative to all things kids right now which I still am beyond thrilled that it is - post for another day if you don't already know why). The line that would describe above: "Sometimes I have a big mouth when I see something I don't like...I've gotta say it!" ....Yep.
So to begin, I've been carrying A LOT of extra weight for MIGHTY too long! And as most fat people (and yes, let's be real, it's FAT so why try to disguise it with some cutesy distracting name), I have all the excuses:
Depression - I was diagnosed and have been treated for chronic depression since I was 15 (1989). Depression runs deep on both sides of my parents lines. Over 20 years, I've taken anti-depressants such as Wellbutrin, Paxil, Prozac, and Lexapro and for the most part have worked well enough that most people would have no idea. In the back of my mind, I think I knew most of these caused weight gain but back then the goal was to treat the depression. The Wellbutrin was taken for the longest duration until my husband and I had been married for nearly 5 years and hadn't been successful in conceiving. Then the others were prescribed as we battled...
Infertility - Huge shock especially since my mom had 6 pregnancies in 6 years - (yeah, think that one through). She lost one a few months preterm but I am the 2nd of 5 and the only girl. Scott and I used birth control for a few years then stopped it and thought nature would run it's course. Nature was a NO SHOW. We worked with a fertility specialist for about a year (2000) but that proved not only ineffective but turned me into a massive emotional wreck. During that year of temperature readings, ultrasounds, samples and tests and a Dr telling you when and when not to have sex, I had a pelvic laproscopy which revealed...
Stage 3 Endometriosis (you mean not every girl has periods that feel like daggers thrust in the abdomen and out for days on end? News to me - remember I was the only girl and never mentioned "such things" to a very private mom) and a very insensitive call from the nurse telling me I had...
PCOS - poly cystic ovarian syndrome. The fertility Dr had me on so many med's that altered my hormones which in turn messed with my mental health to the point I wasn't sleeping and was seeing hallucinations. Yeah, ever gone without sleep for over 3 days? That's when you start seeing people who look like Gandolf the White from Lord of the Rings. (Ask my hubby about that, funny story). At one point, I was taking Clomid, Progesterone, Estrogen, nasty huge prenatals, whatever antidepressant was being prescribed that month, 2 birth control pills a day (for the months I was trying to get rid of the cysts that had formed from a mix of Clomid and my PCOS) AND because of the intense sleeplessness, Ambien for the...
Insomnia - which I had been battling since my teenage years. Could have been a side effect from the anti-depressants or the fact that my bedroom was across from my parents room. From the time I was 16, I woke up for early morning seminary at 5:30 AM, promptly to high school and then directly to my nearly full time job at good ole' Kmart. Not sure when I did my homework but was able to keep up a 3.8 GPA despite the fact that my parents were in a very unhappy marriage. Their arguing would go late into the night and my anxiety rose between the fighting and getting up the nerve to interrupt and ask them to keep it down. (They had a TV in their room and the show M.A.S.H. was always on, can't stomach that sitcom to this day). Well, near the end of the fertility circus, my parents decided to...
Divorce - Now if you're just reading the headings of each paragraph, no, it wasn't my husband and I. (We just celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary, June 14, 1995 and looking forward to many, many more). But my parents divorce was painfully heartbreaking. I think I had always hoped they would be able to make it work. And I don't care how old you are or what the circumstances may be, divorce is tragic. Having been born and raised a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS), even at age 30, I was questioning my Sunbeam days of the importance of families and being together for eternity. Here my parents are no longer married, my dad remarries a women who I never met and I find out I can't have children. You better believe I had suicide on the brain.
I always thought I was a healthy person. I didn't get sick hardly at all as a child, my attendance records for school, church and work were near perfect and besides the depression, had no other ailments. I get extremely annoyed by hypochondriacs and was horrified of the huge laundry list of problems my health records were showing. Well, it was a hard decision but I was a few steps away from the psychiatric ward, so we decided to stop the fertility treatments. I was sooo relieved to stop taking all those pills and did all but the antidepressants cold turkey. I think I try to convince myself that if I'm not taking med's for those problems, they no longer exist. Yeah, doesn't work that way. Denial is not just a river in Egypt, right?
And the weight started packing on............ About 10 pounds a year.
It's been about 9 years since then. Even though still painful to think back on, I've been able to come to peaceful terms about my family being broken apart and my infertility. So much of that has to do with the fact that on December 19, 2004; Scott and I were amazingly blessed with a baby born to a birth mom who chose us to be his parents. On days like today when Jackson has been a little 4 year old monster, it's very sweet to remember how the news of his arrival eased so much of that pain. (Wow, the denial thing is hitting again. I'm sure I've convinced myself that I was completely over all that but writing this down really for the first time has caused my eyes to spring a leak. I guess some heartbreaks will always hurt). But we are ever so grateful and love our Jackson more than words can say. He has brought a tenderness back into my life that has allowed those wounds to heal. That kind of happiness today will always over shadow those hurts of yesterday.
OK, I digress. Back to why I'm doing this blog...
Back to "Real Gone" from Cars (you have to sing it for real effect):
Well, we've been driving this road for a mighty long time Paying no mind to the signs Well, this neighborhood's changed It's all been rearranged We left that team somewhere behind
Ok, cheee-zee, I know. (MY blog, r'member?!) It seems everyone gets to a point in their life when enough is enough, or at least I hope they do. We all have these things we hang onto among them tough emotional trauma or our weight or in my case, both. I've used that huge laundry list above as a crutch and prohibited myself to become healthy. I have tried many weight loss pills and programs over the years; Metabolife (before they removed the Ephedera), Green Tea, Phentermine, Liv Skinny, Jenny Craig, and many more, some I can't even remember. Some worked for a little while, some would seem to work but I just couldn't keep it going and some were just a bunch of gimmick's.
One of my brothers had gastric bypass several months ago. I'm not going to condone that practice especially for him as he was very overweight and was heading for even worse conditions. The surgery has proved to help him and he is now running marathons. (No kidding, he just went through an ugly divorce and I'm so proud of him and how he is now choosing to live his life.)
As I will also not condone the proper use and treatment of conditions with prescriptions and medications. Depression is a real thing. (My baby brother once explained to me how mental conditions are the only ones where someone may decide not to treat it even though the condition itself is altering their decision making skills. Of course, I wouldn't leave addictions out of this category but I think the relation is very close) I have a former bishop who speaks on this topic a lot and he says that Heavenly Father has a hand in modern technology these days and why would we turn down something that could improve our lives?! But the extremely difficult part is finding the one that works for you. I just didn't pop out of my deep depression immediately after getting Jackson. It didn't help that I don't like to go within 100 feet of a Dr but I did when my meds just didn't seem to help at all, usually.
Then this spring, a chain of events just came together. The miraculous part is that they happened through completely different people who have no relation to each other other than they are my amazing friends and family who may not know how much their small acts are changing my life.
My depression had seem to hit another long low and of course, I wasn't about to pick up the phone and make an appointment with the Dr. My incredibly amazing friend, Lara, who also battles depression, came over one day after I had been hiding for weeks. She actually stood at the door and knocked for what seemed like 10 minutes until I realized she wasn't going to leave. As soon as I opened the door, she promptly asked for the phone book, looked up her psychiatrist's office number, dialed it, asked me what kind of Dr. I would click better with, told the receptionist she needed to make an appointment and handed the phone to me. I would imagine many people would not be too happy with this approach but I love this lady too much and understood that it was time to make a change.
Over a few months I worked with Jason Andersen, psychiatrist, making very small changes. He is good, real good. What I was taking before does cause weight gain, fatigue and insomnia, which all just intensifies the depression more! I had full panel blood work done before I started working with him and brought that to him. Even though my thyroid was still within the normal limits, it was close to the margin and with my other problems, he started me on Synthroid. I am now ovulating!!! What, was it really just that easy? He was hoping that would help with my mood but I didn't see any big changes. Then he decided to throw caution to the wind and treat me for problems I had with focusing, staying on task and concentration. What I found amazing was that my depression could very well be a side effect of another condition and currently he is treating that and I'm on NO anti-depressants and feeling better than I have in years!! The constant tiredness is gone and I no longer feel like I need to eat everything in the house. My energy has picked up immensely and I can now focus on small projects instead of seeing my never ending to-do lists as one huge task. And the tasks piled in as...My mom moved in with us. She made a hard decision to leave her best friend in New Mexico and start a new job in Salt Lake and be closer to her kids. At first, the adjustment was hard on all of us. Just new energy in the house and getting used to the way we all did things. But I am so happy to have her here. I've never had a sister to do girly things with and it's been so fun to have that outlet. And I never had the time, energy or desire to fix up our home that we have lived in for nearly 10 years. But we've been scraping ceilings, taping, painting and picking out new decor and it's starting to look great! We still have a way to go but it's coming. (The pict above is cracks me up because Jackson loves to watch Nana put on her makeup and do it with her. I guess I turned out to be a big tomboy in so many ways as I still hate to wear makeup, I dress for comfort and get ready in the morning in no time flat. Mom was a former beauty queen takes a loooong time to get ready but always looks gorgeous and tailored. Her only daughter wanted nothing to do with it!) My desire to really start again with trying to lose weight sprung from my coworkers. I started working for an accounting firm, Squire, in the fall of 2002 as an assistant to the business advisory and audit partners. It was a big change from my previous employer, Lowe's, where I served many jobs over 8 years but mostly as the buyer for the plants in the nursery. I was more than thrilled to get out of retail and was so grateful for a workplace who cared about their employees. Plus, I loved my job! It was stressful but really educated me in so many ways! Once Jackson came, I cut my hours down until he was about 2 and then was given an opportunity to work with the technology department and snatched that up immediately. But because I'm now very part time and mostly work in the evenings, I miss out a lot on all the happenings. And this past year was noticing my desk dweller coworkers shrinking, and so many of them! I miss staff meetings and found out they had a fitness/training company come in and talk with the employees about nutrition and exercise. Cool, huh?! Some of them signed up with that company and others found other programs and trainers, but they were losing weight! In talking with one of my coworkers, she had found a gym and trainer for a much smaller fee than the company that Squire had brought in. I was so close to seeking them out when...
My mom and I went to a Women's Expo at Utah Valley University. I've gone to several others in the past, but by myself. It was so great to have my mom there and made it more fun to goof around and try out new things. It was fortunate that she had the day off due to a training she had been at with her job because we were ready to leave when I noticed a former Lowe's coworker.. Steve. He had a booth there promoting the start up of his new business, Shift Fitness and Nutrition. OK, usually when I see people I once knew, I will immediately make a detour so they won't see me. (I even dodged having to get my picture taken for the Squire bios, go look and see.) I was putting on about 10 pounds a year and I think the last time I saw him was in 2000 when I was about 130 pounds and hadn't yet started fertility. (I have a really bad memory so a lot of back then is just a blur. His wife, Stephanie, and I worked together for some time in purchasing -before Lowe's bought out Eagle Hardware, boooooo!). From what I remember, Steve may have to correct me, he was just starting in the fitness training while he was was at Eagle. Regardless, both he and Steph were very fit and health conscious.
Anywhoo, he was giving out water and we were thirsty. And I was curious what he was up to as I had heard he and he wife were finally able to conceive. (Two gorgeous kids, so happy for you Steph and Steve!) After a bit of chit chat, he told us a bit about his training and I was telling him how I was looking into it. And then a huge shocker, my mom expressed she always wanted to do that and we walked away with our first session that Monday.
Okay...., yeah, scary. Why will this effort be different than the others? I'm a jump-in-head-first type of person, go like a wild woman and then get burned out and quit.
Except, my attitude this time IS different. This is the philosophy according to Amy, your head has to be in the game. My previous attempts were a battle as I was trying to fix physical problems and still dealing with an unhealthy emotional mind. I was (here goes, scary number) 232 pounds before Dr. Andersen started treating me. I was feeling well enough and already taking care of myself better that by the time we ran into Steve, I was already down to about 225. And counting....
And, I have these plus's: I was a SKINNY KID - even when I started taking anti-depressants, my weight fluctuated a little but managable.
I was an ACTIVE KID - I loved to be outside, played soccer, rode my bike, swim, do gymnastics and in high school was on the diving team. When I was in my 20's, before and after I was married, my hubby and I had a boat and water skiied, played racquetball, biked and hiked, a lot! I enjoy these things still.
Well here I come and I'm so not scared, Got my pedal to the metal, got my hands in the air Look out, you take your blinders off Everybody's looking for a way to get real gone Real gone.
June 29, 2009 - Mom was sick today and so it was just Steve and I. What that really meant was that my rest between sets was greatly reduced as he didn't have to show her what to do when I usually take a breather.
My mom moved in with us. She made a hard decision to leave her best friend in New Mexico and start a new job in Salt Lake and be closer to her kids. At first, the adjustment was hard on all of us. Just new energy in the house and getting used to the way we all did things. But I am so happy to have her here. I've never had a sister to do 