The heat was being turned up. We were coming into the final stretch of the 40 day weight loss challenge. One week from today, to be exact. Normally my Sunday workouts consist of calming yoga and tai chi. But when the Trainer is available for a rare Sunday session, you ditch those, but in favour of what? Continue reading
Wednesdays during the 40 day challenge is usually when we go walking in the business park. That did not happen. If I didn’t exercise on Wednesday, I would only be doing 3 days for the week and my minimum is 4 days. Decision made….I would go to the gym.
But instead of leaving pronto and going straight, I idled at work then went to the bank. The result? I only had 15 minutes to exercise before I had to meet a friend for dinner. Yes….I carried clothes to bathe and change at the gym.
Busted my tail on the elliptical. Proud buck! Why? In the old days, I would have said since I only had 15 minutes, it didn’t make sense. Since I discovered High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), even 5 minutes is enough. Continue reading
The second half of the challenge will be more vigorous….if my body allows. I am going to give it a serious talking to! Doh let mi dung! We haffi go non-stop.
Wednesday morning started later than planned because Tuesday night had pain fuh so! And it wasn’t pain from Monday’s cardio class at work with Bambi. My upper body throbbed. Couldn’t find a comfortable position.
Last week when I had steelcut oats before the session, I felt very lethargic so this morning I decided to have 1 tin of sardines… yes….straight outta di tin with nutten on it :o. Had half a carambola and coffee with it.
The Trainer was waiting for me when I got there. Did my 10 minutes warm up on the elliptical, increasing the level every 30 seconds or 1 minute. It felt easier today.
Monday was the 20-day weigh in. The half way mark. How had I done? By the way my clothes were fitting, I knew I had lost some weight. Remember the Trainer’s advice when we first started?
He: How much you weigh?
Me: 225
He: Ok. You going to stay away from the scale for awhile.
Me: Ok
I was accustomed to weighing once per week! Hmmmmm…..I hear my Physiotherapist saying “I told you so” as he had often told me not to weigh so often.
It was time. I gladly stepped on the scale. This was the reading.
I quickly did the calculation. 9 pounds !!!!!
I LOST 9 POUNDS IN 20 DAYS!!! Holy moly!
What changes did I make?
1. Hired an awesome, inspiring trainer
2. Followed his instructions! These included no carb in the evening, no late night noshing, use protein powder to help curb cravings, not much rest between sets, use my mind to tell myself that I can lift more weights….do more reps.
3. Hired an awesome, inspiring trainer!
Here is what I did for exercise for January and February.
G = gym (includes Saturday Pilates)
H = exercised at home
S = swimming
W = walking
E = exercised at work (45 mins cardio)
Damion and I were talking about goals for the next 20 days and I said “I am prepared to do as much as my physical body will allow me to do…guaranteed.”
Looking forward to discovering what my machine aka body can do.
Hoorayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy
I went through Monday’s lunchtime gym session with Damion Daniel thinking “be careful what you wish for Ms Yamfoot” :?. I’d told him on the weekend that I wanted to do more exercises for the butt. That meant squats and lunges were included.
My knees are getting accustomed to these exercises and I’ve actually not been bothered by them so much, since stepping up my quantity of exercise.
I had to abandon the 10lb dumbells the Trainer had given me to use while doing the lunges. A few times too, I was about to topple over. Ever watchful, he was there to ensure that didn’t happen. Mek mi tell yuh……my thighs certainly felt the burn!
The key to maximizing that move is to keep upright and also get your knee touching the floor when you go down, and drive up using your glutes. I’d watched him last week executing those in perfect form so I knew what it looked like. Heart was willing but thighs and butt were weak. I kept reminding him that I had to go back to work, when I tried to pause during a set. “Every rep counts,” he said, followed by some encouragement.
To finish up, did 10 minutes of the elliptical. It gets easier each day.
Had dinner at a hotel tonight with some friends visiting. As I normally do, my eyes headed to the dessert part of the menu first. Was there really anything to entice me? Nah….fortunately 👍.
Grouper to start, then carrot soup and main course was lamb with a chick pea and tomato salad. After that, any thoughts I had about ice cream went through the window.
So I was pleased that I resisted the dessert. The petit fours came and I still was not moved to have one. Filled up on unsweetened ginger and orange tea.
Small victory tonight. Long shall they continue with the result adding up to allowing me to wear a dress like this and not feel self conscious.
Day 1 done and dusted….
Full body workout with Damion Daniel. Quads, hamstring, chest, shoulder, biceps, lats, deltoids. Nope. I am not a novice. I know my muscles. I also know which of them have issues. A lot!!!!! Hopefully as they get stronger and I eat better, the niggles will disappear. Must look after my cervical spine too.
As I was struggling with finishing some of the reps while Damion was gently encouraging me (i.e. not the way Jillian Michaels does it), I asked myself, what is the value of hiring a trainer?
I got the answer when, after he switched up the order of some of the upper body exercises, mi…..couldn’t……repeat…..one…..which……I normally……breeze……through! And mind you, the weights were not heavy. There is also that accountability factor. Trusting me to motivate me clearly hasn’t worked out so well the older I have got.
I guess that’s why he looks like this….
…..and me like this 😁😂😯;)😮😦😨
Continue reading
I had a query with the bank and called the toll free number where I spoke with someone in the call centre. After describing the situation, I was put through to someone in my branch. The fella explained the process and gave me a time frame within which the matter would have been sorted out.
When I was ending the call, I said to him “and please tell Mr XYZ I said hello”. To my surprise, he said “I am Mr XYZ”. The backstory….
…One day, several years ago, I was transacting business with him when he was a teller. Somehow, as I tend to do, I started to ask him about life and if the job was fulfilling and what he had done before working at the bank. Turns out that he did Art. I urged him to make time for those activities. I think he must have said “no time.” Every time after that when I went in, I would check in with him and remind him about the Art. Then I didn’t see him any more. Asked for him and heard he got a promotion so he was “upstairs”.
….Today he gave me an update on what he had been doing on the side and how he found out what he really liked to do in that area. So a nice coincidence to start my day today. I told him that last time I had to go to a Teller, I asked for him and told her to tell him hello. He said they must have eaten the message because it sure didn’t reach to him.
Moral of the story? Have interactions with random people. Humanize the interaction.
Athletes train at the same gym I go to. Some I recognize. Some I don’t. Usain Bolt and Johan Blake are two who I have seen often enough. Imagine my delight when I spotted my current favourite female sprinter a few days ago!
It was Pilates class day and as usual, I try to do some cardio before, otherwise my muscles rebel. [Loudly] Got to the gym too late, on account of waking up too late. Did 3 minutes walking on the treadmill instead of 5, then headed for the elliptical. Apart from the elliptical being my favourite cardio machine, the one I use is positioned so that I can see when the Pilates teacher arrives so I can get in there and not miss too much of the beginning of the class.
The Qunicy Jones ‘Back on the Block’ song rotation was on my music player so was already in a great mood, especially when One Woman Man played. Unlike the lady on the stair stepper who was singing out loudly whatever she was listening to on her player, I refrained from doing likewise.
Ever so often I would turn my head to look at the door to see who was coming in through the entrance, which is about 15 m from the machine. Nearing the end of the 12 minute period [instead of 15], I glance to look and who should I see come into the cardio room?????? Continue reading
This year, as I will have some more time on my hands, I am experimenting with new things. That includes spending more time in the Kitchen. Although I did not do Food & Nutrition in secondary school, I have been cooking since I was about 13 when my mother took me and said “this is how you cut up a chicken”. I don’t eat meat anymore, so I am experimenting with both raw foods and vegetarian and vegan dishes. I was so pleased to find this recipe on Twitter and even more pleased when I recognized I had ALL the ingredients in my fridge. Yes, even Chickpea Flour! Who da h*ll has Chickpea Flour in their fridge???? A non-meat eater like me of course!
How to Make Healthy and Scrumptious Homemade Pizza | Women’s Health Magazine http://t.co/DPWyDtg9cJ via @womenshealthmag — Teri Treece (@4HealthAndMore) March 19, 2014
First issue though was….does my oven work? A call to the former tenant (a friend) returned a voicemail. Went upstairs to the Landlord but what he told me did not work. Thank goodness for a toaster oven, which I had resisted buying but a friend insisted and she’s usually right. It saved the day. Once you get a feeling, you just gotta go with the feeling, else the feeling might not ever appear again! Continue reading