The Best is Yet to Come

Ended up seeing my favorite powerlifter/bodybuilder last night and he always gives me great motivation to do even better…..talked about going to the Mid-Illinois NPC coming up at the end of March, since it’s only an hour from his home. We’re both looking forward to it, whether he competes or not - it will still be a great time. Also, will give me even more inspiration after seeing the women competing in the figure portion of the competition……someday, God and body willing, I would hope to compete myself.

Unfortunately, now, I have a morning workout to make up, since my normal workout time was spent commuting to work from Illinois to Milwaukee!

Went out to dinner on Saturday night with a good friend and unfortunately, we went to an Italian restaurant for dinner. Had some wine, some pasta, some dessert…….was very good - until I stepped on the scale and saw the weight go up!

Now, I did know that would happen and was prepared for it, so now two days later, I’m back to where I was on Saturday morning!

It has now been 4 days in a row of getting my sorry butt in to the gym at 5am before going to work. This is quite the miraculous feat, PLUS, I am still getting in my normal cardio and weight workouts the same as before. Thank God for coffee!

- and I am NOT a morning person, by any stretch of anyone’s imagination! So, it’s now three days in a row that I’ve gone to the gym in the morning before work - and my 2nd day of getting in 60 minutes on the elliptical (only did about 35 on Tuesday, since it was being used). Didn’t even get my wake up text message today, and I still went!

I didn’t go to the gym last night since I got my entire bench workout completed in the morning - I had extra time due to a 9am appointment with my surgeon to check on how my incisions are healing from my December 19th surgery. So, I will get in another 60 minutes of cardio after work when I go and will maybe start tanning again - just once every week or two I’m thinking.

It feels good to say that not only have I NOT missed a single workout this year (even with my surgery being so recent) - BUT, I’ve also added more cardio workouts to my schedule!

At some point in time, and soon, I’m going to need to check to see what my max lifts are, since it’s been quite a while since I last checked - also need to take some more pics to see what kind of visual progress I’ve made since my last ones were taken in October. I know at least my chest will look 3 pounds smaller!

I am definitely a work in progress. After enjoying the first two decades of my life as a thin and attractive girl, my life took some twists and turns that were very detrimental to my physique. In summer of 2005 I hit the very bottom of the well when I stepped on the scale and it read 260 pounds. UGH!!! That’s twice the size I had previously enjoyed for the major portion of my life. In January of 2006 I finally woke up one day and just started, as Nike says, doing it. I was eating right, exercising regularly and really making changes to my lifestyle and habits - not just following a “diet”.  

I encountered a few roadblocks and obstacles along the way, but I have now completely managed to CHANGE my lifestyle, not just go through the motions. In December of 2006, I underwent elective surgery to make certain upper body parts smaller and put them back “up where they belong”. A total of 1.5lbs was removed from each side!

When I knew that I had managed to change my way of living was during my surgery recovery. Whereas the old me would have used it as a convenient and completely plausible excuse to stay out of the gym and relax my diet guidelines, the “new” me was back in the gym just ONE WEEK after having the procedure. Granted, I was very careful to pay attention to my body and not put any progress or my results in jeopardy. After three weeks, and with the blessing of my surgeion, I was back to lifting full weights again. I’ve reached the point where making the healthy choices is second nature and no longer requires me to work hard to remember to make them.

I don’t think I’ve ever felt better, even when I was thin - because I took my appearance and genetic blessings for granted and never really worked at maintaining them. The funny thing is that when I was thin, I thought I was fat - but when I really started to get fat, I couldn’t see it until one day when I looked in a photograph and didn’t recognize myself as the fat girl in the picture.

Now, I take pride in every minute of cardio, in every additional pound lifted, and in every “bad” food that I DON’T eat. It’s been 5 weeks since my surgery and I have now started getting up and going to the gym in the morning before work for an hour of cardio on the elliptical, in addition to getting a 30 minute walk in during the work day and going to the gym after work. Monday/Wednesday/Fridays are weight training days with a 15 minute cardio warm up and cool down, and Tuesday/Thursday/Saturdays are an additional 60 minutes of cardio.