4 Hours Later...

Well somehow I got punked into a 4 hour workout! I was at the gym from 3:30 to 7:30pm *whew* I had my personal trainer, then 30 mins treadmill & Eliptical, then a cardio abs class and lastly another cardio class. I feel good though! 13 pounds away from 50 pounds loss! So sweet I can taste it! I am giving myself a great gift when I hit 60 pounds.... I am pushing myself the next 13 days hard...core!

Missed Workout :-(

Well I had the best intentions yesterday... I planned to catch my regular 3:38 bus and get to the gym by 5:30 like Tuesday and do Socarobics and maybe the Chizel It class with my trainer Charles. Well I was there 10 minutes early and the 3:38 never came!!!!! I was standing outside in the DC heat wearing black for about 30 minutes....which is when the local bus came *insert disgusted look here* I didn't get home until almost 7pm and I was beat...so no gym... Life would be good if I had a gym at work then I could do even 30 minutes in the midday and not worry about the commute. But alas stuff happens right.

Today I am going out with...what to call him??? Hummm we'll see after tonight. Anyhow dating and trying to be fit & fab is a challenge. Dating involves a lot of eating and going out so that's a lot of self control and making healthy choices to not throw you off calorie wise. Also it cuts into workout time for example I have to head home and get ready no time to workout tonight! But I am also trying to find different things to do beside eating so we can spend time together and do something active like bowling, working out @ the gym, walking, etc. we'll see how it goes.

The lesson ladies & gents is... one missed workout does not a backslider make! Saturday morning off to WW at 7 and then to my Personal Trainer @ 9 and Socarobics @ 1oam then on with the rest of the day!

Getting It In

Well week 2 of 5 is a done deal! I see my Dr in 3 weeks and I want to be at 50 pounds lost by then. At my last visit I was 30 pounds down. Since then I have gone between 33 and 36.5 the scale keeps moving that's a bit frustrating. A/w I must pat myself on the back I went away to my Soror's baby shower & an impromptu Girlfriends weekend in HOT-lanta and I stuck to my workout routine. Plus I had GREAT time!!! My goal was to workout each day. I was able to workout out 2 out of 3 days so that's a good thing. The W Hotel in Buckhead has an awesome gym! They even gave away free earphones and Bliss handiwipes!

Getting it in...that's the name of the game. I am seeing now that exercise has to become part of who you are not just something you do. I always remember reading an article about the Top Executives in the country and they all said working out was a priority one even said he works out everyday just like he brushes his teeth. WOW that's someone who has made fitness a part of who they are not just something to do. I am stepping up my workout grind I have been easing my way back in but now its time to turn it up to reach this goal by September 14th. I joined the Chizel It Gym today which is where I have been doing my personal training and taking Socarobics. Its more cost effective and the vibe there is really positive and encouraging.

Tomorrow I want to take the evening class. I will post an update!

Exercising While on Vacay

Well I am in Atlanta aka HOT-lanta! My goal was to use this time away from home to celebrate a dear soror & friend's baby shower and it morfed into a girl's getaway weekend!

I decided I had to take advantage of not having a 3 hour plus commute by working out everyday! I actually do well when I go away so this is not that big of a deal. I actually like working out my major issue is the commute wears me out so I need to use this time to add workouts.

I set a goal of reaching 50 pounds lost by my next Dr's appt in September so I need to use this time wisely. I plan to go to Weight Watchers while I am here as well.

This morning I woke up at 6am (darn internal clock) but I got myself moving to the gym and worked out for about an hour. I did cardio (treadmill & eliptical-45 minutes total) and weights. Good stuff!

It will be a busy weekend but the hotel I am staying at, The W Hotel in Buckhead has a great gym and I'll be using it!!!

Out of Commission

What a weekend! T.O.M. has struck! I know T.M.I. but this was a bad month my goodness! I went to Weight Watchers Saturday morning I was down another 2.8 pounds for a grand total of 33.1 pounds since January *clapping*

Afterwards I went to get gas and head to the gym and I was hit with the worst pain!!! I went home for pain meds and called my trainer to met up later and after 40 minutes I was still in pain! I was totally out of commission all weekend. The upside of having a trainer and a set schedule I see him tomorrow. So I am back on the horse tomorrow morning. I am hoping to be back to 100% tomorrow morning.

Use Your Resources

When I first wanted to pledge one of the first pieces of advice I was given was to 'USE YOUR RESOURCES." It made sense right away basically if you worked with a member, had a class with member, grew up with a member, or had any way to connect with a member of the organization you wanted to become a member of USE YOUR RESOURCES to reach your goal of membership.

I work full time as an attorney as my bio states but I am also a part time Adjunct Professor at local community college. I enjoy it a great deal but it is yet one more thing I add to my already over burden life! On the upside it is a great part time hustle ie., a way to earn extra money.

Anyway...One of my biggest regrets in college was that I did not take full advantage of the gym at school. To be honest I never once even set foot in there the entire 3 years I was in college. Huge regret.

Anyhow teaching is about to start up again and I have been trying to decide what to do about working out during the week or rather my lack of working out during the week. THEN it hit me! USE YOUR RESOURCES!!!! As an adjunct faculty member I get to use the gym for free! As a bonus there is also a pool. Another bonus is the school is located like 1 or 2 miles away from where I park to catch my bus! WIN/WIN!

This saves me $70 I would have to spend to join another gym that is closer which I was on the verge of doing! I need cardio in my life and I am just too tired when I get home from work between the 1 hour long bus ride then the 40 minutes in horrible traffic I am spent! Follow through will be the key but I would benefit so much for even 2 extra hours a week of cardio! While this blog is about being more active ultimately I want my activity to register on the scale and cardio is must! Today will be my first day I will go by and see what they are working with.

The Stairs

Yeah so its Tuesday and in my quest to squeeze in exercise in my already too busy day I decided to climb the stairs at work today. Ok let me not take full credit...So last week my trainer Charles Harris took me outside of the gym and pointed me to the steps *insert confused look here* He made me walk up and down the stairs in the mall 5 times. I'll be honest I don't do stairs. I don't like them! I whined a bit but he made sure I kept doing it anyway it. All in all I am not a fan and it was HARD! Okay hard isn't the right word because it doesn't fully convey what my body & mind were feeling at the time. But Charles was patient...to a point...and I got it done.

So this Saturday he says *insert his HUGE smile here* (I told him that smile doesn't help) he tells me to do the stairs 7...SEVEN... TIMES! I told him no way! I have to put my foot down lol anyway I moaned a lot but I did it. And to his credit he went up and down all 7 trips with me! But in my defense even a nice elderly couple told him he was working me too hard! *humph*

A/w I work on the 7th floor in my building (the top floor). I have gone down the 7 floors for fire drills, etc. but never up. So today I said in honor my trainer I will walk the stairs all 7 floors and I did. It really wasn't that bad. Going down was fine and I guess its really more like 8 floors b/c there is a Ground level, then a 1st floor. From Ground to Level 3 was good then going towards the 4th floor I realized it went from 2 sets of 8 steps to 2 sets of 10 steps!?! WTH?! What kinda building is this?! Where is the consistency!? lol

Fortunately, the government has had a big push to improve the health of its employees so there is this campaign called "Be a stairmaster" I'll have to take a pic and post it. So they have been encouraging employees to use the stairs. I will be honest I hate when someone gets on the 1st floor only to get off on the 2nd floor but if I worked on the 2nd floor I am sure I'd be doing the same lazy thing. Anyhow along the stairs there were fun facts posted such as trying low fat and soy cheese vs. full fat, tips on healthy snacks, and other healthy facts. Nice. I will suggest they change that weekly b/c it you use the stairs daily that will get boring. Then again this was my first time so who knows maybe they do change it up but I doubt it lol

Anyway it reminded me of something on my TO Do List "The Empire State Building Run-Up." Basically a much of crazy people each year (over a hundred runners from around the world) participate in this unique race up a total of 1,576 steps to the Observatory deck on the 86th floor. Yeah I know right? Well when I read about it in Runner's Magazine I said "Sweet, that's on the To Do List" I forgot about that so now we have a goal. Aside from that if Charles takes me on the stairs Saturday i wanna be able to breeze up them for the first time and see his face!

Some fun facts:

NYRR Empire State Building Run-Up FAST FACTS:
The race climbs 1,050 feet, or approximately 1/5 mile.
The 86 flights have a total of 1,576 steps (18-19 steps per flight).
Soaring 102 stories and 1,454 feet above Midtown Manhattan, the Empire State Building is the world’s most famous office building, and the tallest building in New York City.

Hanging out then working out bad combo!

Had my Personal Training session @ 9am this morning and boy was I dragging! I went out last a little late night b/c its Baltimore Summer Restaurant Week ! This is a great event b/c at select restaurants you can enjoy a variety of three-course dinners, in just about any cuisine that strikes your fancy, for only $30.09! Or try three-course lunches at select restaurants for just $20.09. Ok so I cut & pasted that from the site lol but a good friend and I went to The Oceanaire Seafood Room. It was a beautiful restaurant! There was a great crowd and the staff was awesome! It was a great night out! The crab cakes were great but in keeping on track I had the crab soup which is low fat and I had 1 of the 2 crab cakes and half of the dessert.

Lesson learned though I had 1 adult beverage really only half of it but I guess b/c I have not had any liquor for a while it really was in my system! My trainer was somewhat sympathetic but still pushed me. What more can I ask for?

Its a new month!

Well its a new month already! Where does the time go? Today was my Personal Training session. What a workout! From the article I posted about the benefits of having a trainer two are really hitting home. 1) Having someone to push you and 2) Getting new exercises to challenge you. The image above is the Partner Leg Press. My trainer and I did this today 3 sets of 15! Whew! I can say the 60 minutes flies by but I always feel it later!

I have a 30 day challenge 1) NO drinking liquor 2) Using my treadmill any day I do not go to the gym. Tomorrow morning is day 1!

Something New~Bellydancing!

I had a GREAT workout with Charles. I did machines, free weights, treadmill, & other forms of torture! Good stuff! I am trying to say focused on my goals while working out. I went to WW today and one message was weight loss is kinda like paying off a credit card if you pay the minimum you eventually pay it off but it will take a lot longer same with weight loss you will lose but don't expect more than minimum results. I am just getting back into my workout groove and I needed to hear that. I needed to be reminder that this is a lifestyle and not a diet, therefore I need to do what I need to do and can maintain over a lifetime.

In other news Socarobics was cancelled its Caribana in Canada so I am guessing that's where the teacher was :-)

A/w we had a Bellydancer as a subsitute! What an awesome class! All core training and a good cardio workout! I am going to plan a Girls Night In for some friends and have come over and teach a class! It was wonderful!