August – The Dance

My groove was in high gear by August. I was feeling great, lost a bunch of weight, had formed a new dinner thing with my friends. it was fantastic.

I also was feeling high energy and i didn’t know what to do with myself. I was going to the gym, seeing my trainer, but I needed more.

it was one day when i was driving home, the sun was really bright, it was hot, my windows were down and i was stuck in traffic. I was at a stop light and I turned my head to the left, and I saw a sign for a free ballroom lesson. it was pure instinct, i went into the left lane and made the turn. I walked in not knowing what to expect. I asked for the free lesson, indicating that I was alone, no partner. The owner said that wasn’t a problem and that there was an instructor for the free 1/2 hour lesson. He was a nice young guy, eager. we hit it off and we danced basic dances. it was amazing. for that 1/2 hour I didn’t think about food, diet, gym, family, friends, work, anything. I just let the music overtake me and learned new dances.

I signed up then and there for the intro program. I didn’t know where I was going to get the money, but I know i would make changes in my life to make dance happen. I haven’t looked back since then. best thing I ever did. its my time away from thinking, its my time for me!

July – The Dinners

By the time July came, I was hitting a groove. I had settled into a routine, gym, food, family, friends. It had started to feel natural.

The only challenge was my social life. How do you balance going out with eating right and not drinking. luckily for me I didn’t have to make sacrifices. My really good friends and I were not really ‘club’ or ‘bar’ people. We didn’t hang out drinking useless liquid calories all the time. The only challenge, was we went out to eat. We would get together for dinners all the time. In my old days, I’d eat at home, then have a second dinner when we saw each other. The bad habit had to stop there. it was a challenge to pick right when I went out. I had to stop with the double dinner, which sounds easier then it really was.

June – The Fear

Third Month in and even though I was ecstatic that I’ve lost 41 pounds, I was feeling the pressure. I had an army of help, nutritionist, trainer, family doctor and I was fearing failing. What if I didn’t hold on to my new way of life, what if I reverted back to eating as a way to fill a void? I’ve invested a lot of time and money, and what if it didn’t work. Plus my love of food didn’t fade just because I decided to lose weight, so what if I just went back?

It was when talking to a friend that she reminded me that I was putting up fears as a way to guarantee I’d fail. The only way to keep going was to set my fears aside, (I’d address them soon enough) and push through it. I didn’t change much in my routine during June. I continued on my eating plan and tracked down every little bit of food I put into my mouth. I continued to work out with my personal trainer twice a week and do cardio (which I hated) twice a week. It was time consuming and didn’t leave me much room to do anything else, with my 2 hour commute to and from work every day.

I did keep my weekends free; so that I made sure I didn’t burn myself out.

20 pounds lost

May 2007 – The Gym

My second month in, I decided to do a little more exercising then just walking. I thought, why don’t I actually put my gym membership that I’ve been paying for a year, to use.

I figured I really didn’t know what I was doing, so how am I supposed to start working out when I had no clue. I knew from research that cardio will burn calories and is good for my heart. Like running, biking, elliptical or stepper. I also learned that doing some strength training would build muscle, by doing light weights. The more muscle I built the faster my metabolism burned the calories.

Doing cardio, although very boring didn’t scare me. I tried some of the classes and I would use the treadmill. It was the weights that scared me.

While I was running on the treadmill, I noticed a personal trainer in my gym training someone. I asked around and they had a 6 week fat loss program with a personal trainer on promotion. I took that opportunity, and took advantage of the sale.

I have to admit I was terrified for many reasons. One; would I just pay all this cash and not follow through? Two; would the trainer just laugh at how fat I was and see that I cannot do any of the exercises they will ask of me? Three; what if it doesn’t work?

I was just so scared that I almost didn’t go through with my first appointment with the trainer. But I went. My trainer was young, full of energy, really ready to please. It was great. For the first time I realized that she works for me, and it was up to me to make sure I got my money’s worth. That helped motivate me even more. I went to all my appointments excited and ready to push myself. It also was a great help that all the exercises she asked me to do were not complicated. I mean they were hard, but I was able to do all of them. I still remember May clearly in my mind. It was the month I learned to love the gym.

25 pounds lost

April 2007 – The Start

April 2007
So how did I start really?

Well I have to say I’ve tried programs in the past. And although there are some I really recommend. (I’ve posted links to the good ones). I realized that I needed more personal attention.

The nutritionist was a great way to do it. It was more then just learning what are the ‘right’ foods, it was also learning how to eat. How to keep my body burning the food.

In simple terms weight management is just how much energy you use compared to how much energy you consume. That sounds simple enough, but for me, I couldn’t manage. Clearly I was consuming more then I was using. I started on a strict calorie diet. That is where my online food diary helped (I’ve posted the link). For a month before I followed the calorie plan, I tracked all the food I put into my body. It didn’t matter if it was a small milkette into my coffee, or a nibble of a chocolate bar. I tracked everything. That helped me see what I was eating, what times I was eating and where my weaknesses were.

After the month, I went on the calorie diet that my nutritionist set for me. I first took all the foods that I discovered were my weaknesses and got rid of them. I stacked my place with the foods I needed. This did not mean I couldn’t have snacks, but I armed my snacks with fruits, vegetables and those wonderfully premeasured 100 calorie snacks. (I love those) For me chocolate is important, so I made sure I had something chocolaty everyday so I don’t deprive myself. Of course that meant a little nibble of ‘healthier’ choice options instead of the normal chocolate bars I would have eaten.

For exercise, I started really simple by walking. I started walking for 1 hour each night. Simple, but it was a start.

16 pounds lost