Hurts So Good

Last night's workout was ROUGH! Good lord it was the hardest I've experienced since starting Boot Camp. Basically we did various routines with free weights- a mix of 40 reps on each side holding plank or doing different lifts, squats, etc and in between each rep of 40 we would run. And each run was farther than the last. The park we meet in is lined with trees and lamp posts which we use as markers. It went like this: 

Rep of 10 on left, 10 on right/Different routine rep of 10 on left, 10 on right/Repeat/Run to the first lamp post. Repeat with different routines/Run to the second lamp post.

By the end we were running all the way to the end of the block and back at the completion of each rep.

We were kept so busy doing so many different things that I hardly had a moment to think about the time and before I knew it the hour was up and my workout was done!

My thighs were burning, my chest was tight, my arms were burning from the weights- but each run as I started complaining in my head I stopped myself, looked out to the dark and beautiful night ocean, and thought one thing: "bikini...bikini...bikini....bikini...bikini...bikini..."

At the end of last night I was weighed in for the first time and discovered that my scale at home is off by 7lbs so that was great to see! I'm 7lbs less then I thought I was- hurray! But I still have 20lbs to go. 

My meausurements, as promised, are:

Last week: 35/27/38

This week: 34/26/37

Progress! And damn near close to the perfect, (at least by Violent Femmes standards), 36/24/36.

Something else happened last night at boot camp. One of my worst fears. Something that has kept me from playing sports my entire girly sedentary life. I fell. It was no more then three inches as I was already very close to the ground in plank; but falling is, I have realized, a huge phobia of mine. I was in plank position and the grass was wet and my foot slipped and - BOOP! Down I plopped for just a second. It took me a moment to even register what happened. After that it took less than a moment for me to tell myself- hey- you did it! You fell, you survived, and it barely hurt! Hardly even registered!  You can do this! You can get dirty and sweaty and fall and get back up! It sounds silly coming from a girl who bravely faces a tattoo and/or piercing needle being afraid of the pain of falling, but it has kept me from playing any sort of sport my entire life. And the weird thing is, I can't even think of what I have been afraid would happen. Not like I am made of porcelain and will shatter when hitting the ground. I think I'm tougher then I've ever given myself credit for.  (Now if only my fear of falling helped protect me in my love life, but that is another story for a book I'm working on...seriously).

Last night I was very thankful for my hot shower and sleeping with heat on my thighs. I'm already seeing a difference in certain parts of my body. Maybe they aren't differences anyone else would notice, but I'm noticing them and it's enough to keep me motivated. My ass is seriously going to look amazing. And not "my ass" as in me in general, I mean my actual ass.

Today I am less sore then I thought I would be and very much looking forward to my workout tonight. 

A dear friend texted me today looking for me to help her be accountable for her bad eating habits and I will share with you what I told her in a nutshell: trick yourself. Think of something small coming up that you want or need to look and feel your absolute best for. Sure, your health goals & my health goals are bigger and more important then an upcoming party but those big health goals can get, well, intimidating. Sometimes it's easier to think "Ok, I'm not going to eat this junk because I want to look great in this outfit on Friday" then it is "I want to loose 20lbs by May." May and 20lbs feel far away and it's easy to frustrate yourself and make a small cheat when you're thinking about a big sliding scale of a future goal- but if your goal is Friday, tomorrow, this weekend- it becomes more tangible.  At least it does for me. It's all in how you spin it. Maybe those 12 steppers have something with that whole one day at a time thing.

Speaking of spin, tomorrow night I attend my intro to RealRyder spin class....apparently it's hell on the abs- bring it on!

Details, dishing, and hopefully more positive changes to come!