The Beginning

At one time I used to be fit but that was 18 years ago.  At that time, I was working out 3 times a week and didn't have the responsibility of a family.  When I was pregnant with my only child everything changed.

I gained 60 pounds and way too many inches in pregnancy and I wasn't able to recover from that.  It seemed that life just became so busy and my focus was on my child and my family not on myself.

Over the years, I tried exercising and watching my calories but it always seemed that something got in the way to derail my plans.  Between work, building my home-based businesses, looking after my son and helping my mother there just didn't seem to be the time or the energy to focus on my health goals.

It was so much easier to get my joy and happiness from a good meal rather than having to take the time and spend the money to go out and do fun things.  I could sit down and eat a really good and satisfying meal in 20 minutes and that glow of pleasure would last all night.

It was so much easier than taking a chance and changing jobs or gathering the courage to try new social activities.  It was safe and comforting but it didn't make me happy.

I was never happy with my figure or my weight.  The styles of clothes that I love weren't made for a size 18 body.  I hated the way the fat settled in my belly and made me look pregnant.  Who I am on the inside is not reflected on the outside.

Every New Year's Eve I would make my resolution that THIS year I would get in shape.  I would exercise more or watch my calories or eat healthier.  I joined the gym and I joined online weight loss communities.  The results were always the same.  For 4 to 6 months I would do the very best I could  I would exercise and I generally eat right.  Then I would weigh myself or measure myself and all that work was for nothing.  Sure, maybe I lost 20 pounds and a few inches but I still couldn't wear the clothes that I wanted.  Outwardly, I still didn't look any different.  The only thing I accomplished during that time was to give up the things that brought me joy.  There was no benefit for all that work so I would quit.

This year I met an amazing woman who, through the help of a personal trainer, lost a huge amount of weight and even participated in a Tough Mudder competition!  It made me start to realize that I might not have the information that I need in order to be successful.  What worked for me 18 years ago doesn't work for me now.

So, I signed up for a personal trainer through Good Life Fitness.  This is the gym that I had joined last year and I really like it.  I like that they have a women's only side and that they are opened 24/7 during the week.  This means that usually it isn't as crowded as a rec centre that closes at 10 pm.

The manager for the personal trainers talked with me for over an hour while we filled out lifestyle and goal questionnaires.  I told him how I was going to the gym 3 or 4 times per week and doing 1 hour cardio and 30 minutes on the weight machines but not seeing results.  He told me that using the weight machines really doesn't give you a good workout because you are only working 1 muscle at a time.  With their training programs, I would spend less time in the gym but be working out 200 muscles in my workout.  This would help me to achieve my goals.

He also told me that I should limit my carbohydrates on days that I am not working out.  I will be trying new low carb recipes on those days.  I am not much of a vegetable fan but I know that some salads I really love - like the broccoli garden salad from my local store.  It has broccoli, cauliflower, cranberries and green peas.  There are millions of recipes on the internet.  It is just a matter of finding the ones that I love that are also satisfying and filling.

I am excited to get started.  My first session with my trainer is Friday, August 19, 2016 but I am going to go to the gym for 1 hour on Monday and Wednesday.  Maybe start with some stretches and end with some cardio.

Each day I am going to blog about how well I did that day.  I am also going to post screenshots of my daily food log.  Once per week I will weigh and measure myself just so I can be aware of the progress that I made that week (if any).

Wish me luck!