Met with a personal trainer last night for a free 45-minute introductory session. I wanted to see if I liked his style and felt like he was someone I could be successful with.
I'm not going to lie, it was mortifying on many levels because I am so, so out of shape. I have weak arms. Terrible endurance. Overall disappointing strength. I have zero flexibility. BUT. He didn't make me feel bad about it. He was honest, direct and realistic. I'm starting at level one, he said. I knew that much!
I talked to him about my goals. I told him how my wardrobe is full of things in three different sizes: 1) my goal size that I've fit into in rare (and brief) periods of time
2) my average size that I've worn for the bulk of my life
3) my bigger size, which is what I wear when I've ebbed towards the higher numbers on the scale (also known as the last couple of years)
I told him that currently I'm straining the capabilities of the largest size. I told him my goal is to get back into the smaller sizes, and to have my old "fat" pants be "fat" pants again, and not everyday pants. I told him I want to increase my strength and endurance. Make fitness a part of my routine. Work on my eating habits.
My first real session is Tuesday of next week. I will endure the dreaded initial weigh in and measurements and body fat percentage tests. It will be grim. It will be disheartening. But I will be doing something about it, and that matters. He said our sessions will focus on toning and "intense cardio". He said that based on where I'm at now, this will be a shock to my system at first, but that he will never increase intensity unless I'm ready.
Next week I'm meeting with him three times. Three times the following week, if I survive. ;-) After that I may drop to two a week, but I'll evaluate at that time. I really need to kickstart this plan into action, and I trust him to ensure that I don't overdo anything. With the plan of seeing him three times a week in place, I'm supposed to do cardio on my own at least 2x a week, with a goal of burning 500 calories in a session.
After my intro session last night I went to the gym and did 30 minutes on the elliptical, the same as I had the night before. This time I paid attention to my calories burned, and I realized my trainer was spot on. He guessed I was burning about 250 calories in 30 minutes, and I burned about 260. He told me if I was burning 250 right now, he wanted me to work towards burning 500 instead. It will be difficult, and it will be an evolutionary process, but it's something to work towards!
I'm sore today. My arms hurt. My abs hurt. My thighs hurt. However, this is nothing. I know that the next two weeks are going to be hell. I'm going to hurt 100x worse than I do right now, and I'm going to curse this trainer, and wonder why I'm torturing myself, but I think it will be worth it. I am not 18 years old anymore, I don't have a miraculous metabolism, and I need to start taking better care of myself. I need to finally invest the time and energy into doing better.
In the meantime, until my first real session tuesday, I'm going to keep up with the cardio on my own, try to make better food choices, and work on my pushups. ;-) It may be a challenge, especially with going out of town Friday-Monday night, but I'll be reasonable and do what I can.
Wish me luck. :-)
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Sounds like your freebie session went well! I found a couple pins I thought you might like in your current pursuit:
ReplyDeletehttps://pinterest.com/pin/268316090269381614/
https://pinterest.com/pin/268316090269488450/
Vent when you need to, celebrate when you can. :)
If I could make a recommendation, incorporate some yoga, even if its a DVD, after your training session days. I don't know if you've done it before, but it will really help after hard sessions, especially if those sessions are filled with squats, lunges, and the dreaded burpee.
ReplyDeleteI hate the gym because its boring. All my cardio machines have TVs on them, but its still boring to stay on one machine for 30-45 minutes. I would rather do a class.
Bob Harpers "The Skinny Rules" has some really good tips, I didn't read the book, I just found his "rules" on Pinterest. They are ones I pretty much follow, even though I will never be skinny, nor do I care to be.
Good luck!
Youre awesome. I hear these things start to get easier the more you do them. hoping youll be inspiration to get my butt into gear at the gym. Good luck!
ReplyDelete@Heather: Thanks! Those were pretty motivational, I like them!
ReplyDelete@Danielle: I will try! I took a hatha yoga several years ago and did a few classes of a more intense yoga about a year or two ago, so I have some very limited yoga exposure. I may see what's On Demand on my cable!
Gym is boring, but I can usually do at least 30 minutes by listening to music and getting into it that way. Better than nothing! I have done classes before and I feel entirely too uncoordinated in them most of the time, LOL.
Go, team! You got this! Funny how hurting so much can feel so good!
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