Category Archives: Weight Loss

My Last 3 Workouts Of Being 30 (Realizing I’m Stronger Than I Thought)

Posted on August 11, 2014 | Comments Off on My Last 3 Workouts Of Being 30 (Realizing I’m Stronger Than I Thought)

This past week was a week of celebrations for me at Orangetheory.

First of all, it marked the end of me being 30 years old! This past year has been one of the healthier years for me, but I know that this next year will be even better!

The second celebration I had at Orangetheory was related to my classes on Monday and Wednesday.

Both of those days were pretty tough workouts. They aren’t getting easier for me because I am continuing to push myself every time I’m there. I’m using heavier weights, trying to get more sets in, and making sure my form is improving every time.

One of the things that I haven’t been pushing myself on is the high-impact activities. Some of them, like jumping jacks, aren’t worth pushing myself on yet. They hurt so bad while I’m doing them and I can feel my hips getting worse as I try to do them. But there are some other higher impact things that I have started to push myself on.

For example, this week on Monday, I was able to properly do mountain climbers. Before this workout, I would step slowly with one leg and then the other while doing the mountain climbers. But on Monday, I pushed myself and realized that I could “run” while doing them. They were hard and I was totally out of breath after doing my set, but I did it!

I was pretty darn proud of myself after that class!

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On Wednesday, I got another chance to push myself again when we had to do plank jumps (or plank hops). Again, I decided to do the move full-out (instead of stepping to do the hops) and I was able to do it! Even JZ, the trainer for Wednesdays class, noticed that I was able to do that and she acknowledged my accomplishment when we chatted quickly after class.

Since I’m running low on ideas for photos after my workouts (only 6 more to go until I’m not required to do them), JZ and I decided to take a silly selfie since all my other photos were pretty normal.

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On Friday, I went to the 12:15 class for the first time. I had an appointment to get my hair done at 4pm so I couldn’t make my usual 4:15 class (more on my fun on Friday in another post). This class was taught by Bruce, who I’ve had in classes with me before but I had never taken one of his classes (he’s also made appearances in several of my post-workout photos including the one from this past Monday).

Since this was the workout closest to my birthday, I declared it my birthday class. I wanted to wear a tiara, but no matter how many pins I put in it, I couldn’t get it to stay in my hair. So I settled for a sparkly headband.

Bruce really helped to make the class awesome and special for me. When we were warming up, he pointed me out and let everyone know that I was celebrating my birthday class. He said it again during the cool down. And Bruce was so positive and encouraging during the entire workout.

It was a run/row day so I was sweating like crazy. But I loved that that is how I started my last day of being 30!

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I’ve got 2 more weeks of my initial challenge with Orangetheory. But this week I will be getting my membership paperwork done because I have no plans on stopping my workouts. I’m in such a good place with my 3 workouts a week (and to think that in the beginning I thought I couldn’t do 3 workouts a week) and the 4:15 class time will work for me even when I start my new job in a few weeks (it might affect me working in the box office, but I’m not going to worry about that yet since they won’t need me until maybe September).

I’ve also got some more exciting news about my journey with Orangetheory. Some of you who follow me on social media might have seen something about it. But I’m going to save that information until later this week!

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Posted in Celebrations, Fitness, Fun Stuff, Health, Weight Loss

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Checking In With My Progress (or Past The Half Way Mark)

Posted on August 4, 2014 | 3 comments

Last week marked the beginning of the second half of my Orangetheory challenge. I’ve talked about my frustration with my weight loss in the past, and it still bugs me that the weight is coming off slowly (although I know that that is much better than how I did things in the past).

Of course, after being half way done, I had to do a new set of photos to compare them to how I looked when I started.

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The top photos are from when I started and the bottom ones were from the beginning of last week.

I don’t really see a difference, but I know that I am my harshest critic. Several of my friends did tell me that they do see a changes, especially in the middle photo.

I’m trying to focus on the non-scale victories right now, because if I just rely on my scale I will be mad at myself.

As much as I would like to say that I’m in less pain now, but that’s actually the opposite. I’m in a lot of pain every day now. But that might actually be a good thing. My hip surgeon told me that the less I use my body/hips, the longer I will be able to go without needing my next surgery. So by being in more pain now, that is showing that I am working out hard and using my body way more than I used to. All 3 surgeries that I still have ahead will happen no matter what and while I do want to put them off as long as possible, I can’t avoid moving just to put off my surgeries a little longer.

Another non-scale victory comes from the people who work and train at Orangetheory. Last week, I was told how I’m looking more nimble, agile, and how all my movements are getting smoother and look easier. This proves that while my scale might not be changing my body is.

I’m still struggling with the run/row segments because the transitions are tough for me (and the step down from the treadmill is a big step), but it’s getting better. I was able to do more run/row transitions this week than last week.

I’m also getting so much better at rowing, which is something I never did before Orangetheory. I was able to row for 600 meters without stopping several times last week. That’s a lot!

My parents will be in town in a few weeks and I can’t wait to share this workout with my dad (and hopefully my mom will decide to join us too). While I know that my dad will be better at most of the workouts than I am, I still am so happy with my progress.

And being happy with my progress is one of the biggest accomplishments so far. I’m so used to feeling like the weakest and slowest in any workout scenario. And while that might still be true, I don’t care anymore. I’ve made a lot of progress and that is awesome. And while people who are new to class might not see it, there are plenty of people who are at every class with me and they see it and they have told me how awesome it is.

I am slowly no longer comparing myself to others. It still happens, but it’s way less often than even 2 weeks ago.

I’ve got 3 more weeks left in my challenge, but I already know that I will be signing up for a membership the day that my challenge is over. This is something that I’m really loving every time I’m there and I can’t image not having my 3 workouts a week at Orangetheory (maybe I can bump that up to 4 soon).

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Orangetheory Week 4 (or I Can’t Believe I’m Halfway Done!)

Posted on July 28, 2014 | Comments Off on Orangetheory Week 4 (or I Can’t Believe I’m Halfway Done!)

I’ve completed half of my Orangetheory challenge! I can’t believe it! I remember before I started the challenge I wondered how I could manage to do this. Now, I’m to the point where I’m starting to miss my workouts on days I’m not there (but I know my body probably can’t handle more than 3 Orangetheory workouts a week yet). I’m also starting to think long-term about this. Right now, I’m thinking about getting the top-level of membership at Orangetheory after my challenge is done so I can continue my Monday, Wednesday, Friday workouts.

I’m starting to feel much stronger and powerful and even one of the managers at Orangetheory said that he’s noticed me looking more agile. While my weight loss is slow, it’s going the direction it needs to go. And I know that muscle weighs more than fat, but I’m not going to use that as an excuse. But losing 2 pounds a week is good and maintainable.

Last Monday, I had a friend join me for my class. It was the first time I had a friend there, and it was pretty awesome! I’m still hoping that more people will join me (if you are in LA and want to come please let me know!), but having a friend there this past week really helped give me a boost after feeling a little frustrated.

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On Wednesday, I was having a bad hip day (technically all week last week was a bad hip week). I wasn’t too happy to be on the treadmill, but I pushed through it the best I could. I had to take a lot of breaks, but I always got back on the treadmill.

I think the highlight for me on that workout was that we did a little rowing race. The group that started on the rowers (I started on the treadmills) did a race and the person who rowed the farthest in 1 minute rowed about 330 meters. So the challenge was set for my group to have someone beat that. Prior to Friday, I was averaging 250 meters in about 75 seconds. But I wanted to see how hard I could push myself.

I didn’t win the challenge, but I did manage to row 313 meters in 1 minute! It was really hard and I thought I might pass out for a second, but I did it! I did have some time before we starting rowing to rest, so that helped. But I now have a new benchmark for the next rowing challenge.

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Friday marked the end of my first month of my challenge. It was an exceptionally bad hip day and I had also worked the graveyard shift the night before. It was a recipe for disaster and in the past, I would have tried to find a way to get out of the workout.

But I still showed up and I did as much as I could. It wasn’t my best workout and it wasn’t pretty, but I was there. And that’s what counts.

To celebrate the end of my first month of my challenge, my trainer for that day Ashley wanted to take a photo that proves how tough I’m getting. So she decided to have me plank and then she would balance her plank on me (so I was supporting her as well). I used to be great at planks when I was skinny, but I’ve lost a lot of core strength and I’m working on getting it back. And I think this picture proves that I’m getting my core strength back.

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My hip issues are still bothering me now and I’m taking more painkillers than I used to. I’m not doing anything bad for my hips, but technically almost anything I do is potentially bad for me. Part of the annoying part of my problem is I have to allow things to get back so they can be fixed (there’s no reason to fix things before they hurt).

I’m trying to remember that fact and I’m going to do the best I can in week 5. Even if that means taking breaks on the treadmill again.

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Weight Loss Update (or Why I’m Trying Not To Get Frustrated)

Posted on July 23, 2014 | 3 comments

So I’ve completed 3 weeks of my Orangetheory challenge so far. I’ve been working out 3 days a week (and burning about 500 each workout) and I’m trying to eat below my calorie goals (which seems to happen about 6 out of 7 days).

You’d think that I would have lost a good amount of weight so far. Maybe even in the double digits. That’s what I thought I would have done by now.

But instead, I am currently down 6 pounds from where I started at the beginning of the challenge.

I should be happy with those 6 pounds. They say that you should lose 2 pounds a week to have a maintainable weight loss and that’s exactly what I’m doing. And I know that my body composition is changing and I’m gaining muscle so that could also cause my weight loss to stall a little.

But I still keep thinking about how when I did the RFO diet I would lose about 6-10 pounds a week (my first week I lost 14). And I’m aware that that was a medically supervised starvation diet and that the weight loss was not maintainable. But I still miss those days when I lost a pound a day.

It doesn’t help that all over the media there are people losing weight at a rapid fire pace. On Extreme Weight Loss, people lose 100 pounds in 90 days. And yes, almost all of those people have more weight to lose than I do, but it’s still a message that sticks in my head. It’s possible to lose more than I am right now.

So why am I stalled?

Besides the reasons that I’ve already listed, I know that the weather is affecting me as well. It’s very hot right now, and with my house having horrible insulation, it’s very hot even when I go to bed (averaging at 90 degrees when I go to sleep each night). I have a fan next to my bed, so that helps, but I’m still overheated. And when I’m overheated, my body swells up. So my clothes feeling tighter is an illusion. It’s a frustrating illusion, but I know that I haven’t gained weight.

Right now, there’s not much I can do to make myself lose weight faster. I’m thinking of cutting my calories back a little (maybe from 1600 to 1450), but I’m not going to do anything drastic.

I just have to keep pushing along and eventually my body will catch up to all the hard work I’m putting in. I just have to make sure that I don’t give up before that happens.

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Week 3 Of Orangetheory (or Pushing Myself Even In Extreme Pain)

Posted on July 21, 2014 | 1 comment

I’ve successfully completed week 3 of my Orangetheory challenge. And this week was definitely a challenge for me. My body is starting to realize how tough it is to work out really hard 3 days a week. Hopefully my body will adjust to that soon (I think it was in shock for the first 2 weeks).

This week, I had the same trainer every class, Ashley. I think Ashley is pretty awesome. She does push me hard, but she understands that there are times that my body is just not able to do it. And she’s more than happy to give me modifications for all the strength workouts (sometimes without me having to even ask for them).

Monday’s class went really well. I had a great calorie burn that day and I didn’t hurt too much during the workout or after (which is a victory for me). I post photos on Instagram, twitter, and Facebook after every class and I want all my pictures to be different, but I’m starting to run low on ideas. After Monday’s class, Ashley suggested that we show off how crazy my calorie burn really was in those 60 minutes.

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It’s a little hard to tell from the picture, but I burned almost 500 calories in that class!

Wednesday’s class had a really tough cardio segment. It was another run/row day. In my case, it was a walk/row, but that really didn’t make it much easier. I have a tough time with the transitions between the treadmill and the rower. I have to take a minute to step down from the treadmill (I feel like I’m going to fall off) and when I stand up from the rower my legs are a little shaky. I’m hoping that there will be some more run/row days soon so I can work on feeling more comfortable with that.

But I am feeling much better on the rower now. In the beginning, that was a challenge for me. It was uncomfortable and I had weird leg pains while on it. But with Ashley’s help, my form is getting much better and I’m really starting to enjoy rowing now.

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My Friday class was a big challenge for me. Typically in class, we split into 2 groups and one group does 30 minutes of cardio (typically treadmill) while the other group does strength work (plus rowing) and then half way through we switch. I always do the cardio part first because when I’m tired and walking, I’m much more likely to have hip issues. So that plan has been helping.

But on Friday, things were switched up. I started in the cardio group. We did 15 minutes of treadmill time and then we switched with the strength group. Then after 15 more minutes, we went back to the treadmill. And after 15 minutes on the treadmill, my group finished with 15 more minutes of strength.

I was fine for the first 30 minutes. But as soon as I stepped back onto the treadmill for my second treadmill time, my hip popped out. And what that means is my femur bone is not where it’s supposed to be. So instead of things feeling okay in my hip joint, my bones were grinding against each other (it feels similar to when you grind your teeth but much stronger). I tried to walk the best I could, but it hurt so bad. Every few minutes I stood on the side rails of the treadmill and attempted to pop my hip back (I can do it on my own, but I need to have a good wall to brace myself against). I wasn’t able to pop it back during class, but I was able to finish the workout. It wasn’t pretty and it wasn’t my best day, but I did it.

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Fortunately, as soon as I got home on Friday, I was able to pop my hip back in and took some painkillers right away. It helped, but I was still pretty sore all weekend (which is typical for when this happens to me).

I’m excited to see what the next week brings, Ashley will be my trainer on Monday and Friday and JZ will be my trainer on Wednesday. And after next week is done, I’ll be half way through my challenge! Time really has flown by!

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Not Letting A Slip Up Be A Set Back (or I Splurged Again)

Posted on July 18, 2014 | 3 comments

While I thought I had learned my lesson about splurge meals, I guess I didn’t. I did another splurge meal, but it was more of an afternoon than a meal.

A little back story.

Over the years, certain grocery stores feel “unsafe” to me. I know where the things are that I like to eat, and with muscle memory it seems like I just walk to those foods and put them in my basket. So I’ve avoided certain grocery stores over the past few years.

Now I go to 2 different stores near my house, an Albertsons and a Trader Joes. I used to go to Albertsons a lot more, but there are more “bad” foods for me there. So I only go for certain items that I know I can get at Trader Joes (which used to include a specific sparkling flavored water but I haven’t had one of those in over a month).

But even though I go to this particular Trader Joes, it’s starting to feel unsafe for me.

Yesterday, I had to go to Trader Joes to pick up a few items (mainly household things). I decided that since I wasn’t doing my usual shopping, I wouldn’t walk through the aisles the way I typically do. I thought that would shock my muscle memory and I would be able to walk out with just the few things I needed.

I got my items but ended up right next to one of my “bad” foods, which happens to be the fresh mozzarella. I wasn’t planning on buying it (I didn’t need it), but somehow it ended up in my basket along with a few other things that I used to eat all the time but have tried to avoid lately.

And like I was on auto-pilot I bought those items, brought them home, and ate them (in a particular order which I’ve always done).

And as soon as I did it I felt sick. There was no need for me to eat these things. Looking back, I had forgotten to eat at all before going to the grocery store (the graveyard shifts throw off my meal times) and that was a huge mistake. I try to never go to the store hungry. Not only does that make me feel like I need a certain food, my willpower is lowered and I just don’t think about it.

But I’m trying to tell myself that just because I had a bad few hours yesterday doesn’t mean I can’t have good hours after that. In the past, I would always tell myself that I could start a diet on “Monday” (Monday is really any arbitrary day in the future). I would tell myself that I would get what I wanted until then and then once “Monday” comes I’ll be good.

I’m not doing that this time. Today is a workout day at Orangetheory Fitness and I have all my meals for the day planned out (and I’ll be under my calorie goal so that will help with the excess of calories from yesterday).

This is progress for me. It might not seem like it, but I know that it is. I just have to accept that slip ups will happen from time to time and that I have to be ok with that. And that I can get back on track immediately and don’t need to go crazy.

I’m going to try to eliminate those “bad” foods from my diet, but I’m slowly removing “bad” foods. I haven’t gotten any fast food in a month (unless you count one In-N-Out burger on the way to Lake Tahoe). And there some delivery food that I used to get way too often and I haven’t ordered it for 3 weeks (which is really good for me). And there are other foods from Trader Joes that are “bad” and I have been able to avoid getting them for over a week.

It’s baby steps, but there is progress. I’m just trying to be patient with myself and more accepting of my flaws and slip ups. And just because I’m accepting doesn’t mean I’m ok with them. I just know that I can’t be too harsh on myself because if I do, I’ll just go back to how things used to be.

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Cheating With Pie (or Trying To Splurge The Right Way)

Posted on July 15, 2014 | 2 comments

In the past, I’ve been an all or nothing dieter. Either I’m on track or I’m going crazy. I’ve never been able to find a good middle (or what most people would call “normal eating”).

I’m really working hard at changing that right now. I am trying to stay under my calories every day as well as not trying to eat my exercise calories. So far, that’s going pretty well for me. Although I am eating almost the exact same thing every day. But I do get into food ruts occasionally and I think that that’s ok.

My big thing right now is each day for lunch I’m eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. It’s not too bad in calories and it’s easy for me to portion control it (one piece of bread and the peanut butter is a single serving packet). And having that as my lunch every day has helped with the afternoon snacking. So I’m not planning on changing my lunches anytime soon (it’s also pretty cheap so that’s another plus).

There are so many diet books that say that you can splurge every once in a while. Lots of sources talk about having a cheat day, but I know that if I let myself have a day, that’s going to end up really badly. So I want to allow myself a cheat meal every once in a while.

I had my first official cheat meal this past weekend on Saturday. I went out for lunch and pie with my friend Emily. Even though this was only a cheat meal, it ended up in a way becoming a cheat day (I didn’t eat breakfast that morning and I had my leftovers from lunch for dinner).

One thing I learned about my cheat meal: I probably went a little overboard. Not in calories (somehow I was 1 calorie under my calorie goal for the day), but in richness or something else. Not to be too gross, but my body was very unhappy for about half a day after that meal. It’s a few days later and I still don’t feel as good as I had been feeling before.

I need to be able to make cheat meals a part of my life. I need to be able to enjoy food every once in a while. But I need to balance those cheats meals better with my normal meals. And I’m still learning how to do that.

Sometimes I wonder how skinny people do it. It seems like an impossible task to lose weight (or maintain weight loss) and eat more than just lettuce all day. I know that part of my problem is that I do have a slightly slower metabolism than most people (I had that tested in the past), but that can’t account for all my trouble.

But I feel like for the first time, I really learned my lesson with eating the wrong things. In the past, I might have felt a little sick from overeating or indulging, but never as sick as I felt this time. My body must have started to get used to the good foods I’m putting in my system and is finally recognizing the bad foods as bad foods. I know that there will be another overindulgence or slip up in the future, but for the first time, I feel optimistic that my cheat meal will be just that and not a slide back down toward constant binge eating.

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Second Week Of My Orangetheory Challenge (or I Guess I’m Tougher Than I Thought I Was)

Posted on July 14, 2014 | 2 comments

Last week was week 2 of my Orangetheory challenge and I feel like I rocked the week!

I went to my usual Monday, Wednesday, and Friday class. Which if any of you want to join me for a workout, I’d love to have some blog readers there with me! Anyone who comes with me to a workout gets to go for free! Let me know in the comments if you want to come!

Anyway, back to my week. Monday was interesting. I was a little tired from the week before. My body is getting adjusted to working out so much in a week (but I know that this is good for me to go through). I’m still not loving the treadmill, but that’s why I know I need to do it.

I was able to increase my incline on the push and all out sections of the treadmill time this week. So during those times, I was at 10% or 15% incline instead of 6% and 10%. I consider that a major improvement. I’m also getting more comfortable with the TRX straps, which as I mentioned before, I had never done before going to Orangetheory. And of course, I had to take an awesome photo after my Monday workout.

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Wednesday was a crazy tough workout, but I loved it! The class was small so instead of having us workout in 2 different groups, we all worked out together. I actually liked that a bit more, but I know that that won’t be the norm.

The cardio section of the workout that day was so tough. We went from treadmill to rower and back again several times. My heart rate was so high and I was dripping sweat the entire time. But I did it and even though I felt that I might pass out from trying so hard, I didn’t.

I wish I could remember the strength section that day, but the cardio section wore me out so much that I don’t remember too much after that. I also got a picture with the cardio workout of the day so that helped me remember a little too.

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What that board means is we ran (I technically walked) .1 miles and then did a 100 meter row. Then we went .15 miles on the treadmill and rowed 100 meters and so on. Then after that we did a 200 meter row and 30 seconds on the treadmill (with me walking at 15% incline). Rowing is so hard, but I’m really starting to like it. I remember at my first class how difficult rowing was for me and how my body just didn’t want to go the right way. Now, while I’m still not perfect (my weight does affect that a little), my form on the rower has gotten so much better!

Friday was a big incline day on the treadmill. We did so many hills that I thought I would pass out. I would say a majority of my 30 minutes on the treadmill were spent at at least 6% incline. I was only down to 3% for brief breaks from the crazy incline. I’m working on getting my speed up as well, but that’s going a little slower than I’d like. I’m able to do a lot of the workout at 3mph and occasionally I kick it up to 3.1 or 3.2, but toward the end of the 30 minute treadmill section, I have to go down to 2.7 or 2.8. My goal is to do the entire 30 minutes at 3.0 or faster. Ultimately, I’d like to get it to 4.0, but I know that that is going to take a long time.

For my workout picture on Friday, I decided to put it out on social media to see what shirt people think I should get when I lose enough weight.

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Everyone except one person voted for the orange shirt. Anyone else want to vote on it? I don’t know when I’ll be able to fit into one of their shirts, but I hope it’s before my 8 week challenge is over!

Overall, I think I had a pretty amazing week at Orangetheory. The best part about it for me is I’m starting to realize how tough and strong I really am. At SoulCycle, while there is a weights portion of the workout, I never felt like I was really strong. Now when I’m lifting 16 pounds while doing squats or when I’m doing pull-ups on the TRX straps, I can really see what my body is capable of. And I know that with time I’ll continue to get stronger and stronger.

I’m a quarter of the way done with my challenge and to be honest, time is flying by! I can’t wait to see how I’m able to push myself this week!

 

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Default ThumbnailDoing Some Challenges (or Mondays Are Going To Be Tough) Default ThumbnailWeek 1 Of Orangetheory (or Wow, I’m 1/8 Of The Way Done With My Challenge!) Default Thumbnail4 Workout Week (or Getting Some Friends To Come Try Orangetheory) Default ThumbnailGetting Weighed In (or A New Orangetheory Challenge) Default ThumbnailEnding My Challenge Early (or I Guess I Made A Mistake) Default ThumbnailOrangetheory Week 4 (or I Can’t Believe I’m Halfway Done!)

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Posted in Fitness, Fun Stuff, Health, Weight Loss

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Week 1 Of Orangetheory (or Wow, I’m 1/8 Of The Way Done With My Challenge!)

Posted on July 7, 2014 | 2 comments

Before doing my recap of my first week at Orangetheory, I want to mention that today is the 8 year anniversary of my hip surgery. Each year that passes is a huge milestone for me because since my surgeon discovered the same defect in my left hip, he said I wouldn’t make it more than a few years without needing my next surgery. While I’m definitely in more pain this year than I was last year, I’m still not to the point where I need my next surgery. And I think that my first week of my Orangetheory challenge proved that I’m tough and my hip is still strong!

I was very nervous going into the first week. Like I had said before, it’s been a while since I’ve done 3 tough workouts in one week. Honestly, I haven’t done that since I was skinny. But I tried to go into the week with a positive mind and think that this is a challenge and I need to prove to myself that I can do it.

Before going to my first workout, I took a series of before pictures (part of my deal is to have before/after photos as well as photos after each workout). I shared my before photos on social media and got a pretty positive response from people. They were proud of me for starting a challenge and they were cheering me on.

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Fortunately, that first workout was similar to the other workouts I had done at Orangetheory. So that helped with the nerves and I was able to get a good strong workout in for my first day.

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My workout on Wednesday was a bit tougher. I was still a little sore from Monday (although nothing like my very first workout). So I took a painkiller and went to class. I was able to really do some good work on the rowing machine (something I had never used before going to Orangetheory). And during the treadmill segment, I did my fastest mile since December! That was pretty amazing!

And since I have to take a photo after each workout, I decided that I want to be creative with the photos. It wouldn’t be fun if every photo was just a sweaty selfie. So I got one on the rowing machines with the trainer from that class, JZ and the guy who help set up this challenge for me, Jonathan.

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Workout 3 had a new challenge for me. Since it was on 4th of July I couldn’t take my usual afternoon class. I had to go in at 8am. And since my body takes a while to wake up and not feel stiff, I had to wake up earlier than I like to. But that’s ok. I was able to get my workout in before having fun that afternoon (I’ll post about that tomorrow).

I challenged myself even more on the treadmills on Friday. During the treadmill segment, there are 3 levels that you workout on. You have your base pace which is something you can do for 30 minutes, you have a push pace, and you have an all out sprint. For runners, you increase your speed for push and all out. But for walkers (like me), you increase your elevation on the treadmill. During all out, walkers are supposed to be at 10-15% incline. I usually have it at 10%, but this time I went for 15% and was able to do it!

We also had a 5 minute distance challenge. I knew as the only walker I was not going to win that challenge, but I decided to see what I could do if I only had to do it for 5 minutes. I went faster than I had before and was able to do a quarter-mile in under 5 minutes! I’m usually walking at a 21 or 22 minute pace, so a quarter-mile in under 5 minutes is pretty amazing!

Friday’s photo was all about the TRX straps. I had never used these before Orangetheory and to be honest, I was intimidated by them. But by using them (as well as some of the other equipment available), I’ve realized how strong I really am!

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After working out 3 days in the week, I really felt it by Friday afternoon. And I’m glad I had the weekend off. But now it’s time to start week 2 and see what else I’m able to push myself to do!

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Default ThumbnailFirst Week of Workouts After The Challenge (or Weird Workout Times) Default ThumbnailGoing Big During Peak Performance Week (or A Week Of PRs) Default ThumbnailSecond Week Of My Orangetheory Challenge (or I Guess I’m Tougher Than I Thought I Was) Default Thumbnail4 Workout Week (or Getting Some Friends To Come Try Orangetheory) Default ThumbnailOrangetheory Week 4 (or I Can’t Believe I’m Halfway Done!) Default ThumbnailGetting Weighed In (or A New Orangetheory Challenge)

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Spending The Next 2 Months Going Orange! (or A Bombshell Partnership!)

Posted on June 27, 2014 | 4 comments

I have some exciting news to share with  you all! Orangetheory Fitness was so inspired by my story and how I want to lose my extra weight (and not gain it back again) that they have offered to help me.

Orangetheory will be sponsoring my workouts for July and August! For the next 8 weeks, I have committed myself to working out there 3 times a week (right now I’m scheduled for Mondays, Wednesday, and Fridays). This is both super exciting and scary.

I haven’t worked out 3 times a week regularly for a while. I know that this is something that I should do, but it hasn’t happened. 2 times a week seems doable, but the whole idea of this partnership is to push myself and to see what I’m really capable of.

And I’m so excited because this is a commitment. I can’t back out if I’m tired or just not feeling up to it. I’ve given Orangetheory my word (and I take that very seriously).

I start my 8 week challenge/partnership with them next week. And I’ll be posting on here at least once a week with updates on my workouts. I’ll be sharing my challenges and my goals as well as updating you all on my progress.

And I’d love to have some of you come with me to a class over the next 8 weeks! If you go to the Orangetheory website, you can get signed up for a free class! Just let me know that you want to workout with me and I’ll let you know what times I’ll be going that week.

This is a major positive step in my weight loss plan. I know that I need to get better about working out, and this is exactly the push that I need. I know that it will be tough and I’m sure that I will wonder what I got myself into at least once or twice, but I know that after 8 weeks I’ll be stronger and hopefully weigh much less than I do right now. And they say that it takes 21 days to create a habit, and I’ll have 60 days of this ahead of me!

I can’t wait until Monday for my first class of this new journey!

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Default ThumbnailChecking In With My Progress (or Past The Half Way Mark) Default ThumbnailOrangetheory Week 4 (or I Can’t Believe I’m Halfway Done!) Default ThumbnailAnother Bombshell Partnership! (or Doing A Healthy Detox) Default Thumbnail1 Year Of Going Orange (or Anniversary Celebrations) Default ThumbnailOrangetheory Goals (or A Blog/Vlog Partnership!) Default ThumbnailGoing Orange Again (or Having A Successful Second Workout)

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Posted in Celebrations, Fitness, Fun Stuff, Weight Loss

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