Tag Archives: transformation

It’s Not Really A Transformation Challenge Fail (or Trying To Be Less Competitive With Myself)

Posted on April 6, 2018 | Comments Off

I wrote previously about how I had signed up for the Transformation Challenge at Orangetheory but how I was debating about continuing it. I was at a pretty low point with my weight loss journey where I had been taking on lots of water weight and my body was puffing up. I was thinking about going to get some blood work done to see if it was my thyroid, but many of the symptoms I experienced (feeling cold, more hair loss than normal, the water weight gain) finally started to go away so I’ve postponed going to the doctor.

But because I was dealing with those medical issues, I pretty much gave up on the transformation challenge. I was feeling a bit depressed about how high the number on the scale was even though I knew that it wasn’t all “real” weight. But when you are a part of a transformation challenge that is based on weight loss, there’s no way to determine what weight I might have lost when the scale is actually higher than where I started.

I’m so competitive with myself and I thought it would be difficult to give up on this challenge. But the timing worked out well for me because the last part of the challenge was when I already started working out at the Culver City studio. And that studio wasn’t doing the challenge (new studios don’t do challenges right away) so I wasn’t facing it all the time and that helped keep it out of my mind. In fact, when the final weigh-ins happened for this challenge, I wasn’t at the Brentwood studio any of those days. I could have gone in just to weigh in, but I didn’t worry about it. And the staff there understood my reason and nobody there made me feel bad about it.

Of course, even though others didn’t make me feel bad about it, I still did. I know that I didn’t do anything wrong necessarily, but I still blame myself a little bit. And I would have loved to have won or placed in the challenge because I could always use that boost of confidence. But this time just wasn’t my time and I am working on understanding that. My stubbornness and competitiveness can be good things, but they can also cause me to be upset when there is no reason for me to feel that way.

So while I am feeling a bit down about not completing (or kicking butt in) a challenge, I am trying to think about what various therapists have said to me and focus on the positives. I knew that I wasn’t in the best place mentally or physically and made the smart decision to not continue the challenge. I think that if I did continue the stress may have made a lot of the symptoms I was experiencing worse. I also didn’t use the setback as an excuse to not work as hard. In fact, I think I was working harder to prove to myself that I wasn’t giving up in general but just giving up on this temporary challenge.

Being kind and gentle to myself isn’t something that comes naturally to me. It’s a skill that I’ve been working on for so long and it may be a struggle the rest of my life. Whenever something doesn’t go my way or the way I hoped, I automatically assume it is my fault or I was not worthy of something. It’s rarely the case that it is and I want to try to work on not having the negative reaction as my default. I’ve had enough good stuff happen to me that I should believe that I deserve good and I don’t deserve the bad, but as I’ve said before I think some of the things I heard as a child are just stuck in my mind and will always be demons I need to fight.

But for now, I’m not mad at myself for not completing the challenge. And for me, not being mad is a pretty big victory. And I am choosing to focus on that victory as the big win I had for this transformation challenge.

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Posted in Fitness, Health, Tough Stuff, Weight Loss

Tagged challenge, fitness, mental health, Orangetheory, positivity, transformation, weight gain, weight loss, workout

Doing A Transformation Challenge (or Maybe I Need To Change Things Up)

Posted on February 20, 2018 | 1 comment

I’m currently in the middle of a transformation challenge at Orangetheory. This time, the challenge is 8 weeks long instead of 6 weeks and it is the same as how the weight loss challenges worked. You have to work out a minimum of 3 days a week during the challenge and there are official weigh-ins at the beginning, middle, and end of the challenge. Sometimes the winners are based on fat percentage lost, but I think this challenge is based on weight loss (I’m not 100% sure).

I pretty much always sign up for challenges. Most of the time it’s pretty much what I would be doing normally and there is the potential to win. I was in 2nd place during one challenge. And I love having a goal in mind to work toward and having the support of others. Whenever there is a challenge there is always some camaraderie between those in the challenge and we encourage each other.

But this challenge things seem to be different for me. I still get the camaraderie between people in the challenge and I love to support others who are doing in. But my heart doesn’t seem to be in it this time.

I’m definitely struggling with food and weight loss right now. My new medication dosage is helping a lot, but there are other factors I have to consider now. I do still have binge episodes even though they are less severe and less frequent that before. But I also am not able to work out as hard as I used to because of the medication. Also, while I am adjusting to things I am being a bit easier on myself and indulging from time to time on foods I love. I’m not necessarily going crazy, but I’m not on a strict plan either like I have tried during other challenges.

I’m also dealing with massive weight fluctuations right now. I’m guessing these have to do with hormones but I had one week were my weight went up almost 20 pounds and then I went pretty much back down to where I was. That is frustrating when I am trying to see if I have made any progress. And when I try to use things that aren’t the scale to see progress, like clothing, I have issues when I am bloating and none of my clothes fit. I wanted to have a breakdown the other day when everything in my closet was too small even though I know it shouldn’t be that way. But then a few days later the bloat went away and everything fit again.

I don’t think it is bad for my mental health to be in this challenge, but it can’t be great that I am currently focused so much on the challenge. If I just tried my best and wasn’t focused on numbers and food, I think I would be a lot happier. And now that I’m halfway done with this challenge, I think that’s exactly what I’m going to try to do. I will still track food like I have in the past because the way I track food isn’t numbers-based. And I’m still going to make my best efforts to do what I know I should be doing.

But at the same time, I’m not going to be tracking my weight anymore. I’m taking a vacation from the scale. This will only be a temporary vacation because I do like having the scale to help keep me accountable, but right now I don’t think it is the best thing for me. If I feel like I need to step on the scale to see what it says, I will do it. But I’m not going to obsess about weighing myself every day and tracking it. Eventually I will be tracking my weight again, but I think I want to start over with a fresh slate on weight tracking so I don’t see the recent fluctuations.

I really doubt this plan will help me win the transformation challenge, but that’s not really a focus of mine. The only time I thought I might win is when I was doing the cleanse at the same time as the challenge. That was awesome and I’m glad I did it, but I can’t put myself into that same obsessive mindset again. There are so many other things I need to focus on right now outside of this challenge and I need the mental freedom to do so. And if I happen to place in this challenge, that would be awesome. But I think I’ll be much happier assuming I won’t place and just seeing what I can do over these last 4 weeks.

1 Comment

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

Tagged challenge, fitness, mental health, Orangetheory, transformation, weight loss

Back To 4 Workouts (or More Rowing!)

Posted on May 18, 2015 | Comments Off

I finally had another 4 workout week. It had been about a month since my last 4 workout week, and I’m not totally sure how that happened. I’ve been trying to stay on top of getting in 4 workouts every other week, but no matter what happened I’m getting back on track this past week.

I thought with all the rowing we did last week, this would be a light rowing week.

Nope.

It wasn’t as bad as the rowing last week. All of the rowing segments were on the shorter side and some of them were just sprints.

I’m noticing that my rowing form is getting better each week. And I’m able to bend my legs in a more upright way than I did before (my legs used to have to bend more toward the side like a butterfly stretch during rowing). And I’m finally feeling like I’m able to row with very few issues caused by my hips.

I’m still struggling with getting the wattage up high enough, but that’s a tough thing to improve on. There are times where it is exactly where it needs to be, but it’s tough to maintain. So I guess I need to work on rowing stamina.

I also broke a personal rowing record. I was able to row 200 meters in 46.5 seconds! This was a new record for me, I haven’t tracked my 200 meter time in the past. And my records for 100 meters is 19.5 seconds so I’m not really sure if at one point I did 200 meters faster. All I know is for as long as I remember in my Orangetheory workouts I’ve been at about 55 seconds for 200 meters. So I’m happy with this new record!

Beyond my rowing accomplishments, I’m continuing to try to improve my strength work. Unless all the 15 pound weights are taken, I’m always using those for my arms, shoulders, and back work. And I did deadlifts this week with 25 pound weights in each hand. When I started, I was at 8 pound weights in each hand. That’s a huge improvement within the year!

My treadmill work is a bit stalled. I’m still at 3.4 miles and hour and doing my crazy inclines, but I’ve hit a bit of a wall. I can increase my inclines for my push pace (I’m currently at 10% incline), but when we have pushes that are more than a minute or two I find it too difficult. I did do 1 push pace this past week at 11% incline, but I was hurting after that. And my all-outs are at 15% incline which is the maximum incline. I’d like to increase my speed soon, but 3.5 miles an hour feels way too fast right now. So I have to be patient and maybe in a month or so I can go up to that speed.

But one of the things that I’m proudest of from the past week is how well I did with my 4 workouts. I was scared that my body had gotten too used to 3 workouts a week and that the 4th would be a big struggle. The 4th workout wasn’t easy, but it was a typically hard workout struggle and not the struggle of being too tired.

I don’t believe that I will get 4 workouts done at Orangetheory this week due to my schedule, but it’s nice to know that my body will be ok doing them from time to time when my schedule does allow it.

Comments Off on Back To 4 Workouts (or More Rowing!)

Posted in Fitness, Fun Stuff, Health, Weight Loss

Tagged fitness, Orangetheory, rowing, strength, transformation, workout

Can 4 Workout A Week Be My New Normal? (or Pushing Myself Beyond)

Posted on February 2, 2015 | 2 comments

I did another 4 workout week this week. Part of the reason is because I want to maximize my results on the cleanse, but the other reason is because the 4th workout in a week isn’t feeling like it used to.

When I did my first 4th workout in a week, I was beyond exhausted. I didn’t know if that was because it was a 4th workout of if it was because I did workouts 2 days in a row. I know now that it was probably because doing a 4th workout was pushing myself. But as I’ve been adding a 4th workout more and more, it’s not feeling so bad anymore.

This is going to help me reach my goal of 175 workouts this year, but it’s more than that now. I know that if I want to accelerate and continue having results, I need to push myself more and more. And there’s only so much more I can push myself within the class. I have to add in more workouts.

Monday’s workout was a morning one. I’m going to have to do morning workouts the next few Mondays due to scheduling issues. It’s definitely a different feeling working out in the morning compared to in the afternoon. I don’t know which one is easier, but I do prefer my afternoon ones. Probably because that’s what I’m used to.

On both Monday and Wednesday, I had the same problem during my workout. My vision started to get dark and I had to break for a moment to feel normal again. I don’t believe that that is entirely the fault of the cleanse since I’ve had this issue before working out. It just hasn’t happened recently. It does scare me a little, but I know that all the coaches just want me to work out at my own pace and if I need to take a breather, it’s ok.

Friday was a tornado class, which means that we rotate from treadmill to weights to rower a lot. This time, there were 15 rotations (5 at each section). While it’s tiring to keep switching up so much, these are becoming my favorite workouts. By the time that I’m tired of being on the treadmill, it’s time to switch. I also seem to burn the most calories in those classes because there really aren’t any breaks.

Saturday was a run/row day which is also one of my favorite workouts. The only thing I didn’t love with this particular workout was all the treadmill sections were at an “all-out” pace. For power walkers like me, this means 15% incline. I don’t like not having breaks on the treadmill from such a high incline. My only breaks were when I walked over to the rower (and I guess technically on the rower as well).

But all things considered, I did some serious butt-kicking this week. As my dad put it on the phone to me the other night, it’s incredible how far I’ve come in a year. Even compared to my first Orangetheory workout, where I couldn’t really walk for a few days after. Now, just over 100 workouts later (yes, I tracked them), I’m thinking that 4 workouts in a week could really become my new every week plan.

I love that I’m finally feeling like my transformation is happening. It’s not stagnant anymore. I’m really moving forward and not only do I feel a difference, I think I can see a difference now.

2 Comments

Posted in Fitness, Fun Stuff, Health, Weight Loss

Tagged Orangetheory, progress, strength training, transformation, workout

Starting The Year With A Lot Of Transformation (or Who Will I Be By Next Year?)

Posted on January 15, 2015 | 4 comments

I’ve been doing a lot of transformational work in the beginning of this year. I wasn’t expecting this all to happen at the beginning of the year (that’s a little cliché for me), but the timing of it all just happened to all be in January.

The first transformational thing I have been working on is increasing my workout days. This was something that was planned in my goals for 2015. Now I’m just making sure that I’m doing what I set out to do. I’m tracking all my workouts in a simple calendar checklist app, and I’m on pace to meet my monthly goal right now (it’s way too easy to think that I’m on pace to meet my yearly goal).

The only minor setback I’ve encountered is that there are so many people who want to go to Orangetheory now that if I don’t set up my classes over a week in advance, I run the risk of being put on the waitlist! That happened to me for this Saturday. I wanted to add the noon workout to my schedule and asked if I could get in that class when I was working out on Monday. The class was booked and there was only 1 spot left on the waitlist! I’m still on the waitlist now and hopefully I can get into the class. If not, I’ll have to add another workout to next week.

I’m also starting another Orangetheory Weight Loss Challenge this week. It starts on Friday and this time, it’s a national weight loss challenge so there will be people from all the Orangetheorys around the country participating. There is a lot of money for the winners, but I’m just going into it thinking of it as a personal challenge. I looked at how much weight some of the past winners have lost and for me to equal that I would have to lose weight at a very unhealthy rate for me. Some of the winners had lost over 25% of their starting weight! That’s just not realistic for me.

Then, continuing on my cooking trend, I’ve got my 4 week cleanse coming up. I just got the materials for it and while most of it seems very simple for me to do (lots of fruits and veggies), part of the cleanse is to spend the 4 weeks cutting out dairy, meat, and processed food like bread. I can probably cut dairy without missing it at all. But I’ve gotten very used to having peanut butter on toast for breakfasts and having chicken or pork with my dinner. Fortunately, the cleanse comes with a bunch of recipe ideas so I will be taking advantage of those (and posting my favorites on here!).

Then yesterday, I saw a bunch of my friends posting on various social media sites about the Money Love Challenge. I checked it out and within minutes of reading what it is all about, I signed up. It’s a free 21 day challenge (it started yesterday so it’s not too late to sign up) to help get in control of your financial situation.

This is something that I totally need in my life. Every year I say that I’m going to get rid of more and more of my credit card debt. While I’ve brought it down, it’s not nearly as low as I’d like it to be already. And I want to see how much I can bring it down in 2015. Hopefully by doing this challenge, I will be inspired to find ways to accomplish that goal.

This is a lot of change at one time, but all of these things pretty much came organically to me and I chose to do them. I’m excited to see what the next few weeks and months bring to me!

4 Comments

Posted in Fitness, Food, Fun Stuff, Health, Saving, Tough Stuff, Weight Loss

Tagged cooking, credit card, debt, food, money, transformation, weight loss

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.

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).

3 Comments

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

Tagged challenge, hip issues, Orangetheory, pain, transformation, weight loss, workout

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.

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.

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.

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!

2 Comments

Posted in Fitness, Fun Stuff, Health, Weight Loss

Tagged cardio, challenge, Orangetheory, rowing, strength training, transformation, treadmill, workout

Tag Archives: transformation

It’s Not Really A Transformation Challenge Fail (or Trying To Be Less Competitive With Myself)

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Doing A Transformation Challenge (or Maybe I Need To Change Things Up)

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Back To 4 Workouts (or More Rowing!)

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Can 4 Workout A Week Be My New Normal? (or Pushing Myself Beyond)

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Starting The Year With A Lot Of Transformation (or Who Will I Be By Next Year?)

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

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

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