success!!

Well I feel like I've gotten a clean bill of health. Physio figured out my knee and elbow issues and it's under control. My trainer is going to help me build up the muscle that I need to avoid further injury and strengthen - best of both worlds.

It felt so good to do training with Shawna today (2nd time this week!!!).  She had me doing intense circuits and damn did it feel good. As I'm doing squats she says to me "Just think about how good your butt is going to look in that bridesmaid dress with each squat". Some people (like my trainer) know EXACTLY what to say to motivate and damn that definitely did it. She thinks with me training 2 times a week with her and proper eating 15 pounds lost before Jeff and Laura's wedding would be doable. I think I can do it and this is my new mission!! This guy below was one of  the parts of circuits I did with her today ... ooh it was soo good .. and in the end of an hour of personal training ...700 calories burned. Damn that hard work pays off and I love it!! Getting a trainer has been the best financial investment in my health I've ever made .. I can't imagine not having one. If you're stuck in a rut with your fitness routine I TOTALLY recommend it! When I leave a session with Shawna I feel like I'm on my own biggest loser show lol ... I've learned to do things I never thought possible.

The great thing about Shawna is she knows exactly what to say to keep me on track. Before we left she quizzed me on what I was having for dinner. Well I knew it was a baseball night so I knew there was going to be pizza ordered ... it wasn't even a question she said okay so what are you going to have instead ? This in itself just shows how sure she was I was going to make the "right" choice and have an alternative. Sure enough with her in mind (and the idea of a good looking butt in that bridesmaid dress) I had my homemade chicken gumbo. I had one piece of crazy bread (100 calories) so I didn't feel like I was missing out completely .. but I ate my hearty okra and brown rice chicken gumbo and I was so proud of myself. 

Pizza is by far my weakness .. last week with pizza as the baseball dinner I had about 4 slices .. I don't even want to consider how many calories that would be. A Little Caesars pizza slice is 250 calories for ONE SLICE and Little Caesars doesn't even have big slices .. so that was a wake up call. My problem is I know my body and I know if I had just one piece .. one piece would soon be five pieces ... it's so easy to do. 

I'm just writing this post to celebrate because I"m so proud. I felt soo good about my decision not to have the pizza and a huge kudos to Shawna who motivated me to realize pizza wasn't an option and it wasn't necessary. 

She also made me realize the importance of planning (although I know this). A goal of mine for this school year will be to makes lots of homemade vegetable soups and prepare chicken breasts so they are always handy to add to a salad etc. If I take the time to plan ahead I won't be stuck in a situation where I feel I have to eat what is offered or I go hungry and overeat because I'm so hungry. I'm hoping this will be a step in the right direction. 

Okay I'm done celebrating .. but thanks again to Shawna who helped me avoid the pizza trap. 

Now let's just see how I make it through the bridal shower on Saturday .... stay tuned! 

Staying on track ...

So far this has been a good week for staying in my calories and exercising (yay!). The weekend away in North Bay was tough .. but I was happy with the results considering all the drinking and lots of food .. I made time to go for a run ...unfortunately I didn't lose this week, but I stayed the same .. with that kinda weekend I was quite happy. I also have a bit of a knee injury that has me sidelined ... but I'm not letting it stop me too much. I have physio tomorrow so we'll see what they say about it in terms of what I can and cannot do.

Said no to a milkshake last night at one of the best burger joints I've ever been too. I had a turkey burger - delicious ... not the most clean option .. but I was proud of the no milkshake. BIG shout out goes to Laura Tripp who definitely motivated me not to order that milk shake. There's no doubt in my mind if Laura had not referenced my past blog post about saying I need to rely on myself (not friends) to ensure healthy eating. So she helped me by referencing it, proving the statement wrong and encouraging me not to get it. Yay Laura!

I did a stress test today - pretty neat stuff ... got quite the work-out 13 minutes of running. All clear in the heart department (just have a higher than normal resting heart rate) which who knows may change as I get even more fit (here's hoping!).

The interesting thing I found out was that the technician told me she gets people in their 80s who are able to run the same length and incline on the treadmill as I did. It was definitely not an EASY last few minutes with the steep incline (heart rate was up to 180 so it was a work out) .. so to hear that she gets people in their 80s there was quite incredible. I hope that can be me one day .. keeping active in the future is going to be so important to me .. just gotta stay on this roll.

In other good news ..Nick has joined the gym with me - proud of him of him for making that big step. :) Now we will have to figure out how we get dinner made and eaten as he typically used to be cooking for me while I was at the gym ... - crock pots meals it is!

In closing I'm leaving you with this image as this is what resonates with me right now ... the idea that everything you do today impacts the body of your future tomorrow ... so start now with eating right and exercising often. Your 2030 body will thank you!