No Pain...No Gain...No Doubt?

Have I said already that I hated to exercise? Well I do. I wish it was easy. I wish I could walk into a workout or hit the track and not feel the burning and pulling of muscles. But I guess something has to be hard!!! Putting on this weight was enjoyable so I guess exercise has to be the hard thing. Perhaps one day, not too far off, workouts will be more enjoyable.

"Putting on this weight was enjoyable so I guess exercise has to be the hard thing."

The thing that has been toughest so far has been this running program. I just finished week 2 of the program. The first week's workout took place over 3 days. It began with a 5 minute warm up, followed by 20 minutes of interval training (1 minute of jogging, 1 1/2 minutes of walking= total of 8 runs), and then a 5 minute cool down. Doesn't seem like much does it? Well when you are carrying as much weight on your frame as me, and it all comes crashing down on your feet with every step....jogging kills. Day 1 I was pretty sure I was going to quit. I have never felt a burn in my legs ever before like I did in that first run. Oh man. I stopped 20 seconds into the first run, paused the program, and once again came to that crossroads. You know...should I continue or should I quit? As you read in my previous post, I really want to run. I stopped in that second and said a prayer. It went something like this...."Dear God...You know my desire to run. You want me healthy. You gotta give me the strength to do this because my body wants to quit, but my mind is saying to go. I'm not quitting, so you gotta do something with my body right away." With that said, I did a bit of stretching...walked..then pressed play and continued. I finished all 8 runs that day. I finished all 8 runs for the next two workouts. They were not easy at all, my legs killed me, and I counted down the finals seconds before I could walk again.

"It never ceases to amaze me how the body responds 
when you push it to its limit! " 

Fast forward to week two....Now my workout began with a 5 minute workout, interval training again but this time with 1 1/2 minutes of jogging with 2 minutes of walking. What?! Thirty more seconds?!?!? Ok I doubted myself so bad. I really believed that I was not going to be able to handle it. To top it off, I had to do this in front of my students who are running my next 5K with me. How embarrassing would it be to have to quit in front of my students?!?! So I began and guess what? It wasn't as bad as I thought! I completed all 1 1/2 minute runs!!!!! At my pace, that is like starting to run at the turn of a high school track to the next turn. That is A LOT for me! Yay me! It never ceases to amaze me how the body responds when you push it to its limit!

So now I have 2 days off. Wednesday starts my week 3 of this running program. I am incredibly nervous and once again am doubting myself. Why? I got from running 1 1/2 minute intervals to 3 minute intervals. My time is doubling. Holy. Crap. I really don't see myself being able to complete it...Not after how my run felt today. But alas, I know I need to change my thinking. I've been communicating with people on the Get Running app forum, and lots of people have said that they went through what I went through at the same stage and are now up to 30 minutes running. I know I have to take it on faith that this too shall pass, and I must believe that I will do it.

Thoughts for you: Your journey to get fit will not be super easy. It's work. Hard work. You'll constantly doubt yourself. You'll constantly be at that crossroad. But, quitting and starting over down the line will be a lot harder than pushing through now. Keep keeping on. WE can do this.

My Biggest Loser Moment and Nike's Just Do It

After that dreaded doctor visit, I found myself in one of those same crossroads like many of you come to as well. You know...the one that says I keep going the way I'm going and it's just not that serious...and the other than says I need to get my butt in gear. Well I took the second path.


I knew I couldn't just get a gym membership. Been there. Done that. One, I hate the fact that women show up with skin hanging out and all dolled up. I hate men that just stare. Working out is ugly. Sorry. It is. You sweat and you get funky. Period. I also knew that going there gives you no accountability. You can work out as hard or as light as you want. You can walk in for 5 minutes and be back out and nobody knows. It's way too easy. I had been hearing about the new craze called boot camps. It seemed way too hard, but maybe this could be what I needed.

"Working out is ugly. Sorry. It is. 

You sweat and you get funky. Period."

One of my cousins had been attending one and seemed pretty excited about it. I decided that the first week of July 2011 would be my start. It gave me time to relax after a long school year. I showed up the first day determined to show that I wasn't the overweight girl that would slow everyone down. The fat girl that nobody would want to partner up with. Yup I'll show all them skinny girls that really don't need this workout. Boy did I show them. I lasted 10 minutes before I had to sit down because the room was spinning. My coach came over and told me to drink water and rest. I did for about 5-7 minutes. Only 50 minutes of exercise to go! Crap. This time I lasted..oh about 5 minutes. No, no..no dizziness. I felt like puking my guts out. You see....well at least from what I know, when you're heart isn't used to a heart beat that fast and a body that is demanding blood (oxygen), it speeds up like crazy and the rapid blood movement gets you nauseated. I understood now why all the Biggest Loser contestants (love this show) all threw up!!! I sat down again, got my water, but was having a hard time breathing. Now on to my real moment.

My coach had me move to a different area of the room, near a fan. I went and sat there feeling like a failure. Here I was taking my first step and I failed. My coach came over to check on me. He asked me how I was. I couldn't answer. My lip started quivering and then came the tears. I felt like an idiot. "What are you feeling right now?" my coach asked. "Overwhelmed" ...that was the only word that I responded with. "Why?" he asked. Well in that moment, my mind was saying I can do this, but my body was not following along. My coach then said something I'll never forget. He said, "What you are feeling is a release. You've had this monkey on your back for so long and the mutha@$#%$ is finally off.Give me 6 months Steph and watch what I can do for you." I sat there in gratitude. Gratitude for the fact that he even cared enough to ask about my feelings and for believing in me. Boy does that make a difference. I've seen my own students make a big turn around just from me believing in them and telling them that. Here I was the student. I understood the power of belief.

"What you are feeling is a release. 

You've had this monkey on your back for so long 

and the mutha@$#%$ is finally off.

Give me 6 months Steph 

and watch what I can do for you." -Omari

Fast forward 6 months, I'm down 27 pounds. I've stopped snoring at night. I do not wake up with lower back pain. I'm not just dieting, like I did before with just denying myself food. I'm trying to live a lifestyle. I eat almost everything I want in moderation. But...I'm moving. Lots. I'm boxing. Doing lunges. Jumping rope. Walking and jogging. Climbing up hills. Doing yoga. And doing other things I never ever thought possible physically. It's amazing. 

Ok here is my pitch to you...Like Nike's motto. Just Do It! Don't think about getting your life in order, just do it. Stop doubting yourself, JUST DO IT! Stop making excuses...JUST DO IT! ... Stop saying I gotta..I gotta....... JUST...DO...IT!


BTW...If you're in the West Contra Costa area...go to http://www.fit-verse.com. I work out with this coach. Get a week for free! You won't regret it!