My Journey With Health And Fitness – Reaching Out For Help

Well, we are back from Mexico and at least the weather at home is decent. I have to say after being away for 5 weeks it was hysterical walking into the house and having the dogs going absolutely bananas! Sadly we are already counting the days until the next trip in September (95). At least we have some time to enjoy our garden for a few months.

I have not been successful in losing the weight that I have gained over the last 18 months. While I still workout most days I acknowledge my eating habits have gone back to where they used to be. Unfortunately when we were in Mexico I was not good at sticking to the commitment of only eating out once per week so gained more weight. I did manage to do 10k steps 23 of the 35 days we were there which is at least something.

Before we left I realized I needed to do something drastic to get myself back on track. But I also realized that in order to be successful at this point I needed help. Trying to get my weight back to where it used to be and feeling that my fitness level is where I want it on my own was no longer working despite everything I had tried. So, I did some research and found the help I think is right for me.

I discovered a local gym that offered what they called the 6 Week Challenge. They start out doing an assessment of your current condition and your goals. Then you meet with them for an initial appointment where they weigh you, check you BMI and take pictures of your current appearance. At the end of the 6 weeks they redo all of that to compare how successful you have been.

The reason I feel this is going to work for me is that someone else is holding me accountable and will know if I succeed. However, they also provide tools and information to help get you to the end goal. I had to commit to following the nutritional plan (it isn’t a diet that excludes anything but rather maps out how to balance your food each day to help lose weight). I also had to commit to attending a workout class at least 4 times a week (I’ll likely aim for 7 during the 6 week period). The types of classes vary from cardio to bootcamp to strength so there is a good variety. I also now have an app into which I have to input everything I eat or drink during the day as well as all of my exercising so that I have an accurate picture of my net calories for the day.

Well, today was day 2 of attending classes. Yesterday I went to a bootcamp and I didn’t die. It actually was pretty good though I sometimes felt like an uncoordinated buffoon. Today was the power strength training and I thought my arms are pretty buff so this should be pretty simple. Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! They had me doing snatches with a 25lb weight! By time the hour was over my legs we shaking and I was already feeling a bit stiff. Pretty sure that I’ll be using anti-inflammatory cream before bed tonight. However, it made me realize that I just need to stick with it for the first 6 weeks to see how it goes. The good thing is they have classes at 5:30am which I think is the perfect time for a heavy workout. That leaves me plenty of time the rest of the day to just get in a walk or 2.

The bottom line is that it ok to realize that you need help on this journey. I was able to do this mainly on my own before (except for Coach of course) but now I acknowledge if I want to be successful this time around someone needs to be leading the journey.