I had to drag myself out of bed this morning to get to the gym, but I knew I HAD to GO. I started upstairs at the cardio room to get my 10 minutes of warm up before I met with Zach for strength training.
This is my trainer Zach and his wife. I'm sorry to say that I don't know her name. But I thought you all would like to put a face with a name, since I talk about what Zach is doing to kill me most of the time.Then it was time to meet with Zach. I showed him the results of the 5 Day pouch test and what my calorie/nutrient intake was. He looked it over and we talked about having bigger breakfasts if at all possible to help with my body getting out of power saver mode. Having the bigger breakfast will speed up my metabolism more than just the exercise. He was also concerned about the low amount of calories that I eat. I try and maintain anywhere between 700-900 calories a day. It usually ends up on the higher end, towards 900 but that's because I still like to eat. Zach was concerned that I work out harder than the calories I eat. He was concerned that I will sacrifice muscle if I continue training this hard. I told him that if it starts to become too much of an issue, that I will contact my surgeon and see if the calories can be added. I don't think that my surgeon will mind as long as the weight is coming off at a timely manner and I'm maintaining a healthy lifestyle. We also discussed me doing cardio twice a day as per my 45 minutes once a day for 4-5 times a week. Now, I haven't been doing ANY cardio for awhile now, so I'm glad we talked about it. I was thinking (the over achiever that I am) that I would do 45 minutes twice a day. Zach told me no. He said I will do better if I do half an hour twice a day for 4-5 times a week. I will get the benefits of it but I won't wear myself out too much. Which is actually easier for me because I tend to hit a wall at about 20 minutes and have to push myself past that barrier for any more time.
Lastly, I asked him to really push me. I have a tendency to make excuses if I don't want to do something. Now with strength training, not so much because it's something that I can excel at, but there are always times that I don't want to work that hard. I told Zach that I need him to kind of not take any crud from me and to make me push to the limit. That's what I'm paying him for anyway, right. He agreed with a little sheepish grin on his face. I knew I was in trouble then.
We are keeping with my full body work out for now since I haven't made a complete week in....weeks. So we did the rows and the single arm presses, then it was time for the squats. Oh the squats are where I'm going to really put up some excuses. They are soooo hard. I usually do sitting squats, but since the stool that we usually use was being used, Zach decided that I would do some freestyle standing squats. That means no chair to sit on, I have to squat and lift myself back up. Ugh! I was still at the 80 pounds but I was only able to do one set of 15 and another set of 10. I was squatting deeper than sitting on the chair. But I did it. I got a little light headed for a minute but I think that was because I didn't eat breakfast this morning. I rested for a little bit but then continued. I had to do my body lifts and the rope bends by myself, because we ran out of time this morning. But I'm ok with that. I need Zach's help more on the rows and squats than anything else.
By the time I was done this morning, I was tired. Whew....note to self...DON'T MISS STRENGTH TRAINING SESSIONS EVER AGAIN!!! LOL. I drove home and was ready to eat something. I wasn't hungry, I was more drained than anything. So I had a piece of leftover fish and a chicken patty and felt much better. I cooled off for awhile and decided that since it's going to be in the 100's today, I would mow the lawn for Jim. It didn't take that long, about 20 minutes or so. It gets easier every time I do it. I worked up another sweat but it felt good to get it done.
I have a lot on my plate for the next couple of months. I have a ton of Halloween stuff to build, sew, paint, and create. All this and making sure I get ALL of my exercise in too. I can do it and I will feel better for doing it. It's just going to take a lot of focus on my part. The biggest part is to make sure that I take care of me first, that's also the hardest part. But if I'm to accomplish everything that I want I have to do this.
