I'm still working with my trainer and doing my workouts 3 days a week. When I was on my own, I usually just worked on the machines, but my trainer encouraged me to do more with the free weights like we do in our sessions. That meant venturing over to the other side of the gym where the large weights are in order to get the free weights and it was a bit intimidating at first. But I noticed that adding the free weights to my workouts made them different, better, so now it's just annoying when I can't find the weights I need. When I workout out at the gym by my house, it's even worse trying to locate them and I actually have to walk around that entire area cuz they really don't put anything back...ugh.
In addition to doing more with the free weights, I've also added more stretching exercises. I need them more for my arms and shoulders than my legs. I don't particularly like the gym by my house, but I do like my workouts there because I'm not rushed and can take my time and do extra stretching exercises. Overall, I like the atmosphere of my work gym (it doesn't feel like your stereotypical gym), but I think my workouts are better at my home gym. And that's really only because at my work gym I'm rushing there after work and I usually have just enough time to change before my training session. And then I'm rushing to catch the train home. Missing a train and waiting for the next one can mean having to wait 30 or more minutes for my last bus home. :( So, it becomes very stressful and sometimes I've had to cut my time on the elliptical if I stayed at work later than usual. Whereas, when I do my workouts at my home gym, it's on a Saturday or a day off from work, so I go earlier in the day and have all the time in the world to stretch out and even catch my breath at the end of my workout because I'm not having to rush home.
So it's winter now and it gets darker earlier and the bf worries about me being on the train and bus late. That's why I'm always rushing to catch the train after my workout. He'd prefer me to be home by 9pm. I get it. Everyone always wonders how I can be out late at night on the train. Every one wonders about my safety and I've always brushed everyone else off. Bur the bf, well, that's another story. So because of this, I'm not taking Zumba on Tuesday's anymore. He started having an issue with it since class didn't end until 9pm and sometimes I missed the bus and had to take a Lyft home. So it was multiple issues: 1) getting home late, 2) if I came on the bus, walking home late in the dark, and/or 3) if I missed the bus and had to take a Lyft, my increased spending on Lyfts. So no more Zumba on Tuesdays. I really do miss the class. I felt like I was finally finding my groove. While there were still steps I couldn't do, I had found my own ways, I really liked that instructor too. The Zumba classes at my work gym are friggin' lame. I've watched the classes on MWF when I'm doing my workouts and they totally suck. On Tuesdays now, I just do 30 minutes of cardio on the treadmill. Yup, my trainer still bugs me about the treadmill, so I do it on Tuesdays and have been working on increasing the incline level.
I'm still doing Kickbox Cardio on Thursdays. It's killer and there were a couple of classes where I felt like I was going to die. Usually we do arms first and then legs, but one class she reversed it and oh man, she even knew that was a mistake. She kept saying that it raised our heart rates too high too quickly. It sure did. I thought my heart was going to jump out of my chest! She keeps telling us we're her toughest and best class. Maybe she says that to all her classes, but I think we're pretty badass. I keep making little goal lines for myself in class. First, it was getting through the first 45 minutes without taking a break. You can of course stop and get water if you need to, but she doesn't officially give us a break until 45 minutes in; it's 5 minutes of warm up and 40 minutes of cardio. After a few classes, I was able to do the full 45 without a break. My next goal involved the jumping jacks. There are 3 times when we do jumping jacks. The first time, you take four steps forward doing a move and then do the jumping jacks back the four steps. If you need to, you can do low impact jumping jacks, which is basically just taking side steps back. So at first, I would sometimes need to do the low impact jumping jacks. The second time we do jumping jacks, it's double-jumping jacks. At first I couldn't figure out how the whole double thing worked, but I figured it out. The third time is just straight jumping jacks when we go from legs back to arms.
So I stopped doing the low impact jumping jacks and then I figured out how to do the double jumping jacks and finally, I got through all 3 sets without stopping. But the first time I did all 3 sets of jumping jacks, it took its toll. By the time we got to the squats, I was done. So now my next goal is for my body to be able to do the 3 sets of jumping jacks without killing me for the rest of the class.
All in all, I love Kickbox Cardio and hate missing it. Our instructor is tough, but very supportive and encouraging. :)
Last week was a little tough. I had Friday and Monday off for Christmas so I did my workouts those 2 days at my home gym. On Friday, I jumped on the elliptical and my knee was bothering me. I got through 5 minutes before I finally switched to the treadmill. Then on Monday, my knee still bothered me a bit, though not as much as Friday, so I did the treadmill again; I didn't want to risk anything. Tuesday was regular treadmill day, so Wednesday I was back on the elliptical. My knee wasn't bothering me, but my legs were heavy and tight. I had to stop several times and I barely made it to a mile in 15 minutes. I just couldn't go on and got off the elliptical. I didn't understand what was wrong. I missed Kickbox Cardio on Thursday because of work so yesterday (Friday), I went to my home gym thinking they had an afternoon Kickbox Cardio class, but I misread the class schedule and cancellations on the app. It was actually Zumba and it was cancelled. :(
I didn't have my workbook for my regular workout so I just jumped on the elliptical to do 30 minutes of cardio. I was worried because of Wednesday, but also I had walked almost 2 miles earlier taking out a big multi-layered smurf field and my feet were already hurting. I almost hadn't gone to the gym because of it. I tried to go at a slow pace, but I don't know if my legs were just too loose or if it was the machine, but I ended up going at a fast pace. So much so that I did a mile in 13 minutes and ended up doing 2 miles in 26 minutes - a record for me. Thanksgiving week I really pushed myself and ended up doing 2 miles in 27 minutes the day after Thanksgiving. I haven't tried for that pace since, though, aim for the 2 miles in the 30 minutes. So now, yesterday, I hit a new record of 2 miles in 26 minutes considering my feet hurt from earlier in the day. I did pause a couple of times to shake out my legs and still I hit it in 26 minutes and ended up doing 2.35 miles in the 30 minutes, My legs were jelly afterwards though. I was exhausted, and yet, I still walked a little out of my way home in order to do some fielding in Ingress. :)
Today, I went to the gym early to do my workout and once again I was going at a faster pace on the elliptical. I did the 2 miles in 27 minutes and ended my 3o minutes at 2.25 miles. I guess whatever was wrong earlier in the week is OK now.
So with all my workouts and Kickbox Cardio, there hadn't been a change on the scale since my doctor's appointment at the end of September. I know it's just a number and isn't the end all, but it was starting to get me down. I tried to focus on the fact that I wasn't gaining weight, but I couldn't figure out why I wasn't losing weight. My blood glucose was consistent. The bf and I have had some issues, but I've been working on not letting it stress me out. The bf said I wasn't going to lose weight even if I went to the gym if I kept eating crap food, but I don't. I treat myself once a week, but it's not junk food; it's actually protein that I need for my workouts. ;)
The number of the scale wasn't going down, but I could see the changes in my body. I'm in between sizes and have bought clothes a size smaller than usual. My clothes fit differently. I feel different. I've always said I'm oddly shaped. While I've always felt my legs were my best asset, I was cognizant of that fact that I didn't have hips. I was just a straight line when it came to my legs. So I've never felt very feminine. I wasn't curvy, I was just fat. But now, I can see hips. I have curves. My midsection is flatter. I'm still fat (deceptively fat, remember?), but it's OK. I feel more feminine.
The last couple of weeks, though, the scale has finally gone down another 6 pounds, so since the end of May, I have now lost 31 lbs. Still have a ways to go, but I know I'm never going to be super thin. It's just not me. I like being fuller.
What really matters is that I feel great after my workouts. I may be tired or sore, but if I don't workout, my body feels worse. Whenever I don't feel so good and think I'll just go home, I force myself to the gym and I feel a hundred times better. When I miss a workout, it affects me negatively for the rest of the week.
Who would've thought I would ever feel that way about the gym?!?!
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