Seven Months, Thirty Pounds, & A Body I Don’t Recognize
I don’t think I’m very unique. I’m decidedly middle-aged, a wife, a mother, an employee, a sister, a daughter etc. I stress eat, love sweets – really love sweets, always was busy and on-the-go, and thought I was doing fine since I walked regularly and tried to eat a fair amount of fruits and vegetables.
Then I accompanied a friend to this program called “Healthy Conscience”. I honestly thought I’d do it to be a good friend and try some new exercises since I had had a lot of running related issues during the past year. I didn’t expect to learn much. At the same time, I enrolled in Weight Watchers – again thinking I wouldn’t learn much but that it might be good to be held accountable. We weighed in at Healthy Conscience also. My weight shocked me! I was the heaviest I’d ever been which led to insight one – I’m quite capable of living in denial!
I am competitive and learned that I am also motivated by external rewards. The Healthy Conscience program was a blast! I loved the gentle teasing that motivated me to keep going. I loved the one-on-one instruction provided by Ian and Michelle. I learned a great deal and was quickly humbled when I realized I could hardly jump anymore! – even a jumping jack was hard. Egads! How much denial had I been living in? (A great deal I learned) Ian asked us our goal at the first class and I said I’d like to lose 10 pounds. He said, “You’d like to? Or you’re going to?”. I said I would. At the last weigh-in, I hit 10 pounds exactly and won. I re-enrolled because I just loved the exercises (they change all the time and I loved the variety and way that my body responded. I could see it getting stronger and more flexible). Mari Hahn helped me understand some of my stress reactions, the role of my adrenal glands, the need for massage and stretching etc. After completing the second 5-week program I decided to go out on my own.
My workout routine evolved to taking a class from Michelle, a class from Ian, and learning Pilates on the reformer with another pumps instructor, Mary Olsen. Mary was a lifesaver in terms of helping me recover from a frozen shoulder. She gently showed me how to turn, how to stretch, how to tighten my core and pay attention to the many muscles in my body. Once I got into an acceptable weight range – I began to run again – slowly! I started with walk four minutes, run one minute for a total of 30 minutes. Today I can run 5 miles without stopping! I work out at Pumps 3 times a week, I run 3 times a week and do Pilates stretching after every run. I cut out sugar – I am an addict and learned that I do better if I just don’t have it. On Dec. 20th, I weighed in – 30 pounds lighter than my weight on May 20th! I reached my goal. I don’t really recognize myself when I look in the mirror. My body is shaped differently now; I’m stronger and leaner. I have tons of energy and love my new routines. If I did it – anyone can!