I am a weightlifter.
Yeah, me. In a gym. Enjoying myself (not really enjoying the time in the gym, as much as I enjoy looking in the mirror day after day at my muscular arms and legs!)...doing something (dare I say) athletic.
I don't remember how I felt about my body in high school. I don't remember ever thinking "I'm fat" or anything physically. I do remember, however, the moment food became an answer.
I broke my leg one summer, on a slip-n-slide. (Note: I can't imagine buying one of those things for my children. EVER.) It takes real talent to do that..lemme tell ya! But I remember sitting on the couch one day, bored, my leg hurting and keeping me from doing much, and being handed a snack. Goldfish. Or Cheese Nips. Or something like that. And CLICK...food became and answer. I'm bored....eat. I'm tired...eat. I'm happy...eat. I need to stay awake in class (college)...eat.
I still don't remember ever feeling "fat". I know I never looked like any models or anything, but I don't remember any social stigmas. I'm horrible at dieting...I hate depriving myself of something when I know it's available and I'm capable of getting it. I've never stuck with a workout schedule...until now.
I bought the "Insanity" program over a year ago, and I did the first 30 days. I knew about halfway through my mom and I were going on a cruise, so that would put a little kink in it, but hey, I could at least drop some pounds the month before! I rocked that thing out too. It's a HARD program, sports drill and basically all cardio. I dropped inches, changed sizes, felt great! Then my world fell apart.
My dad had a heart attack. Worrying about family trumps pushing to get an hour workout in, especially right about that time in the semester and getting ready to go on a cruise. I was stressed out, tired, worried...all enemies of workout because they suck the energy right out of you. Dad ended up being ok, Mom and I went on the cruise, and I came back home, unable to get back in the routine. Part of it was the fact that the second half of the "Insanity" workouts are unbelievably challenging to someone with my size and lack of core strength and stamina...they really ARE insane! So I got frustrated and quit. Not all at once...little by little I found excuses and reasoned myself out of using energy. I still played volleyball (beach) and walked the track with a friend...I just wasn't doing the level of calorie burning that I had been. The weight, the inches came back on...
Fast forward to the last week of May, 2011. I have been actively working out for 3 months. THREE MONTHS! About 8 weeks of 2x/week and the last 4 I've gone 3x/week. I'm a weightlifter. *grin* I own gloves, and a weight belt, and I do dead lifts and squats and I use "plates" (45 pounders) on several of my exercises. I feel like a ROCKSTAR! LOL!!! I look at my body and I can't believe what I've worked to achieve. I honestly can't wait until next week. We start THE DIET next week...Shawn has a powerlifting event at the end of August, and in a display of solidarity I'm going on his diet with him starting June first. I'm hoping to drop around 30 pounds over the next 3 months while still training and building/maintaining muscle. Whew!
It blows my mind to think that I am a happily active, gym-membership-using individual. I've never been able to accomplish this before, and I really hope that I never go back. Don't get me wrong, I'm still a lazy bum at times, and I LOVE some junky foods (pepperoni rolls at Gino's, anyone?!?!) but I'm SO looking forward to a brand new me by the end of summer!
The long term goal is a loss of around 70 pounds. My shorter term goal is the diet change over the next three months, a 30 pound (fat) loss, and to see what my max lifts can get to!!!
Current max:
Bench: 135--45/each
Squat: 105 (easy to increase...still relatively new to squatting the bar vs the hack squat machine)--30/each
Dead lift: 50 plus the sled (?)--25/each
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