Hello, My Name is Bruce.

The first thing I think of when the name "Bruce" comes to mind is the fish-addicted shark in Finding Nemo. After I was told that Bruce was going to be picking up the pieces for Matt and taking me on as a client, my mind went right to that image. Big shark, lots of teeth, scary. Fun stuff, right? I was seriously hoping that this little fishy (me) was going to be a friend, and not food.

I failed to mention in my last post that I didn't work out on Saturday. I pushed myself a little too hard earlier last week and ended up pulling my calf muscle. By last Thursday, my right calf was double the size of my left and I was hobbling from place to place. Since the calf muscle is so versatile and widely used, I decided that working out on Saturday wouldn't be in my best interest. So, Bruce and I decided to allow my calf a weekend of rest and pick up the pace on Monday.

Monday afternoon rolls around, and I have an appointment with Bruce at 5:00. In the entire month and a half I've been working out and following this program, I had never been terrified to go to the gym. However, there's a first time for everything. Sometimes you just have to suck it up. So, suck it up I did. I walked into the gym a little slower than usual. I changed my clothes, locked my things up, and headed to Bruce's office. I was talking to another trainer while I was waiting for him to finish up his session, and she helped ease my fears quite a bit. She said that he was really nice to his clients when he was training him. But was he just going to butter me up before he ate me?

He came over to me and, with an enthusiastic high-five, asked me if I was ready to work out. I started to ease up a little when I saw his enthusiastic yet easy-going manner. I could get used to this Bruce. The session went by quickly, and we even smiled and laughed a few times! Crazy, I know. His regiment is more like Matt's than Ashley's - exercises are timed and more circuit-like. We will be working a lot on balance and core (Lord knows I need help in the balance department), and I feel good with this client/trainer pairing. Long story short, I'm a friend, not food! Yay!

Third Time's a Charm?

Just as I think my personal training frustrations are over, I get clotheslined with another setback. I walk into the gym on Saturday afternoon and head back to the Personal Training office. I see Bruce, the PT director, and another trainer. No Matt. He must be working with another client on the other side of the gym. I step into the PT office and say hello to Bruce and Jason. They both look up at me, and Bruce says, "Well, speak of the devil".

Yes, speaking of the devil, I have a personal training session at 12:30 with Matt. I'm supposed to be here, now where on God's green earth is he?! I ask very politely (yet with a noticeable twinge of frustration) where Matt is on this lovely Saturday afternoon. Bruce proceeds to tell me that, due to unforeseen circumstances, Matt is going to have to step away from personal training. WHAAAAAT!? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! I have lost another frickin' trainer? Is it me? Am I a nightmare to work with? Do they see me walk into the gym and run for cover?

I was never frustrated with Ashley when she told me she had to back down from our original agreement. I understood - she was offered a job in a different city. I was so happy for her to take on a new opportunity! I was sad, and I knew it was going to be rough without her, but I understood. Then Matt graciously stepped in. Unfortunately, I don't think he fully grasped the level of commitment and time this program would demand. I always kind of felt like I was a bit of burden on him, given that the service he was generously providing was not a paid gig, rather a trade-off of services. I was bummed when Bruce told me the news, but I was also a little frustrated because Matt and I could just never get our act together and in sync.

Bruce then tells me that he is going to personally take on this endeavor and train me. PT director, tattoo-ed dude, different personalities than Ashley & Matt, tough..... Yikes!! Let's hope that the third time is a charm. I'm not trying to go for a superfecta here.

Have I Gone Crazy?

There's really not a better way to say this, but..... this week has sucked.  My car dying on me last Thursday kicked off the bad vibes, and since then it's felt like I'm being conspired against. Whether something has been personal, work-related, or even workout-related, it's just plain sucked.

I took the rest of this past weekend to recover from my upper respiratory infection, considering I need a healthy respiratory system to keep from passing out while exercising. I held down my bed to make sure it didn't fly away and caught up on hours upon hours of lost sleep. By Monday I was rested and ready to start working out with my new trainer, Matt. I had talked to him over the weekend, and he warned that the workouts were going to be a bit more intense than Ashley's..... crapola.

Starting with the new trainer was a tad bit frightening, I must say. I had those butterflies in my stomach that felt eerily similar to walking into a new classroom on the first day of school. I've already graduated from college....this isn't supposed to happen anymore!! I crept over to the personal training area preparing myself for some sort of US Army-issued obstacle course. Nothing of the sort had been erected, thank God. I loosened up a little when Matt greeted me with a smile and an enthusiastic outlook on this new endeavor. I warned him that I hadn't worked out in a week, so I may whine a little more than usual. His smile didn't waver too much; I think we'll work together well.

The half hour session went by relatively quickly, and I didn't find myself looking at the clock at all. Relief! I can definitely get used to his workout regiment. He focuses more on circuit-type training (like Ashley), with a little less emphasis on the intervals that I was used to. We'd do work on a muscle group, then I'd sprint on the elliptical for 2 minutes. Repeat, repeat, repeat. First, the good news - I'm not scared anymore! Now, the bad news - he said he was going easy on me. S#*!.

Matt and I played phone tag on Tuesday and Wednesday, since I need a schedule to write down or I'm a forgetful mess. I finally nailed down a schedule on Wednesday evening that will get me through the weekend. Crisis averted. Phew. The last thing I needed was to have another reason to pull my hair out. The workout-related part of my life no longer sucks. Work and personal things... still a suck-fest. I won't get into that, but just know it isn't fun.

Throughout this abso-freaking-lutely lovely first part of this week, I had actually found solace in getting on the elliptical, putting on my headphones, cranking up the music, and running without trying to get to a stopping point. I can erase everything that is on my mind and focus on keeping pace with the beat of the music. I used to think that people who ran to clear their head were fit for the looney bin. Well, strap me in a straight jacket and lock me in a padded room, because I just jumped on that bandwagon. I can't wait to leave work and settle in for a nice long run on the elliptical this evening, because Lord knows I need it!

Life Was Good, Then It Wasn't.

First off, I am going to apologize for my delay in updating my blog. SO much has been going on! In the essence of time, I will try to consolidate a week and a half as much as I can. Secondly, I am so honored by the amount of people who say they check my blog everyday! That's so cool! I've had people stop me at work and I've received facebook messages saying "Could you please update your blog?! I look everyday and every time I don't see a new one, I'm disappointed!" Well, friends, here you go! :)

So, last week was a little lackluster, but only for the first couple days. I kept telling myself that something will happen that will be substantial enough to write about. But nothing happened. Nothing good, nothing bad. Just nothing. I had hit a bit of an impasse with the weight loss, and that was obviously frustrating. I wasn't visibly losing much weight, but I started to feel a change in my clothes. No more muffin top! Yeah, buddy! (The Jersey Shore reference just felt right. Sorry guys.) Monday and Tuesday went by slowly but surely. I worked until 4:30 then went to the gym. This is basically the story of my life these days, which I am fine with. The routine is kind of nice, actually.

Then, Wednesday came. The dark cloud that had eluded me for two days decided to dump that many days' worth of rain on my head at once. As I'm rounding out my 30th minute running intervals on the elliptical machine, I see Ashley out of the corner of my eye. I waved to her enthusiastically and said, "Hey friend!". She waved back and smiled as she made her way over to the machine I was occupying. As she got closer, her smile faded more and more. She said "So, I have some foul news".... "I just took a job in Lexington, so my last day here at the gym is February 2nd..." And the rain, thunder, and lightning gods strike with a vengeance. Great. Grand. Wonderful. Of course I was happy for her, but then I wanted to cry. How in the world was I going to function without my amazingly awesome trainer and friend?! AHHH!!!! If there was a time to panic, now would have been as good as any. So panic I did.

I booked up as many sessions as my body could handle before her last day. I worked hard every time we met after Tuesday, and I put in extra time at the gym. I tried to learn from her as much as I could, since every minute was now precious. She said that the only thought that crept into her mind when she got the job offer was "OH NO! LINDSAY!". I am so glad that we got so close in such a short amount of time, and she will always be considered a friend. We were a great pair, and I truly appreciate every minute she gave up when she could have been making money with another client to coach me and train me.

I approached this past week with a fury to work hard and perform well for Ashley. That fury only lasted until Monday. I was not a happy camper that I lost wind that early in the week. I attended a visitation for a co-worker's husband on Tuesday evening, so naturally that took precedence over the gym; obviously Ashley understood. By Wednesday, my nose was completely stopped up. I sounded like a creepy old guy breathing heavily into a telephone receiver. It was lovely, and I'm sure my co-workers absolutely enjoyed seeing my eyes bug out every time I blew my nose. So, I skipped the gym on Wednesday to pay a visit to the doctor. I had a fever of 100, elevated blood pressure, and an upper respiratory infection. Needless to say, I picked up my prescriptions and scooted on home. My head felt as if it was a balloon floating high above my body, and I now sounded less like a creepy prank caller and more like Darth Vader in surround sound.

I took Wednesday to rest up, and I subsequently took the day off from work on Thursday. I'm an absolute peach to work with when I'm sick, so I'm sure the company would thank me for staying home. The next thing on my list to do on Thursday was to make it to my second photo shoot located in the downtown studio at 4:00. I felt like crap, so I wanted to make sure I didn't look like it too. I put on my new dress, fixed my hair, and took extra time to focus on my make-up. I walked into the studio at 3:58 and promptly stepped on the scale. I hadn't heard how the other ladies did, so I was a little nervous. I stepped on the scale.....I LOST 14 POUNDS!!! Finally, a 14-pound ray of sunshine broke through the dark cloud adorning my head! I can't wait to see next month's issue! Here's my shameless plug: the February issue of Today's Woman can now be viewed online at http://www.iamtodayswoman.com/! Check it out!

I got to my personal training session just in time despite the horrendous rush hour traffic. This was Ashley's last day, and I was dreading not having her by my side anymore. I still wasn't operating at 100%, but I wanted to work hard for her. We started out with squats, which I did 20 of. I stood up, and immediately felt dizzy. Not cool. I told Ashley how I felt, and it took her all of five seconds to decide that I shouldn't be working out. I was disappointed in myself and was even more saddened that I couldn't keep it up for Ashley. So I was on my way home by 5:35. I got to my car, put the key in the ignition, and nothing happened. I repeated the action a good twenty times, and my little Honda wasn't budging. When it rains, it pours, right?

So, Dad came to the rescue. Being a self-proclaimed Daddy's girl, I know enough about cars to correctly (most of the time) diagnose an issue. Sure enough, my feeling that my starter was going bad was on point. Eventually, the car started, and I was on my way home. Add 'fixing the car' to my to-do list. That brings us up to today. I'm feeling much better and can only hope for a better weekend and start to next week.

Cheers to a brighter future! :)

Highlight of the Day: PIZZA!!!!

I ended my week dieting and exercising like a good dieter and exerciser (is that a word? If not, I just made it one!) should. I worked out not two, not three, not four, but FIVE days in a row!!! Which is a personal best for me. I still break a sweat, but the room has quit spinning and I don't have to close one eye to walk in a straight line. That sounded a little more like what happens when I drink too much, but it's the same head rush. Maybe i'll give up having a couple drinks on the weekends once this is over and just push myself at the gym. Who am I kidding? What do I look like, a saint? Come April, bring on the beer!!! :)

As a result of two weeks of strict diet and exercise, I've finally climbed off of the weight loss plateau. 7 pounds and an unknown amount of inches have been subtracted from my rather hefty physique. Ashley and I are going to start measurements on Tuesday so that I don't get discouraged again when my weight loss tapers off. I helped my family move some pretty heavy antiques on Saturday and didn't have to pretend that I was holding up my end of furniture. I was actually putting in noticeable effort. Pretty cool!

But.... the most awesomely amazingly great thing about this week is..... I GOT PIZZA!!!!!! Okay, it wasn't a Pizza Hut ham and pineapple pizza full of tomato-ey sauce and greasy gooey cheese. It was veggies and sauce and cheese on an English muffin.... but it still counted as pizza. I'm a happy girl! But now I want Pizza Hut, and Papa John's, and Spinelli's, and Wick's.... sigh. Some day I'll get to enjoy a piece of pizza, but for now, I'm content!

All is Quiet on the Western Front

Like the subject of this post indicates, everything has been pretty quiet this week. Which means that I don't have nearly as much to report.

I'm getting used to the smaller portions, and I don't feel nearly as hungry as I did before. I'm amazed at how little time it took for me to adjust to healthy portions, and you can bet I'm happy about the end of the stomach-growling phase. I used to easily chug two Diet Cokes with my meals, and now I'm finished eating before I drink half of one! I feel bad about wasting half of a syrup-filled, carbonated drink that I paid for, but that's half of a syrup-filled, carbonated beverage that is not coursing through my veins. All of these small hints have indicated to me that this challenge is definitely about a lifestyle change; it's a marathon, not a sprint.

I can leave the gym now without feeling like my leg muscles would rip and coil up. I tell ya - that feeling of inescapable pain has been the hardest thing about this challenge. Every time I would go back, I would leave hurting worse than when I walked in the door. I missed a workout on Monday (I thought it was on Tuesday - oops!) and Ashley came down with the flu on Wednesday, so I've put it on myself to get to the gym this week. I worked out Tuesday night pretty hard and did the same on Wednesday. AND I DIDN'T HURT! Maybe it's time to up the weights and increase the incline on the treadmill, but I don't want to speak too soon!

I'm off the Aleve, and Epsom salt baths are no longer a necessary part of my evening routine. I can watch TV with only a little twinge of yearning for a Big Mac. I sleep better. My afternoon tiredness has gone away. The weight has kind of hit a plateau at the moment, but I feel that my clothes are fitting better than they did last week. I win!

Lessons Learned

Well, I survived the weekend. Barely. But I did learn a couple of valuable lessons.

1. TV is a bad, bad thing when on a diet. - After working out on Saturday morning and getting together with some friends on Saturday night, I deemed Sunday my "lazy day". No schedule, no leaving the house. As I was laying on the couch relaxing all of the muscles that I brutally beat on Friday and Saturday, I settled in to catch up on some of my beloved television shows that I missed during the week. I bet that 80% of the commercials I had to endure were for food. I kid you not. Don't these TV executives know I'm on a diet?!

Forget eating my turkey sandwich on whole wheat.... I want a Big Mac! Make that 2 for $4, actually. And because I know I can't eat these things, I want them even more. By no means am I implying the food I'm receiving from Home Cuisine is unappetizing, but those Dairy Queen chicken tenders with gravy look so good, it's riDQulous (like the pun?)!

2. I eat when I'm bored. - As Sunday came to a close and I had eaten all of the food that was given to me for the day, my mind began to wander. My idle hands and idle mind floated to the pantry (figuratively speaking - I don't need to torture myself by actually looking at the food too!) for no reason other than boredom. Being mentally and physically stimulated during the week helps to keep my mind off of the food that I shouldn't be eating. Keeping a schedule and forcing myself to stay with the task at hand has worked quite well for curbing the appetite.

 I better stock up on some good e-books on my Kindle so this doesn't happen every weekend. Or maybe I'll watch "Food Inc." and "Forks Over Knives" on Netflix to help combat my fast food cravings. Nothing like the cold, hard truth to keep you from doing something you shouldn't.

I'm also very pleased with myself for making it through an entire week of working out! Thank goodness Ashley keeps changing up the exercises and is creative; otherwise, I'd get bored with it (kind of like what happens every other year I vow to work out more). I couldn't sit down all the way without my legs giving out on me and letting me fall the rest of the descent on Saturday, but this pain is different than what I've felt before. It's well-earned and I know my work is paying off. I already feel like I possess strength I didn't before, and my mind and body are benefitting from this new lifestyle. I am more conscious of how much and what I eat, and I feel more rested and full of energy.

I'm going to take care of myself the rest of today by getting a facial (well-deserved, might I add) and relaxing my muscles. The games begin again tomorrow. I'm no longer scared of what Ashley's going to make me do or whether I'll get through the session without puking or passing out. We're making strides here, folks. Bigger strides than I could ever hope for!