The Final Countdown...

I am quickly closing in on 100 days in a row of being active... today is day 93... Next Sunday is day 100!!!  I am very excited about having stuck with it and that I am seeing results... results in how I feel... overall I have more energy, though there have been days where I was really tired and didn't think I would be able to do the 30 minutes... and the scale is telling me I am now down 30 pounds.  I have a long way to go to be where I feel my body should be... the pre-PVNS weight... but I feel like this is a great start to get there.  Clothes have gotten too big... and I have been able to dig through my closet and find things I can now wear.  I am thinking that by January 1, 2013  I will be close to where I was before PVNS was part of my life... that's exciting.

This last week is going to be an active week... including Zumba tomorrow night, Yoga on Thursday, and if all go as planned daily morning workouts.... yes that would mean two activities on some days...

So besides the weight loss and difference in how clothes fit here are some things I have noticed... or growth I have seen:
My back:  I have had to go to the chiropractor less and when I go the adjustments are more minor than they were and overall my body is much looser and my back pain has been significantly lessened!

Row machine: The first time I tried it, I did only 5-10 minutes... it bothered my back, and to be blunt, strapping my feet into the machine and having to lean forward past my feet to reach the handlebar thingy that I pull, was tough... I had less flexibility and my stomach was bigger making it harder to really bend forward...

Weight training:  My arms have definitely shaped up... still have a lonnnnng way to go, but there is a lot of progress.  I have gone from doing one set of arm exercises to doing a variety of exercises and my confidence has increased.  I now do my arm exercises in the main part of the gym, in front of people...

Confidence: I feel more outgoing, more able to strike up conversations with people.  :-) (And more likely to get a new job!)

Handling Stress: I have begun to cope with anxiety and stress by working out instead of eating.  I actually crave the activity.

Eating: I am eating pretty well.  I think there is still room for some improvement, especially in preparing more food ahead of time, to be more efficient with my food each week... but I am eating healthy and am making good choices.  I still struggle with saying no to food when there is a staff meeting or pot luck meal... but making some progress... and I am experimenting in the kitchen, making new things, some things even successfully!

Day to day: There are things that I have to do that used to leave me out of breath... climbing stairs, dragging an empty trash can up my driveway on trash day, going up and down my basement stairs to do laundry, and going for a short walk.

Oh... and... I have maintained my sense of humor and have had some fun at the gym...

Here is a story that happened a couple of weeks ago, I have shared it with some people.... and they have found it entertaining... not sure it will translate as well through the written word, but I will try...

At the gym there has been a man who I have found to be a bit mysterious, kind of attractive, and, well... buff! So I keep my eye out for him and when he is at the gym I sometimes have stayed longer... he has been my 'eye candy'... He is most often spotted working on his arms... his very defined arms... and as you know I am a bit obsessed with getting Michele Obama arms... so I watch him even closer,  you know... to get ideas!  (Wink wink)   Now I must explain here that my gym has two levels.  The first level is where all the weight machines are, as well as a free weight area where most of the 'muscleheads' work out and the cardio equipment is also there... upstairs there is a loft kind of area, that overlooks those areas of the gym and has a few, smaller free weights, a couple of benches and lots of mats for stretching, yoga balls, and is a bit more... calming... So... For about three weeks, to a month, before the particular day I am going to describe... I began doing the bench press. Upstairs.  In private.  I had gotten to a point where I could do three sets of 12 repetitions (do twelve, then rest, then do twelve more, rest, then do twelve more.)  of 45 pounds, which by the way, I learned is the weight of just the bench press bar... with no additional weights on it.  In the last week or so of my bench press  prep I had decided that I needed to start doing this in the area where all the 'big kids' play... you know, be a 'real' weight lifting kind of a girl... and wanted to work on that whole confidence thing... so there was this day.. where opportunity knocked...

On the first floor, as I mentioned, there are a few benches where people can do bench presses.   Well... Mr. Eye Candy was at the second bench... just settling in for his workout... aha, I thought... look, an open bench, right next to him... I can do this... so I walk over to the bench, lay down and lift the bar, but realized that the bar was a little lower than I wanted it to be.  There are pegs on the part of the bench that holds the bar so that you can adjust the starting height of the bar... so confidently I stand up and place the bar on the bench, as I have seen others do, while I go to adjust the pegs to the next level up.  Now... I know I am not wicked strong when it comes to my arms, but I am also not weak, really.  So I go to pull out the peg, and it's a bit... stubborn.   So I pull harder and it is not coming out.  So I look at the pin, trying to look like I know what I am doing, to see if there is some kind of release button... no luck... so I switch arms... my right arm is stronger so I try to pull it out with my right arm... no luck.. so I pull harder.. Now, at this point I can NOT just walk away... that would be defeat... and I don't want to ask for help, because that would also suggest I didn't know what I was doing... so I start kind of shaking the pin to 'loosen it'... and in the process it gets a little.. noisy... clang clang clang clang clang clang clang, steadily gaining in speed because I was sure THAT would help... when suddenly behind me I hear a very deep voice say, 'Hey, there's a trick to that one.  I can never get it out either, let me show you...'  EYE CANDY GUY!  I tried to make small talk, saying something like, 'I figured I could handle this on my own, but apparently I need some help.' He smiled and walked to where the weights that go on the bars are kept and grabs one, comes back with it and hits the peg, from the back side, quite hard, and the peg pops out... and he hands it to me, telling me not to worry, that one even gives HIM trouble.  And he returned to his bench... which I MUST add by this time... had on it.... well... on each side he had three 25 lb weights, one 10 lb weight, AND one 5 lb weight... for a grand total of... 225 pounds!!!  I am not kidding... and here I am, about to lift the bar... JUST the bar...

So instead of just lifting the bar 12 times... I go for 15... ok.. I thought to myself, that wasn't so bad... how about adding some weight to the bar... for no other reason but to boost my ego... next to this Adonis who is benching 225 without needing a spotter!  So... I get up walk over to where the weights are and add five pounds to each side... WHOA, a whole 5 lbs.. I know... not a lot, but... totally trying to show this guy I am no wimp... (HA!) ... So, with the bar now totaling at 55 lbs... I do another set of 15 reps... and by the 10th one I was feeling it pretty good, so I had to fight through to get to 15.  Then I sit up and rest between sets, because... that's what we weight lifters do... and I look over at eye candy.. and he is pumping that iron with little strain... again, there was this part of me that said, walk away, walk away now, but again... people who do weight training usually do three sets... and I had only done two... Can't leave yet.  So... eventually, realizing I have no choice but to do one more set... I position myself under the bar and hope that I don't drop the bar on myself, or strain myself... and yes, this thought came into my head: don't fart!  (I mean pushing the bar up could have such results!) So... I begin the final set... and it was hard to do all 15, but I did them... and with my arms SCREAMING at me, stood up, took my mighty 5 lb weights off the bar and returned them to the rack... smiled and thanked eye candy guy again for his help (He was sitting up for a rest in between sets)  and think I went to do some cardio because that was the END of my arm workout for that day.   I came home later that night and was holding up a piece of paper to read it.... and realized my arm was shaking as I tried to hold my arm up... I laughed at myself for being so foolish... trying to impress Mr. Eye Candy... But.. it did not make me give up.  Since then I have been doing my bench presses downstairs... and today, using that same bench and having to hit the pin to adjust it,  I did three sets... the first set of 12 with just the bar, and the second two sets, of twelve, with adding those same five pound weights... and soon I will do all three sets with the weight and then increase to sets of fifteen, and then add weight...

It was funny... Now for all I know Eye Candy guy was not paying any attention to me before or after I began with the noise pollution of trying to get the pin out... but in my mind, of course he was paying attention to my awesome bench pressing skills...and... was VERY impressed!

I have to say that I have enjoyed this journey, and it has been a great challenge for me, something I will be able to look back on and say I can do what I set my mind to.  Those days, like last Thursday, when I was at school from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. for parent teacher conferences and came home, exhausted.... I was able to push myself to do it, to get on the treadmill and do some arm weights here, to get the 30 minutes in...

And here's the bonus... Stepsister, Jacey, announced today that this is her day 1 of her own 100 day challenge, AND she is going to do the half marathon with me.  (I predict she will end up running a lot of it, because she is a runner, but still, something healthy for us to do together!)  Also, Sis is contemplating it as well... seeing how there are 109 days until her next birthday... what a great pre birthday gift to herself!

Here's to the next week of activity!  C'mon 100!!!

In case you don't know what a bench for the bench press looks like, here it is: