Week four

Week four is over, and we are officially a third of the way through.  Wow!  January is gone, and we are well into February, and I'm still working hard at this year's resolution to get fit and lose weight.  I can't remember any other year where that has happened.  So here is how my week went.

Monday is always a group workout with Team Castanet and Stephanie.  I love Monday's at the gym.  I find that starting my workout week with the team gives me a chance to focus after my day off.  Stephanie never disappoints and this workout was as tough as any.  We did a circuit of cardio and strength exercises and then ran around the cardio equipment in the gym in pairs passing a medicine ball between us.  It doesn't matter what strength exercises we do, Stephanie makes sure we get plenty of cardio in.  Once again we all left tired and sweaty.

Tuesday I decided to join Donna and Tracy for the power sculpt class.  I wanted to follow Stephanie's example though so I hit the treadmill for 20 minutes first.  The class was challenging, but I was surprised to discover there weren't any exercises I couldn't do.  There were a few I couldn't do for very long, but I've decided to keep going to this class so that will change.  Stephanie challenged us this week to try something new, and I'm glad she did.

I worked late again on Wed so my workout was at 6:30am.  I hit the treadmill after seeing Stephanie's early morning group.  It looked intense and Stephanie took a moment to let me know that we would be doing the same on Thursday.....yikes!  I got started on the treadmill, and I just wasn't into it.  It had taken a lot to get me to leave the house that early.  I have to admit that I bribed myself by promising I would take it easy.  I find myself doing that a lot. :)  I did my 5 minute warm up and then decided I would try to run at 5.0.  I figured that since my one month goal was to run for 5 minutes at 5.0 that I needed to work towards that.  On Tuesday I had pushed it to 3 minutes, and I was pleased with that since I had only ever done 2 minutes before.  I hit the speed control and started running.  I got to two minutes and thought "ok, one more and I can slow down."  When I got to 3 minutes I thought, "Let's try one more."  When I got to 4 minutes my thoughts turned to, "Christine, you can do this.  You can make it 5 minutes right now.", so I pushed through to 5 minutes before I turned the speed back down to 4.2.  I was a little emotional at that point.  I had just done something that a week ago I thought would be a huge stretch for me and something that 5 weeks ago I thought I'd never be able to do.  I honestly wanted to cry, but I reminded myself that I still had 45 minutes to do before my whole workout was done.  I spent the remainder of my time pushing the speed up and down doing the intervals that Stephanie recommended.  So much for taking it easy.

Thursday was Team Castanet's workout again, and it was challenging just like I suspected after seeing a glimpse of it on Wednesday morning.  It was cardio and strength including core.  The room was hot, but our team is tough!  We all pushed through.  Stephanie never lets up, and I love it.  I would never know how much I can handle if it weren't for her.  I trust her, and I believe that if she says we can do it, we can do it.  I will admit that after doing crunches and sit up's, the bicycle exercise was a lot, but we all did everything we could.  I love it when we are all done, and we hit the change room together.  It is great to hear everyone encourage each other and to know the support is there.  If one of us is having an off day, the team is there to help push through.

On Friday I did 45 minutes on the treadmill and then 10 minutes on a bike.  It was all part of trying something new.  On Saturday I did 40 minutes on the treadmill and used the elevation for the intervals instead of the speed, and then joined the yoga for beginners class.  I really enjoy the yoga class especially since it is the last thing I do before my day off.  The stretching provided by yoga is a perfect way to end my stretch of 6 workouts.

This week was full of highs for me.  There were days when I really didn't want to go to the gym, and like I mentioned before, I would bribe myself by deciding to go but to take  it easy.  I never once took it easy.  Once I get myself to the gym and get focused on whatever I am doing, I am all in.  As a result of that, I did a power sculpt class with weights and exercises that at first looked difficult, but I figured them out.  I met my one month goal in a week, and on Friday I even surpassed it by running for 6 minutes.  We weighed in on Thursday and took measurements.  After 4 weeks, I am down 15.6lbs and a total of 10 inches.  When I started this, I could not have imagined those results.  My legs are stronger, my pants are a size smaller, and I am actually running on the treadmill.  I am more confident that I can handle the workouts Stephanie gives to us, and I'm willing to try more than just the treadmill.  I can't tell you that this is easy because its not.  I still would like chocolate or cheese, and I would love to go home after work and have dinner with my family rather than go to the gym, but I am making all of this a choice.  I am choosing to make the decisions each day that are leading to fantastic results.  Getting chosen for Get it Back -  Give it Back was a gift, and it is a gift that I am choosing to make the most of.  Its Sunday, my day to rest and reflect back and as I do that, I am filled with gratitude. Its gratitude for the opportunity, for the choices I've made this past 4 weeks, and for the results I've experienced so far.  Thank you Global Fitness, Stephanie and Team Castanet!  Its been a great 4 weeks, and I'm excited to see what happens during the next 8.