Seven weeks ago I decided to accept a challenge made by a fitness professional I have immense respect for. She said to set a new fitness goal for myself. I have been teaching group exercise classes for 3 years, and have been a coach for a year and a half of that time, but still I did not have the body that I wanted. Now right here I have to say that everyone has a different standard for their own body and different goals. No one person's goals are better than anyone else's, and health should be the end goal for everyone. That said, while I look pretty good in clothes, I still felt more comfortable wearing a little skirt cover-up to the pool. Being in my kind of shape is success for many people and I applaud it. But I knew that I wasn't pushing myself to the level of excellence possible for me, and when the opportunity came to enter the Beachbody Classic physique competition, I thought it would be the perfect chance to see how far I could come with focus on a goal.
In some ways it has been harder than I thought, but in some ways easier. I am a huge fan of carbs, and in what feels like my old life by now, I used to grab toast and cold cereal at any random time of day when I was hungry. My weight stayed pretty good, but that's where I was stuck; pretty good and not excellent. After having four kids I wanted to claim my body again and see just how good it is possible to look (naturally, no surgeries). This means stretch marks and all, but it's who I am.
The kick start to my getting into the best shape of my life was doing the 21 Day Fix program following a cruise I went on in March. This is a Beachbody home workout program that I coach people through, and since it was just released early this year I wanted to experience it for myself, so I thought the timing was good. Just 30 minute workouts, portion control meal containers, and replacing one meal per day with an advanced health shake called Shakeology (which is amazing, more on that another time). I did the program with zero cheating for 21 days and lost 12.8 pounds, which shocked me for weight loss because I am a fitness professional already and it's hard to change your body very quickly when you are close to ideal weight. Big lesson on how many and what kind of carbs my body responds to best!
I was very excited with the results, and two days after I finished the first round I started again with my second 21 days. This time was harder to commit to and though I was faithful with workouts, I loosened up on the portion control diet containers and went more toward estimating portions as I had learned to do in the first round. I have to admit to a cheat here and there, and it turned into more of a maintenance phase for me, but I was encouraged enough during this time to commit to entering the Classic.
So that's the back story. I've been counting down the days (reminiscent of counting down to the end of a pregnancy!). Nervous, but feeling confident when I still had six, five and even four weeks left. However, at 20 days left, I went bikini shopping (as required by the competition) and felt completely demoralized. Department store lighting is not kind to 42 year old thighs! It was a real demoralizer, though I did find a cute suit which I will add some bling to myself. I came home feeling like I could either throw in the towel and give up the whole thing, or push as hard as possible. Only two choices. Having come this far, and knowing that no matter the outcome, I will feel proud of myself for following through and at least get a photo shoot out of it (fun!), I am pushing.
So here are a couple of fun pics I grabbed while realizing that I am not as "ready" as I would like to be for a bikini and a stage. But I'd rather be going for my best and exploring new fitness areas I have never been a part of before, than staying stuck. Sometimes you have to leap out of your comfort zone to progress to the next level, and that feels like a good summary of what I've done here.
What's next for you? As a fitness professional I challenge you to set your own new fitness goal. What will push you just a little to improve your health? Set a goal today, even if it's small, and I'd love to have your comments below on what you're doing. If you need help with a plan please contact me- helping people is what I do and I can think of nothing better than for you to feel the challenge and then the pride that comes from mastering your fitness one step at a time.
No comments:
Post a Comment