Hitting the Gym

Those of you who follow me on FaceBook have known for about a month and a half that I joined a gym and started working out again, I often leave a comment about running to the gym or something of the sort. So I figured I would share my gym experience here with all of my blog readers as well.

The last time I was in Youngstown I went to the gym a few days with my friend Lora. We would talk while on the Elliptical machines and then use the machines to lift weights. I had not worked out all all since Shawn passed away and found myself really enjoying getting back into working out. So when I got back home I decided to join one of the gym's here in town. I joined in the beginning of April and I am proud to say I have been going strong since signing up!! Shawn and I always used to go to the gym together and work out with each other. He was the one who taught me to use all of the machines the correct way and the "right" way to lift. I knew I wanted to work out again but at the same time I wasn't sure I would enjoy the gym atmosphere again because this was something that the two of us always did together. However,I have found it to be really helpful and I'm so glad that I have started going once again.

After Shawn died I lost close to 40 pounds. Mainly because I just didn't feel like eating and when I would eat it wouldn't taste good so I didn't eat much. Par for the course I suppose. Just within the last month or so I have started regain my appetite and have been eating bit more and there for have gained back a few pounds, only about 15 but still. I know I was too skinny when I first lost all of the weight so I'm actually ok with gaining the 15 lbs back, but I would like to stay there and not gain any more and of course when you lose 40 pounds as quick as I did you look a little on the flabby side. Hence the need for the gym.


Every week since April I have been going to the gym a minimum of three days a week. Many weeks I have gone more like four or five days a week and I use Saturday as a "cushion" day in case I don't make it one day during the week. On Sunday nights I will write down on my calender the days I will go to the gym and what muscle groups I will be focusing on for any given day. I do 30 minutes of some form of cardio and about twenty minutes of some form of abs everyday. Then each day I also alternate between the major muscle groups. For example, yesterday I did cardio, back and biceps, and abs. Today I did cardio, abs, and legs, tomorrow I will take the day off. Thursday will be cardio, chest, triceps, and abs. Then on Friday I will do you guessed it more cardio, abs, and then shoulders. I really really hate the cardio part of working out. It just isn't fun, however I do it to keep in shape you need to incorporate cardio
into your workouts and cardio is really good for your heart. I love lifting and always have enjoyed that part. I tend to gain muscle really fast, so it is neat to see the results rather quickly.


When Shawn and I would work out together he would be dripping in sweat and I would hardly even be hot. He would get kinda upset with me and tell me that I wasn't pushing myself or working hard enough. (He was a Coach, yelling at people to push harder was his job!) I would tell him that I was too working hard but that for some reason I just didn't sweat. Uhm....I think Shawn was right! I don't think I was working hard at all back then! For some reason know when I work out I sweat so bad I could almost wring out my tank tops when I'm done working out. I know GROSS!! Now when I'm at the gym I have found myself pushing myself like I never did before while working out. I'm lifting more and more weight while still using the correct form, something Shawn always used to get on me about. I don't know maybe I have a little extra "push" to work out and do something good for myself now. Maybe Shawn is pushing me all at the same time. I have also found that working out has been a great stress reliever for me. Yesterday I woke up crying missing Shawn, I didn't want to go to the gym but forced myself and left in a much better mood then when I walked in.


Along with working out I have also started to eat in a much more healthy way. I'm trying really hard to cut out most of the sweets that I have been used to eating and working on eating more fresh fruits and veggies, lean proteins and whole wheat breads and pasta instead of the bleached kinds. After I found out that Shawn died of a massive heart attack due to the fact that his coronary artery was almost totally blocked (we had no idea about this!) it really changed the way I thought about my health, I knew I needed to change things for myself as well, but I kind of didn't really start caring about that until just recently, hence why I have started going to the gym. If any of you have any good "healthy" recipes I'd love to give them a try.


The other thing that I'm going to try and do is start to limit (not stop) my consumption of the best drink on earth...Diet Coke. Boy this one is going to be even harder than doing cardio! On good days I will usually only drink two Diet Cokes, one with lunch and then one sometime after dinner. However, on bad days I will grab one right after waking up and continue to drink it throughout the day. I know HORRIBLE! Then yesterday I was reading Kelly's blog at www.kellyskornerblog.com/2009/06/monday-madness.html Well, Kelly is also trying to give up her love of Coke and is participating in the Crystal Light Water Way Challenge. It is where Crystal Light is trying to get women to drink more water in a way to better take care of their bodies. So I thought what the heck and signed up for the challenge myself. You can visit the site here...http://www.deliciouschange.com to get the full details of the challenge if you are interested in them. Don't get me wrong, I'm not looking to cut Diet Coke totally out of my life I'm just looking to cut back and to drink more water. I actually don't even drink water. Can't stand it, I don't drink it out of the tap, or bottled, I just find it to be gross. Hopefully with adding Crystal Light I can give my body more water and less Diet Coke. We shall see how it goes, I will give you all and update in a day or so. I think what I'm going to do is make myself drink two bottled waters of Crystal Light and then reward myself with a pop. So far today I haven't gotten a pop yet :(... it's a work in progress what can I say.

So between working out at the gym, eating healthier foods and drinking water I will be in top notch shape and health in no time. Here is to hitting the gym!!