Yesterday was my 3rd 5k in less then a month. Never in a million years would I have thought that at 33 years old, I would have so much energy and feel so great!!
Almost a year ago to this day, I decided that it was time. I had gained so much weight. I was the epitome of a couch potato. I quit smoking after 11 and a half years, met and married the love of my life and gotten pregnant all within a year and a half's time. On top of all that, there was the stress of both my husband and I losing jobs, changing careers and moving away from our children just to survive. All of these things had taken their toll.
I decided that I would start small. Watching my calories was probably the easiest thing that I could begin with. I started using a calorie counting website, http://www.my-calorie-counter.com/. I was putting in EVERYTHING that I ate. I was able to find most of the things that I was eating already there on the website, but what I couldn't find, I was able to google or enter myself. Within 3 months of doing this and reducing my calorie intake to around 1000 calories per day, I was able to not only drop 30 pounds, but also start healthier eating habits.
Since I was getting more energy from healthier foods and I was feeling lighter after losing the weight, I wanted to start an exercise routine. My husband is a high school coach, so he had access to the weight room at the school. I started going up there with him in the evenings and he was able to show me different things to do and teach me about weight training. After a couple of months, I could see that I was putting on muscle, but my weight had started to plateau and I needed some cardio.
In March, I joined Anytime Fitness, a small gym in the town where I live that had just opened and was perfect for a beginner like me. I was slow to commit to a specific workout regime, but it was more because I had to make some schedule shifts that I wasn't quite ready for at the time. I also had to workout by myself, which I had not done and I was not really a self-starter. I did lose more weight and was able to tone up more, but between this time and June was pretty slow.
In June was when things really picked up. I started getting up at 3:45AM every morning before work to go to the gym and get at least 20 minutes of cardio and 30 minutes of weight training. I was doing this 6-7 days a week. I fell into a routine and it was GREAT!! The energy that I got from working out in the morning helped me make it through my long 10 hour days at work. It also helped me sleep at night (even though it's usually only 5-6 hours a night).
I did this for a couple of months straight, then at the beginning of August, my friend Kristin suggested running a 5k in the fall. She was starting the "Couch Potato to 5k" training plan. Oh, no... I can't do that. I'm too big up top and I have never been able to run... at least, not comfortably. So after a couple of days of debating it, one morning, I doubled-up my sports bras and ran on the treadmill for my cardio. It wasn't too bad. I followed the plan for the first few days and felt that I was wanting to go further. Before I knew it, I was running for 15 minutes, then 30 and finally I was able to do a 5k on the treadmill without stopping!! CRAZINESS! I had tears in my eyes that day. I'll never forget the feeling :)
I'll probably just blog a couple of times a week to share some of the things that go on in my crazy life. I hope that I can keep it up, between family, work, school and working out, I stay pretty darn busy! Let me know what you think... if y'all have any suggestions or comments, please post! I would love to hear from all of you. YOU ARE MY SUPPORT TEAM!!
Thanks for reading... later gators :)
No comments:
Post a Comment