Going Strong

So, this week we are officially half way done with our torture sessions workouts with Trainer Mike.

And, no, he hasn't gotten any nicer.

Okay, that's not really true. He's super nice but mean at the same time because he makes us do so many impossibly hard things. It's maddening. Here's a picture of him that I stole from Facebook (that's what it's for, right?) so everyone knows just what I have to deal with twice a week.

It's really difficult, let me tell you.

And yes, his arms really are that big.

So, I want to document tonight's workout. Just so I remember what I survived. I also would like the record to show that I am sick. I have what we Utahns call the mandatory 'Jump Into Spring' cold. I haven't had a cold for 2 years and I was so hoping that I would have the same good luck this year, but that did not happen. My throat has been super sore for 4 days and now my sinuses, nose and lungs have joined the party. I'm pretty miserable and totally wanted to skip this workout but decided that since I was miserable anyway, I might as well suffer through. Plus, I thought that Mike might go a little bit easier on me since I am very apparently under the weather (my nose is super red a la Rudolph), but he was not.

I even took my own box of lotion saturated Kleenex because the last time I had to blow my nose at the gym, I had to use toilet paper.

red, sore nose + scratchy toilet paper = misery

The owner of the gym, Jess was totally offended and showed me his whole supply closet full of lotion-y Kleenex. So sorry Jess. I will not bring my own Kleenex again.

Okay, so we started out with a 'pep talk' about our diet. It's not going so well. This is the meal plan Mike gave me last week:

3 day low carb

Meal 1

         1/4 cup oatmeal or quinoa, 5 egg whites

Snack

      Protein drink (dymatized ISO 100) & (1 tsp of all natural peanut butter)

Meal 2

         10 oz of (turkey, chicken breast (skinless), cup of veggies +, 1 medium sweet potato

Snack

           23 almonds

Dinner

           8 oz fish ( salmon, tilapia, orange roughy etc), veggies ( spinach, broccoli) or bowl of salad , 1/2 avocado 

Supplement 

Take multivitamins complex daily 

Fish or flax oil 2 times a day

Glutamine before bed time

Drink at least 1 gallon water daily

                                                 1 day high carb

Meal 1

1/2 cup oats or quinoa,  5 egg white , 1 whole egg, 1/2 grape fruit

Snack

Protein drink (1 scoop)

Lunch

Chicken salad:

Toss 6 ounces shredded skinless roast chicken breast with  1/4 cup sliced red grapes, 1 table spoon slivered almonds, 1 table spoon light mayonnaise, 1 table spoon fat free sour cream, serve over lettuce

Snack

1 apple, 

Dinner

6 ounce poached salmon ( or tilapia), (1 cup steamed green beans, or mixed veggies)

1/2 avocado, 1/4 cup cooked brown rice or quinoa.

Sounds delicious, right?

I did really well the first 2 days but if I have to eat another egg white, I'm going to throw up. They are so disgusting! So, I substitute egg whites with cottage cheese and throw in a few carbs because I get straight up crazy if I go too long without salt and vinegar potato chips. Diet is 80% of weight loss/health. I'm getting better at it!

Okay, now to the workout. After our 20 minute chat, we started with squats to shoulder presses. I had 10 lb weights. 50 reps.

I got this image here

Next we did 50 reps of bicep curls.

I got this image here

My biceps are getting pretty toned! It's really exciting.

Then we did a 6-stop circuit (because there were 6 of us). I started doing these pull-up things on a bar. It was awful - as is most all of the stuff we have to do. We used (I don't know all the terms) but the bar of the barbell that was on the rack. We put our feet very far forward, held onto the bar and lowered our bodies to the floor and pulled ourselves back up the bar.

I could only do 3 before I had to rest.

Mike is the devil.

The next stop was leg presses with 90 lbs. Not fun, but not impossible.

Next was squatting to pick up a 25 lb medicine ball, lifting it above our heads while standing up, then throwing it as high as we could up in the air and letting it fall to the floor.

And repeat.

The next torture method was similar to the first but we pulled our bodies up basically off the floor while holding onto rings attached to rope - I'm sure there's a technical name for it. I call it 'Hell on Earth.' After about 3 reps, it's pretty impossible.

The next stop was kettlebell squats with 25 lbs. We put our butts lower than this chica in the picture. More of a squat, not so much bending over.

I got this image here

Then the last one was a tricep pull. It was pretty easy at first (17.5 lbs) but was super difficult after 80 reps.

I got this image here

Since we started the actual workout later than normal, this took a good amount of time so I was excited when I looked at the clock and we only had about 15 minutes left. Mike sent us outside to run to the stop sign and back. It's about 3 blocks which isn't far - I know - but we were already SO tired! Plus, there is a Walgreens drive-thru window, Chevron and a bank drive-thru between the gym and the stop sign. That means that tons of people get to see us struggling there and back. We leave all of our pride at the door of the gym.

So, we jogged/made our way pretty slowly to the stop sign and back. When we got back, Mike had us turn around and do jump squats back to the stop sign.

Seriously?!

I told you! He's so mean!

Jump squats are exactly how they sound. You jump forward, then squat. Jump forward, then squat. I got about 3/4 of the way down one block then had to switch to walking squats - which aren't that much easier. Especially after you do a million of them. You face sideways with your legs far apart, do a squat and touch the ground in front of you with both hands, then, with your feet still far apart, you do a 180 then squat again as you (very slowly) move your way down the block.

It's hard not to feel embarrassed because there are a lot of people watching me struggle my way down the sidewalk. Especially because there's another trainer going up and down the same stretch with her team of real-life Barbies. But, I don't care. Most of the people in the Walgreens drive-through are picking up prescriptions for weight-related conditions and the people at the bank's next stop is the fast food drive-thru on their way home. I am making a change and I don't care what anyone else thinks.

I need to be better about writing down the specific exercises we do because, as much as I love Mike and would love to keep going to him twice a week for forever, I can't afford him.

Here's to a positive life change!

I got this!

Amelia's Mom

Amelia is one of my best friends. She's one of the nicest, most generous people I know and I am so thankful to have her as a friend.

Let me tell you how we met. We first met 4 or 5 years ago because she was my lady doctor's nurse. Always very pleasant and helpful but I only talked to her/saw her once a year. Then, one Sunday I was sitting in the chapel waiting for Sacrament meeting to start when I saw someone walk into the chapel. I looked over and it was Amelia. I panicked. I had never seen her in 'real life' and was not okay with her being in my ward. Not only has she seen me naked, but she knows how much I weigh.

Not good.


I honestly set a plan in motion to change wards right then and there. So awkward! I don't remember when we talked or how we became friends, but I'm so glad we did because she is awesome.

Last week, her sweet mom passed away.

She got sick last year and went to numerous doctors. No one could find what was wrong until just a few weeks ago. They found she had Stage 4 cancer of the esophagus. I'm sure it's so hard for the family not to be angry with the doctors that couldn't find out what was wrong - I would be, but they all have so much faith. It's inspiring.

I went to her funeral yesterday. It was one of the most beautiful services I have been to. I cried like a baby through the whole thing. I definitely left wanting to be a better person.

I'm grateful I was able to take photos for the family of the service. It was good to be a part of the day and to honor her mom in my own little way. 

I'm so grateful that I know that God has a plan for every person and that He has made a way for families to be together after this life. As hard as death is with this knowledge, it would be absolutely devastating if I thought this life were it.

Personally Training

Tonight, we (the Pink team - hooray!) had our second session with trainer Mike.

(Erica and me - we think we're really funny!)

We were all super stressed and worried about it all day long.

We kept asking everyone who had already had their 2nd session just how bad it was. Tuesday was so painful and so was all day yesterday and all day today because every single muscle in my poor body is on fire. Seriously. I have been really sore from workouts in the past (spin, pilates, yoga, zumba) but this is a whole new monster.

It's so funny because my whole work team and a lot of people around us are training with Mike and we are all super sore so at random times throughout the day, there is moaning and sometimes sobbing as we get up and down from our chairs (that's the hardest!) and waddle our way around the office.

It's pretty awesome.

And, yes, misery really does love company.

My friend Collin isn't training (because he is naturally slim and in shape - I hate him) but he is more than willing to make fun of us and poke us in our sore muscles. The jerk. He said that we all move around like we had a leg transplant and are re-learning to walk. Real funny Collin. 

But it's kinda true.

So, the second workout tonight was a little easier than the first. We had a motivational talk with one of Mike's other clients who has lost a ton of weight since she started working with him. Pretty inspiring. So, we really only worked out about 45 minutes tonight. And, it was raining, so we didn't do much running which is just fine with me. We did A LOT of lifting. My arms are not happy with me. We did more group work which is good. I guess seeing other people suffering helps.

But, we did it! HOORAY! Even though I don't feel so great physically (yet), emotionally and mentally I can feel such a difference. Endorphins really are the best. They really make such a huge difference.

I can handle life better with them, that's for sure.

Our boss Chuck showed up at the end of our workout - you know, so he could see us at our best. He took a couple of pictures and promised that he won't post them on any social media. I sure hope not!

(just don't tell anyone I am posting them here - hee, hee)

(Apparently, this is my tough face - look at my fore-arm muscles though! Not bad!)

We look great, huh? I bet you missed Mike, didn't you? Look at the picture again. He kind of blends in.

He's not too bad to look at.

I think I'm going to make a special request that he not wear a shirt for the remainder of our sessions. I'm sure that's a pleasant sight.

We get our meal plan tomorrow. I have already been seriously amending my eating habits and I can already tell that my clothes are fitting better so that's very motivational. It's not easy. I crave carbs like nobody's business and I would seriously cut someone for chocolate about 100 times a day but I am surviving and I know it will get easier.

Oh, and what else did Mike tell throw in as we were leaving tonight? We have to do AT LEAST 45 minutes of cardio every single day we don't work out with him. Yikes. But, I'm in. I signed up for this so I am all in. It's pretty exciting.

Here's to lots of results in the next 22 sessions!

Hell on Earth

So, I worked out with a personal trainer for the first time tonight.

It was the most painful hour I have ever lived.


Ever.

Although, I have a feeling that tomorrow will be full of painful hours.

I have done a lot of different workouts in my life - I mean, clearly not super frequently - but I don't consider myself a wimp. I know I'm not in great shape but I had no idea that it would be so, so difficult.

At one point, I told Mike - my trainer, who I had just met, that he was the devil.

Not my typical behavior, I assure you.

So, my company is doing our version of the Biggest Loser for the next 12 weeks. I'm really excited. They have hired a personal trainer and we meet with him twice a week in teams. We do have to pay part of his fee, but I'll never again get a personal trainer for $9 an hour so I'm totally taking advantage of it.

All I could think of during my hour of torture was that I was actually paying him to inflict this serious pain. I'm not even being overly dramatic. This guy trains Olympians - you know, the best athletes in the whole wide world. I am far from that. I live a lot of my life on my couch, for crying out loud. I didn't really feel like he was training me any different than he would an Olympian. And the worst part? He was super nice about it - which made it so bad. I think it would have been way better had he yelled at me Gillian Michaels style the whole time.

Did I tell you that Mike is a fairly big black man from Ghana? Yeah, he is. And, he's about 1% body fat. No joke.

I'm glad he pushed me so hard though. It will be so nice in about 23 more sessions when I can get through maybe half of the workout without feeling like I am going to throw up - which totally happened right after the 'warm-up' of running a half marathon. (Okay, it was only about a quarter of a mile, but it was so hard!)

Oh, and did I mention that there were 2 girls walking around in bikinis and high heels in the small room we were dying working out in? And, they were also taking pictures of each other's butts with their cell phones.


I mean, why not?


It was like a kick in the face. I guess these girls are workout models and they were training (walking around and posing, not working out) for an event. The room is so small and it was so awkward.

 I guess it's good to have something to work toward, right?


I can only hope it gets easier from here, but I have a feeling that Mike has lots of new torture methods up his Under Armour workout sleeve.

Christmas '13

As usual, I am way behind in blogging. I want to catch up so bad. We'll see. I'm really bad with time management these days (aka, my whole life).

Here's a little bit of what we did for Christmas - two months ago.

One of my favorite gifts of all time was what my Grandma and Poppa gave me this past year. Poppa has cut glass for the past few years but isn't able to anymore because his motor skills aren't what they used to be. It's sad because he was so good at it. They gave me Santa and Mrs. Claus and I love them so much that I might just be that person on the street that never takes down their Christmas decor.

I will treasure them forever.

And, I am pretty sure I will just be the laughing stock of the neighborhood and leave them up all year.

I also got the best gift from my dad. I have wanted pedestals for my washer and dryer for quite awhile, but they are SO expensive. My dad is such a rockstar and volunteered (more like succumbed to my begging) and built some for me.

He really is the best.

It was not an easy project. I felt bad because it took him the better part of 4 days to get them done. I had no idea it would be so difficult but I love them!

(Please excuse the mess, as usual)

Aren't they awesome?!

My parents came down a few days before Christmas and Janae flew in from AZ too. It was really fun to get to spend so much time with them. Cade, Krystal and Hailey came down for a couple of days too. David and Jordan even made an appearance. It was a lot of fun.

We dusted off the old N64 (I stole it from Cade when he was on his mission 100 years ago) and played a few games of MarioKart. It's hands-down the best MarioKart, and a family tradition. We play whenever we can and it is so much fun.

In typical Carla fashion, my mom spent a lot of her time in the kitchen. She makes the best Christmas treats - including my all-time favorite, Chex Mix. I know, I'm pretty boring but I lurve that stuff.

We did have a tragedy though:

We tried to speed up the cooking process by using the microwave and it totally burned. My dad did not eat any, don't worry.

I found these cute tags online. I love cute things - especially when they're free!

Aren't my parents cute?

And yes, Peepa is a traveling parakeet. They didn't want to leave him alone for the week they were gone because their house gets really cold.

Kyle's family got Hailey this adorable hat.

Janae and my mom made my mom's amazing cinnamon and orange rolls. They are so delicious.

Janae and I did a quick photo shoot when we went to Hailey. She's so beautiful.

I had a great holiday. My family is the best!

Before and After

I just learned something new in Photoshop.

That's always exciting for me.

I learned how to replace the sky in photos. Hooray! Not a super huge thing, but something I've wanted to know for awhile. It looks a little off because the sun is to the left of the house, so the sky should be lighter on that side, not darker but I'll get it.

This is my Grandma Fern's house in Lava Hot Springs. I have so many great memories of this cute little house - both growing up and in the past couple of years.

We stayed there this past weekend and worked on some projects because my aunt is using it as a rental - which kind of makes me sad but I hope it works out for the best and it doesn't get destroyed. There's a really old (and really ugly) lava rock fireplace in the basement that needed to be covered up. My dad is such a stud and willingly did this (grueling and very time-consuming) project. I helped a little with the construction but couldn't do too much so I volunteered to paint it, which took about 3x longer than anticipated, but it was fun. Here's how it went.

I think we do good work!

Kids

One project high on my list is to scan (or photograph) all of the pictures of me and my siblings when we were kids. I get my photography obsession from my mom. She took 1,000's of photos of us when we were young. They are so fun to look through. I have a lofty goal of getting them all digitized - whether by scanning each one or just photographing them but I'm not sure when that will happen. Here is one of my favorites. It's in the windowsill above the kitchen sink at my parents' house. My mom caught me taking it out of the frame when I was home for Christmas and she freaked out on me a little. I quickly explained that I was just photographing it. She's a little possessive of her photos!

It's not the best quality, but I love everything about this picture. From our cute sundresses to Kyle's trucker hat and short shorts, it's awesome.

I have the best family!