Cinco de Mayo

Happy Cinco de Mayo...the US holiday in which we all pretend to be Mexican. I am doing nothing related to Mexico, Mexican food, or Mexican beer. Instead the Sister In Law is coming over to scrapbook. Yesterday was International Scrapbook Day and I postponed any fun stuff until today.

Let me get you caught up a bit.

Back in December, when I came home from Hawaii I made a promise to myself. I hated how I felt in Hawaii. Tired, hot all the time, exhausted, and the weakest link. I just hated that I felt like this. So, I decided I wanted to do something about it.

Jan - Mar I pretended to be doing "something". I would go to the gym every now and then, but nothing serious. Then April happened and I realized my May trip with Janet is right around the corner and I needed to get my big butt in gear.

I challenged The Niece to 20 days of exercise in April. Our rule was we had to photograph while working out or after to prove we did it and send to each other. It's a great motivation for sure. She's competitive and so am I. I did 19 of the 20 (I counted wrong or I would have had 20). All the while I was thinking about how doing the elliptical wasn't really cutting it for me and yet I didn't have any confidence to try any weights.

Then I had a thought...maybe I should hire a personal trainer to teach me the weights and then I wouldn't feel as uncomfortable with them.

So yesterday I did just that. Meet Zohan. The Personal Trainer who promises to help me get more in shape and healthier. He's a great guy. Yesterday was all about assessing my strength. I was dreading this, and honestly, almost cancelled. I really didn't want to face down this demon and appear weak in front of a stranger. But I did it. And am glad I did.

We started the assessment on the treadmill. He walked on the one next to me as we assessed a one mile walk at a normal walking pace for me. Took me 22 minutes and my heart rate was at 152 when we were done. All the while he entertained me by playing 20 questions. It was great. We were done in no time. I shared with him some of my insecurities and he had an answer/suggestion for every single one...and not in an annoying way.

After the walking we went over to do some strength. He had me grab an 8lb dumb bell. Than with each arm I would do as many arm curls as I could. I told Zohan to not expect too many. Turns out I did 40 with each arm. Way more than I thought.

That followed a plank exercise...oh Lord. Again, I mentioned how unlikely it'd be I'd last 10 seconds. I lasted 40 seconds.

Then we did squats.  He had me get up and down from a chair to make sure that I didn't strain my back or my knees. He put some mats under my toes so when I stood it would put more emphasis on my heels and not my knees. Made a huge difference. By this time I was thinking I might be able to do more than planned. I did 30.

The last test was the most amusing to me. Zohan's family is from Jamaica and he happens to love flamingos. So the "stork test" he calls the "Flamingo test"...is he perfect for me or what? This is basically the sobriety test. Stand on one foot, the other bent at your knee. Hold your arms out and touch your nose. This checks your balance. Turns out my balance sucks. I only got 6 seconds on my right foot and 10 seconds on my left.

After all was said and done, Zohan had a plan for me. This plan includes homework to which I think is awesome...and how something as simple of this can make a big difference.

Since my "habit" at night is watching TV, he's making it worth my while. Here's my homework:
First what he calls the "Passive Three":

1. Walk as much as I can during the day, with a goal to 3,000 steps
2. Park far away in the parking lot
3. Take the stairs a couple times a day

Then when I'm at home:

1. For each commercial break I should do 5 squats. 
2. When cooking, every time I open the fridge, I do 1 push up
3. When a show ends, I am to do a 40 minute plank

I'm as sore as anything today, so we aren't starting this until tomorrow (which I'll probably be more sore). I'll start seeing Zohan on Wed and Friday's. This PT stuff is not cheap, but I am worth it. I figured I either spend the money now to help me or I spend it in medical bills later. 

Here's what I learned about myself yesterday, I'm WAY stronger than I think I am. And Zohan was right, my negative talk is holding me back. I need to work on that. Truthfully, I think one of my tasks for homework should be to do a plank, push up or squat every time I have a negative thought...I might be in shape in no time.