Leaving the gates, starting my body transformation
Week 1: I would like to say that I bounded out of the gates like Secretariat. I wish I could write that I was full of energy, purpose, and zeal. Instead, it was more of a dribble out of the gate, a lot of whining and stalling, and finally a little grit at the end.
The Work Out
I met with “The Angry Trainer,” Alfonso Moretti, and he was great. We worked out in a park on a very hot, muggy day and I was so lame! I did everything asked but had to take a million breaks because I kept getting light-headed. I’ve done the same workout three times since and didn’t have the same reaction so I’m chalking it up to the heat, but I was really struggling to complete reps. Except for the abs; I crushed the abs! But I should, I am a Pilates instructor after all.
Alfonso emailed me my workout to do at home and we decided on three days of his program and two days of Pilates. What I actually did was three days of his program and zero Pilates. I whiffed not because I was sore (I was a little) but because I didn’t want to. I was being stubborn and petulant. The preschooler trying obviously to get out of doing something they didn’t want to do. As the week progressed, I finally got more frustrated at my stalling than at doing the work and finally kicked in with strong workouts at the end.
The Food
Alfonso believes in layering in change. This is actually brilliant. Instead of completely upheaving your life you can just change one meal, get used to that, and then change another meal. So he suggested breakfast and to eat 1/2 cup of oatmeal and two egg whites, one yolk for breakfast. I managed it twice because of time constraints, but I did just oatmeal on another day and whole grain cereal with a lot of fruit on the other days. Sundays are a big breakfast with my family featuring pancakes or Belgian waffles and I won’t change those, but I cut back on my portion sizes and loaded on the fruit. I’ve got my food in control in general and I am actually enjoying eating every three hours. I feel like I was given permission to eat more and I’m not as flagged in the afternoon as I have been lately.
The Results
So I lost three pounds but it was literally day one of my period on my first training day with Alfonso. You can fluctuate as much as 2 to 4 pounds during that time of the month! So I’m going to say I lost maybe one pound of “fat” and the rest was probably just water from my period. It’s a victory but honestly I don’t feel like I earned it because I waffled so much on the training.
Tips for You
Journaling works. Sending my daily meal to Alfonso kept me honest and definitely stopped me from putting sweets in my mouth. I was picturing Alfonso rolling his eyes and that was enough to stop most of it.
Get your family behind you. My husband and son are both behind me, but they are a little slow getting on the band wagon too. I was whining about working out and my husband said “just skip it.” I said, “No, I did that yesterday,” and he grabbed some laundry to fold and kept me company while I worked out. That helped, thanks hon. :-) My son wanted to make chocolate chip cookies and I was stalling doing it with him (cookie dough is a weakness) but I finally baked them and yes I had three spoonfuls of dough but I skipped the cookies altogether and it was okay. I told him it would be a while before we’d do cookies again, and he was okay with that.
Be aware of fluctuations. I am a daily weigher, for me it keeps me honest. Many people will disagree with this and say either throw out the scale or only weigh yourself weekly. Everyone needs to do what’s best for them. But for me, it works and I don’t get crazy about fluctuations. That said, there are a lot of reasons our weight goes up and down, heat and humidity, your period, what you ate, salt intake; there are a myriad of reasons that your weight will change. So keep in mind when you’re on the scale that there are a lot of factors besides working out and nutrition that go into the number you’re looking at.
So, I’ve gotten more focused going into week 2 and I feel like I’m going to have a good week. What do you think? Have you had similar struggles with your diet? What tips would you share for others in the same boat? Alfonso what do you think?
Cheers,
Lisa
