The Challenge - First 3 Weeks

Gold's Gym 12 Week Challenge 

Here's a quick review of my experience so far.

Week 1:

So I was really nervous to jump right in to exercise again. I would literally be starting for zero so I knew it was going to be challenging. My worst fear was that I'd make a complete fool of myself and not be able to do anything. Luckily, my MM activities were making me mentally stronger everyday and so I was at least going into the situation with a positive attitude. I really focused my affirmations and visualization on my health and fitness, hopefully giving my strength and positivity as I headed into what was going to be a rough session.

I showed up that Wednesday both nervous and excited. I walked in a bit scared but ready to take on new challenges. Derrick, my trainer, had planned an overall body workout to kind of assess where I was at and make a plan for my training over the next 6 months. We started off with squats - ok, I can do this, no problem. Well after several rounds that included squats and hamstring curls (who knows what they're called) and jumping and pushups - I was done. Oh yeah, did I mention that I kind of didn't get to eat that day? Oops. My day at work got away from me and all of a sudden it was 4. I ate a little applesauce packet before my workout but as you can imagine, it didn't help a whole lot.

I quickly got out of breath, my mouth got drive, my stomach started turning, and I started to panic. My breath was so quick, so Derrick had me lift my arms and just work on controlling my breathing. He was like "Can you feel your breathing slowing down?" and my response was "NO!!! It's getting faster!" and I quickly fell into a complete panic. Derrick had me lay down and just calm my breathing. Once I laid down on the mat I felt a lot better and was able to steady my breathing - but my ego was severely wounded. I felt like a complete failure. I pushed through the rest of the session, really trying to focus on my breathing, but when I left the negative self-talk began. I kept trying to ward it off, telling myself that at least I went, I am trying, it won't be easy at first but I just have to keep trying, something is literally better than nothing, etc. But it didn't matter - I felt defeated.

I got home and just kind of sat there on the couch, trying to build myself back up. Starbuck then promptly began to throw up everywhere. Of course it was right after they ate so it was disgusting. My gag reflux was already heightened from my workout (where I almost threw up), so it was a bad time for me. It was so gross that I then promptly threw up. There I am, feeling like a failure, cleaning vomit from all sorts of places. Kind of killed my appetite - which was bad since I seriously needed to eat. I called Adam crying, just exhausted from experiences that day. He helped me feel better and felt ready to tackle another day.

I prepared myself for Saturday, waking up extra early, making breakfast, and drinking water. I showed up ready. Turned out that Derrick had to run the bootcamp last minute, so I joined the bootcamp. I LOVED it! I felt sooo much better about the experience and started to feel physically stronger. It was such a 180 from my experience on Wednesday and I knew that I could do it and it would only get easier the more I kept at it.

Week 2:

So I really went at this week with 110%. I made it to the gym 6 days this week - which is crazy for me. Granted two of those days were stretching days, but I really made a sincere effort to follow my plan, stretch, and take care of myself in between workouts. The workouts this week were rough, but I always finished and gave it my all. On Saturday I felt like I literally left it all at the gym and legs were basically jelly by the end. I probably looked like Bambi trying to get to my car. It feels good to really work hard and start to feel stronger.

Week 3:

Unfortunately I got sick and missed most of this week. It didn't even occur to me until Friday that I could have probably done my stretching but oh well. I did go to my personal training on Saturday. So when I showed up on Saturday I knew it was going to be rough. Derrick decided we'd do full body since I missed my Thursday training day. I was definitely tired but I pushed through it and kept a good attitude the whole time (which is HUGE for me). I was definitely feeling it though later Saturday and Sunday. I guess it's motivation to not let my workouts slip. :)

 Definitely pumped and committed to kick butt in week 4!

Introduction

Welcome to my blog - Learning to be Julie. I've attempted to write blogs before, and quite frankly, I wasn't very good at it. And who knows, I may not be good at it this time around either but I think it's something I need to do right now. The last year or so I have been going through a lot of personal development and I decided it was time to document that journey. I’m mostly doing it for me, but if someone finds comfort or solace in what I share then it will definitely be worth it.

So let’s start at the beginning, shall we?

My name is Julie and I currently live in Austin, TX with my husband Adam and two cats (Starbuck and Toby). We moved to Austin almost six years ago from southern California. It was definitely a bit of a transition and I honestly never thought I would live in Texas, but we really love Austin and it’s been really good for us. We moved here for a couple of reasons, mainly job opportunities and reasonable housing prices. It was a hard move but I think it was the right choice for us.

When we first moved here, I was very lucky to find an amazing job at UT that helped me find my passion - software testing. I really excelled at what I was doing and I knew I wanted to learn more. In very typical Julie fashion - I wanted to switch things up and so I applied for grad school to get my Masters in Software Engineering.

The last several years have been full of both some very challenging and some amazing moments. But about a year and a half ago, I found out that I have MTHFR mutation and it really sent me on a journey to find myself, improve my mental stability, and develop the best me. Although I had been working on myself and identifying what triggers my anxiety and how I can better handle stress, it wasn’t until the end of last year that I really took it seriously. For Christmas, my sister-in-law bought a book for me off of my Amazon wish list; it was The Miracle Morning. I seriously doubt that she knew how much that choice would change my life, but I am SO glad that she bought it for me.

So when I received The Miracle Morning for Christmas this last year, I knew it was a sign that 2017 was going to be my year and that I had to start taking my life by the reins and really living and not waiting for someday. The book had been on my wish list for months - geeze far too long, but when I unwrapped the book I knew it was the right time. I quickly went about reading the book and wanted to have at least made an attempt at starting my Miracle Mornings for the new year. I took Hal’s advice and wrote in the margins and marked up the book and really took what he said to heart.

On January 1st I embarked on my first Miracle Morning (MM). I had some difficulties at first, but I quickly got into a groove and started incorporating meditation, affirmations, visualization, and journally into my daily routine. At the end of January I knew I needed to step up my health and fitness, so I joined the 12 week challenge at Gold’s Gym. I finally felt like I was really starting to gain control of my life - perhaps for the first time. But life will hand you all kinds of obstacles, so I have decided to write this blog to document the journey of finding me, I’m excited for the ride!